What Are My Options in Hormonal Birth Control?

There’s no shortage of ways in which you can take control of your family planning and prevent an unplanned pregnancy, and hormonal birth controls are certainly among the more popular. 

More than 65% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 use contraception in the United States, and a fair share of this number rely on hormones to do the job.

If you want to explore your options in hormonal birth controls, you’re in the right place. The team here at Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health routinely helps women with their contraception needs, and here’s what we tell them about hormonal birth control options.

Behind hormonal birth control

Before we dive into the options, let’s quickly review why hormonal birth controls work so well to prevent pregnancy. In short, we introduce reproductive hormones that disrupt your ovulation — if your ovaries don’t release eggs, you can’t get pregnant.

Please note that hormonal birth controls offer great protection against pregnancy, but they do not prevent sexually transmitted infections. Only condoms and abstinence can protect you there.

Hormonal birth controls for every lifestyle

We’ve established how hormonal birth controls work, so now let’s get into the many different ways in which we can deliver these hormones into your body, including:

Birth control pill

With this approach, you take a daily pill that prevents ovulation. Although the birth control pill offers superior protection, it isn’t a great option if you skip pills, which can diminish this protection.

Birth control patch

Another way to introduce hormones into your body is through a patch that you wear on your body and replace weekly.

Vaginal ring

You can also use a vaginal ring (which is inserted into your vagina) to deliver hormones. You must swap out the ring monthly.

Birth control injections

We also offer birth control injections, which protect for three months, at which time you return for another injection.

Long-acting reversible contraception choices

If you want minimal hassle, we suggest trying a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC), such as an intrauterine device or birth control implant. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports that, over time, LARC methods are 20 times more effective than birth control pills, patches, or vaginal rings.

A hormonal IUD can last from three to eight years, and an implant can offer five years of protection.

You aren’t without choices when it comes to hormonal birth controls, which means we should be able to find you one that best suits your goals and lifestyle.

A great next step is to sit down with one of our women’s health experts, so contact our office in Mobile, Alabama, to schedule your appointment.