For 20 years, Dr. Chad Hill has owned Siloam Springs Women’s Center, where he cares for patients as an obstetrician and a gynecologist. Dr. Chad Hill routinely welcomes patients who are seeking permanent sterilization.
Women seeking to prevent conception and pregnancy permanently have both surgical and nonsurgical options. Surgical sterilization, also known as tubal ligation, is currently the most common option. It takes place under general anesthesia and requires the surgeon to cut or block the Fallopian tubes through which an egg would otherwise pass on its way to the uterus.
Women who choose tubal ligation and have not recently given birth typically undergo laparoscopic sterilization, in which the surgeon makes a small incision near the navel and introduces a small surgical device known as a laparoscope. This allows the surgeon to see the Fallopian tubes, which he or she then closes using rings, clips, or electric current. Women who choose sterilization shortly after childbirth are instead likely to undergo minilaparotomy, in which the surgeon makes a small incision through which he or she can cut away a section of the Fallopian tubes.
Some women prefer not to undergo surgical sterilization, choosing instead non-surgical permanent birth control, also known as Fallopian tube occlusion. Instead of making an incision, the surgeon performing this procedure will insert two small metal coils through the cervix into the opening of the Fallopian tubes. Over the course of three months, scar tissue forms around this coil, thereby preventing contact between sperm and egg.
Non-surgical sterilization takes three months to become effective, during which time the patient must use an alternative form of birth control. However, it generally has a shorter recovery time relative to surgical sterilization and involves minimal to no discomfort. Although surgical sterilization requires some recovery time, it becomes effective immediately.
