Many women are looking at permanent birth control methods that do not entail intensive surgical procedures. 35 year old Laura Katz is the proud mother of three children and she wants it to remain that way. “I’m so done having kids. I’m at my max. I could not deal with any more kids.”

Laura wanted permanent birth control but she also wanted to avoid surgery. Tubal ligation, commonly known as “getting your tubes tied” is a surgical sterilization technique.
The procedure closes the fallopian tubes and stops the egg from traveling to the uterus from the ovary and at the same time prevents sperm from reaching the fallopian tube to fertilize an egg. The tubes are cut, burned or blocked with rings, bands or clips.
“Since I have young children to take care of, I didn’t want to go through a general surgery with a three to five day recovery period,” says Laura.
But thanks to this tiny coil, Laura was able to get permanent birth control, without incisions or general anesthesia. Dr. Mark Levie is the director of obstetrics and gynecology at Montefiore Medical Center.
“We’re actually using the patient’s own body to cause a natural occlusion,” says Dr. Mark Levie.
The procedure called Essure is the first alternative for women seeking permanent contraception in the United States.
Essure deploys a soft micro-insert into the fallopian tube through the cervix using a minimally invasive transcervical tubal access catheter. Once in place, the device is designed to elicit tissue growth in and around the micro-insert to form a blockage in the fallopian tube.
This procedure does not require cutting or penetrating the abdomen and can be done in the doctor’s office.
While there’s a slight chance a tubal ligation can be reversed, this procedure, it should be pointed out, is completely irreversible because once this coil forms the scar tissue, that can’t be removed.
“There’s a tremendous amount of counseling that should be done before,” says Dr. Levie.
Laura says that the procedure took about a half hour. There was no cramping or bleeding and she was able to walk out of the doctor’s office just 45 minutes after the procedure.
“You don’t have to worry about taking birth control pills. I wanted to take control of my body,” says Laura.
Patients whose fallopian tubes are too kinked or coiled may not be candidates for Essure. Also, the procedure may not work on those women who have a blockage in front of their tubes due to a previous infection.

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