When it comes to planning your family, there are a lot of decisions to be made. What do you need to know before getting pregnant? When do you want to have a baby? And how do you want to prevent pregnancy until the time is right?
That’s why it’s important to seek out the most skilled and patient-centered care to help you find the right answers and solutions to all your family planning needs.
Family Planning Services: Why Choose Us?
Women come to us for supportive services for a variety of family planning needs. At the Women & Infants Center, you will find:
- Care for complex cases: We often counsel women who have health conditions that can make conception, pregnancy or contraception more complicated, working closely with their physicians or other specialists to find a safe solution that meets their needs.
- Personalized patient approach: Our physicians understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for family planning. We provide caring and supportive counsel and treat each woman based on her unique situation.
- Clinical research: In addition to caring for patients, our physicians participate in nationally recognized clinical research—in particular, studies related to intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants. Washington University Physicians led the landmark Contraceptive CHOICE Project, a study involving 9,250 women in the St. Louis area that was designed to remove barriers to long-acting, reversible birth control methods and reduce unintended pregnancy. Washington University School of Medicine was also one of the designated sites for the clinical trial of a new hormonal IUD.
Family Planning Services We Offer
Our team provides a full spectrum of family planning care and counseling services, including:
- Contraception: We offer a wide range of birth control options for women, including hormonal contraception (birth control pills and implants), IUDs, emergency contraception and sterilization. Our specialists provide caring and qualified counseling—in a nonjudgmental setting—to help you evaluate all your options as you plan for pregnancy and contraception.
- Preconception planning: If you want to get pregnant, our doctors can help by providing basic fertility testing and treatments. For women with known risk factors that could make conceiving a baby or carrying a pregnancy difficult—such as diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure—we provide counseling to help you manage your conditions and improve your health before trying to conceive. We refer more complex fertility cases to the reproductive specialists at the Women & Infants Center. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth.
- Miscarriage management: Women who experience pregnancy loss in the first or second trimester receive advanced care from our team, either outpatient or inpatient services, as necessary.
Contact Us
To make an appointment with a Washington University OBGYN at the Women & Infants Center, call 888.998.7182.