Tubal Ligation

Some women choose to have a form of surgical sterilization performed, called tubal ligation or getting your tubes tied, while they are in the hospital after their baby's birth. The surgery prevents further pregnancies by making it impossible for a sperm and egg to unite. If you haven't thought seriously about it before, this is not the time to make a decision about a tubal ligation.

If you have already decided before baby's birth to have a tubal ligation, doing it after delivery, while you're still in the hospital, can make sense. If you received an epidural for your labor and delivery, you are already anesthetized for a tubal ligation. If you didn't have an epidural, in most cases the procedure requires general anesthesia.

There are disadvantages to having a tubal ligation immediately after your baby's birth. You must consider the surgery permanent and irreversible. If you have your tubes tied within a few hours or a day after having your baby, then change your mind, you may regret it.

The failure rate for tubal ligation is 1 to 2 in 1,000 procedures. Failure rates are a little higher for tubal ligations performed immediately after delivery than when performed at other times.

Copyright © 2002 by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler. Excerpted from Bouncing Back After Your Pregnancy with permission of its publisher, Perseus Books Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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