Webinar: Update on Birth Control: Options for the Postpartum Period
Home visitors often serve clients who have recently given birth, so they are keenly focused on postpartum recovery. Part of the recovery process is avoiding pregnancy at least six months after giving birth. Closely spaced pregnancies might not give a birthing person enough time to heal, and research suggests there are risks associated with closely spaced pregnancies, including low birth weight and preterm birth.
The postpartum period is an ideal time to talk about contraception and to explore what’s available. Parent Coaches and Registered Nurses in the Welcome Baby program are available to help their clients learn about birth control (and many other things!), so they can make informed choices about their health.
We (LA Best Babies Network) hosted the webinar below on March 5, 2024, for Welcome Baby Parent Coaches and other staff of our network’s home visiting organizations and Welcome Baby hospitals. (We also hosted a similar webinar for Registered Nurses and others in December.)
In the presentation, Leslie Fung, a Certified Nurse Midwife at Eisner Health:
- Reviews importance of postpartum birth control
- Examines birth control options appropriate for the postpartum period
- Discusses elements of birth control counseling and how individual priorities can influence choice of method
- Shares available resources that can be shared with patients
Contraceptive options
- Female and male sterilization
- Intrauterine devices
- Progestin-only contraceptives
- Combined hormonal contraceptives
- Emergency contraceptive pills
- Barrier contraceptive methods
- Fertility-awareness based methods
- Lactational Amenorrhea method
- Coitus Interruptus (withdrawal)
Watch the webinar recording here, and don’t miss the links to related resources below:
About the presenter:
Leslie Fung, CNM, joined Eisner Health after completing the Nurse Midwifery program at Columbia University. Before becoming a midwife, she worked in public health research and then as a nurse in primary care clinics embedded in homeless shelters throughout New York City. She’s committed to providing compassionate care and building trusting relationships with individuals throughout their reproductive health, pregnancy, and birth journeys.
Related resources:
- Presentation slides
- Staying Healthy Between Pregnancies – Contraception (Parenting Resource Library, LABBN)
- Interpregnancy Care (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
- How long should you wait before getting pregnant again? (March of Dimes)
- Contraception Guide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Birth Control Methods and Options (Planned Parenthood)
- Missed Birth Control Pill (Planned Parenthood)
- Missed Birth Control Patch (Planned Parenthood)
- Online birth control support network (in Spanish) (Bedsider)
- Program for birth control in CA for people without insurance (Family Pact)
- Birth control Visual chart (Reproductive Health Access)
- Your Birth Control Choices Fact Sheet (available in multiple languages) (Reproductive Health Access)
- Depo (Injection) Calendar: 2 week window to get the next dose
- Free Educational Materials to print (Beyond the Pill)
- Emergency Contraception Visual Guide (Beyond the Pill)
- Birth Control for Your Life video (Beyond the Pill)