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By Mayo Clinic staffBefore you have the Essure system implanted, your health care provider will likely:
- Ask about your reasons for choosing sterilization and discuss factors that could lead to regret, such as a young age or marital discord
- Discuss the causes and probability of sterilization failure
- Discuss the need for you to use another method of contraception for three months following the procedure, or until tubal blockage is confirmed
- Explain the details of the procedure
- Reinforce that the Essure system can't be reversed
- Review the risks and benefits of reversible and permanent methods of contraception
Your health care provider will also talk with you about choosing the right time to do the procedure. He or she will need a clear view of your tubal openings to implant the Essure system. As a result, he or she may recommend that you use a hormonal contraceptive that contains a progestin — such as the combination birth control pill, the minipill or Depo-Provera — for a couple of weeks to thin the lining of your uterus (endometrium). If you don't want to use a hormonal contraceptive, your health care provider will schedule the procedure shortly after your period.
- Greenberg J. Hysteroscopic sterilization. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- Birth control methods. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/birth-control-methods.cfm. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- Abbott J. Transcervical sterilization. Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2007;19:325.
- Essure (prescribing information). Mountain View, Calif.: Conceptus Incorporated; 2011. http://www.essuremd.com/Home/LearningLibrary/Publications/tabid/314/Default.aspx. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- Stovall TG. Surgical sterilization of women. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- Roncari D, et al. Female and male sterilization. In: Hatcher RA, et al. Contraceptive Technology. 20th ed. New York, N.Y.: Ardent Media Inc.; 2011:435.
- Sterilization. In: Cunningham FG, ed. Williams Obstetrics. 3rd. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=6032717. Accessed Dec. 15, 2011.
- Stubblefield PG, et al. Family planning. In: Berek JS, ed. Berek & Novak's Gynecology. 14th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007:248.
- Sterilization for women and men. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/~/media/ForPatients/faq011.ashx. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- Smith RD. Contemporary hysteroscopic methods for female sterilization. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 2010;108:79.
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