Tubal ligation is a surgical procedure for female sterilization in which the fallopian tubes are permanently blocked, clipped or removed. This prevents the fertilization of eggs by sperm and thus the implantation of a fertilized egg. Tubal ligation is considered a permanent method of sterilization and birth control.
Listed below are 10 things women should know about this medical procedure:
1. During tubal ligation, the fallopian tubes are cut, tied or blocked to permanently prevent pregnancy. Tubal ligation prevents an egg from traveling from the ovaries through the fallopian tubes and blocks sperm from traveling up the fallopian tubes to the egg. The procedure doesn’t affect your menstrual cycle.
2. While tubal ligation is effective in preventing most pregnancies, it isn’t an absolute. An estimated 1 out of every 200 women will become pregnant after tubal ligation. Tubal ligation can increase your risk of an ectopic pregnancy.
3. Tubal ligation is one of the most effective ways to prevent pregnancy, with rates of pregnancy around 1/1,000 after the first year, and between 2-10/1,000 after five years. Although the possibility of becoming pregnant is low, the chance is still there.
4. For people asking, where does the egg go if your tubes are tied?… Here’s your answer…After surgery, each ovary still releases an egg. But the egg’s passage through the fallopian tube is now blocked. Sperm also cannot pass through the tube to the egg. When egg and sperm can’t meet, pregnancy cannot happen; your body absorbs the egg.
5. Female sterilization works by preventing eggs travelling down the fallopian tubes, which link the ovaries to the womb (uterus). This means a woman’s eggs cannot meet sperm, so fertilization cannot happen. Eggs will still be released from the ovaries as normal, but they’ll be absorbed naturally into the woman’s body.
6. What are the risks of getting your tubes tied? Problems are very rare, but this type of surgery can cause bleeding or damage your bowel, bladder, or major blood vessels. After tubal ligation, you might have a rapid decline in the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Whether this may occur is often debated but it is referred to as post-tubal ligation syndrome (PTLS).
7. How long should you be on bed rest after a tubal ligation? After a laparoscopy, it usually takes about 1 week. After a mini-laparotomy, it usually takes 1 to 3 weeks. If you had a mini-laparotomy after having a baby, your recovery may take longer.
8. Is it better to get your tubes tied or removed? Women who had their tubes completely removed have a much lower failure rate, almost zero. Women who have a tubal ligation also have an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy or tubal pregnancy if they do become pregnant compared to women who’ve had their tubes removed completely.
9. Between 1 and 26 percent of the millions of women who undergo the procedure subsequently experience regret.
10. Tubal ligation doesn’t cause belly fat.
There is no evidence that ligation causes women to gain weight.
Before you go for this medical procedure, you have to know that most tubal ligation procedures cannot be reversed. If reversal is attempted, it requires major surgery and isn’t always effective.
