Femcap/diaphragm

talk to your doctor, or any doctor, about natural family planning. it is a system that is 98% effective (which isnt any worse or better than any other method, and guess what? no worrying about if you have the supplies!)

it might seem more scary, but i know personally a family who tried it and it worked perfectly for them. i myself am going to personally investigate this in a while - im talking with a doctor now.

if your doctor wont talk about it, find one who will. its funny; i didnt think those kinds of doctors existed at the clinic im at until i happened to run across one by chance. they are hiding in there!
ive heard the best way to find out is to interview doctors. :):) good luck

I used a diphragm for several years with good success. Not using it anymore due to a latex allergy (there is a latex free one, I just haven't gone to the trouble of tracking it down). I am not familiar with the Femcap but if it is a cervical cap and you have previously had children it is not recommended as your risk of pregnancy is higher. Birth control pills would definitely contribute to gall stones, I don't think there is any question about that. Also consider looking into Natural Family Planning (Fertility Awareness Method). There is something called Vaginal Contraceptive Film that is just as effective as condoms and diaphragm and very easy to use.

Hi,
I used a diaphragm for years with fine success. We use a condom now, less messy. Nice thing about the diaphragm is there is not as much timing involved but after 34 years of marriage it's not all that complicated.
cheers for you for going hormone free. I put on weight with the pill when I was first on it but was only on it two years and then switched to the diaphragm.
S.

After I deliver (due with #4 in August) I plan to get the ParaGard IUD. I, too, want to avoid hormones, but feel the diaphragm/cervical cap is more work than I want, and certainly less reliable than I need. With "perfect" use the diaphragm still has a failure rate of 5%, and with what is considered "typical" use the failure rate jumps to 18-20%. That is just not worth it for me. The ParaGard IUD is hormone free, almost as effective as getting your tubes tied (0.8% vs. 0.5%), lasts for 10 years, requires only a simple "placement check" each month, and is completely and instantly reversible if I would change my mind about having another child. Not everyone is a good candidate, but it might be worth discussing with your provider.

I use a diaphragm and it has been working well. I guess you just need to make sure and use it with spermacide around the time you are fertile. We did have an oops just because we were kind of ready for a third baby anyways, and I didn't time my cycle as well as I should have, but if you are pretty regular it should work fine as long as you follow the directions and use it WITH spermacide.

You might want to ask your doctor about the Mirena IUD. Although it does have hormones as someone else mentioned, they are very localized and don't get into your system like the pill does. I can't use the pill because the hormones gave me debilitating headaches, but the hormones in the Mirena don't bother me. I had the Paragard IUD previously, but I had to have it removed because it caused very heavy periods and severe cramping, exacerbated by my IBS. Good luck.

I have a Mirena, which I love, But it contains hormones, too.
I have actually inquired about a Diaphragm a few years ago and my doctor back then showed me a sample. The thing is pretty big and I didn't think it would be fun having to insert it every time and take it out and clean it... at that time I wanted a barrier method and we stuck to condoms...

I would say, ask your provider to show you a few of the devices (they usually have samples in the office) and see what you think.