It sounds like you have a history of hormonal birth control causing emotional symptoms, but I did want to point out one thing. Many women experience significant but temporary hair loss at about 3-5 months after the baby is born, late enough that they no longer expect to be experiencing anything post-partum. It certainly caught me by surprise when my first baby was born. That part of your symptoms may have been real, not imagined.
For non-hormonal, non-permanent birth control, I think your options are:
1. Spermicides (gels, foam, suppositories)
2. Condoms (you can get them in different materials and with or without spermicide, which many women find to be irriating)
3. Paraguard IUD
4. Diaphragm
5. Cervical cap (but wouldn't recommend because it is MUCH less effective for women who've given birth)
5. Natural Family Planning
6. Breastfeeding
7. Withdrawal (famous as not so effective though)
9. Sponge
If you are breastfeeding, you might want to consider doing that as long as possible, with no supplementing with formula and delaying solid food until 6ish months. It's not a guarantee, but exclusive breastfeeding does tend reduce fertility, so it would be like a second layer of protection. I would not rely on it as my only birth control. If your period has already come back, you're not breastfeeding, or your baby is breastfeeding very little, then skip this advice.
I would call your insurance and find out about the cost of the Mirena and Paragard IUD. Paragard will probably be a little more because it lasts 10 years and Mirena lasts only 5. If the cost is low, why not try it with the option of having it removed if you don't like it? If the cost is not low, then you'll have to weigh the pros and cons a bit more. I have pretty good insurance and my Paraguard cost about $100 by itself, plus co-pays for about two office visits and I think $10-20 for some pre-insertion labwork. So maybe $150 total. That is not nearly as cheap as the methods I describe below, but I put the IUD first because it's so reliable and so easy to use (as in, get it inserted and then do nothing!)
You could also do the same research and same thought process in terms of the diaphragm. I used one briefly after my first child was born and it was not very expensive (maybe $30 plus a co-pay, or even less? Of course, that was 8 years ago.) I did not care for it, but it wasn't dreadful. I hear mixed statistics on the effectiveness of the diaphragm; condoms are more effective for sure, but sometimes aren't as well-liked.
I don't know tons about the sponge. It's over-the-counter, so you could just order some from the internet or see if your local drugstore carries them and try them quite easily. I am pretty sure they are kind of expensive per use, so that would be a factor depending on your frequency of sex. Then again, a happy form of birth control is worth a lot to you right now, and you could use it for 1-2 months to see if a non-hormonal birth control seems to improve things for you. I am not sure of the effectiveness of the sponge, especially for a woman who has given birth. I suspect it's a bit below the diaphragm. Then again, if you wanted to just go for something easy to see if it makes a difference, condoms are both much cheaper and more reliable, so that would probably be the best choice to start with.
Last edited by american_mama; 09-27-2010 at 04:37 PM.
Advice and commentary on living overseas
DD1 15, DD2 12, and DS 9