For women who are certain they do not want children in the future, there are more options for permanent contraception than ever before. From traditional surgery to newer minimally invasive options, these one-time procedures provide "forever" birth control, without the hassles and uncertainty of temporary methods.
For women, tubal ligation is a surgical method of permanent contraception. It is performed in a hospital, under general anaesthesia. The surgeon cuts through the abdomen to reach the fallopian tubes, which are then sealed off to prevent pregnancy.
In most countries, tubal ligation is the most common form of female sterilisation.
Vasectomy1
For men, vasectomy is a surgical method of permanent contraception. It may be performed with general or local anaesthesia. The doctor makes an incision into the scrotum, and then seals or blocks the tube that carries sperm out of the testes. After a vasectomy, a man can still achieve orgasm and ejaculate, but there is no sperm in the fluid, so it cannot fertilise a woman's egg.
Adiana Permanent Contraception is a simple, safe procedure that works with your body to permanently prevent pregnancy. This Procedure requires no incisions and can be performed under local or general anaesthesia, in approximately 12 minutes.
There are four steps to the Adiana procedure:
Step 1: A slender, flexible instrument (delivery catheter) is passed through the body's natural openings (i.e., through the vagina and cervix and into the uterus) to deliver a low level of radiofrequency energy (i.e., energy that generates heat to create a superficial lesion) to a small section of each fallopian tube.
Step 2: A tiny, soft insert - about the size of a grain of rice - is placed in each of your fallopian tubes, right where the energy was applied.
Step 3: You must use another form of birth control over the next 3 months, while new tissue grows in and around the Adiana inserts, eventually blocking your fallopian tubes.
Step 4: At 3 months, a special test is performed (hysterosalpingogram or HSG) to confirm that your tubes are fully blocked. This test will ensure that the procedure has been successful.
1. Hatcher RA, Trussell J, Nelson AL, Cates W, Stewart FH, Kowal D. Contraceptive Technology. Nineteenth Revised Edition. New York, NY:Ardent Media;2008.
