Family Planning Services

Family planning is a topic covering a broad range of counseling and educational services. It includes the planning of when to have children and the use of birth control, including techniques to implement such plans.

Family Planning

Most people immediately think of birth control in regard to family planning. Family planning addresses a host of concerns for adolescents and adults of child-bearing age.

Family planning helps you make educated decision regarding:

  • Sexuality education
  • Contraception
  • Prevention and management of sexually transmitted diseases
  • Pre-conception counseling
  • Infertility management
  • Pregnancy testing

There are multiple considerations that can affect your ability to conceive. Family planning services aims to ensure your health is optimal before, during and after conception.

Sexually active adolescents and older women who conceive, face increased health risks, as do their unborn child. If you want to start a family it’s important that you be in the best possible health before you conceive. Dr. Cook can help.

Family planning services allow individuals and couples to:

  • Take precautionary actions to be disease free
  • Control the timing and spacing of their children
  • Select the right birth control method for your body and lifestyle

All of those goals can be achieved through the use of contraceptive methods. We also helps with infertility issues.

Family planning services allows you to avoid unwanted pregnancies. It also ensures that you get access to the latest medical treatments available.

Sexuality Education

Perhaps one of the most important services offered by Dr. Cook is education about sexuality. It is especially pertinent for teens that are sexually active. It encompasses a wide variety of topics that includes sexual development, birth control and reproductive health. It is also valuable in navigating interpersonal relationships. You can also learn about STDs, interpersonal relationships, intimacy, gender roles and body image.

Pre-conception Counseling

The decision to have children is one of the most important that you’ll make. Surely, it requires careful consideration. One aspect of pre-conception counseling helps you identify any fertility problems that may exist and explore corrective measures that are available.

A wide variety of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, will have an impact on you as well as your pregnancy. Healthy body weight can be an issue. Dr. Cook has experience with medical weight management. Even nutritional deficiencies can be identified and corrected.

The counseling also addresses any medications or behaviors that would impact the baby before conception takes place. Workplace hazards, substance abuse and domestic violence are all issues that you’ll want to discuss with your OB/GYN during pre-conception counseling.

Contraceptive Options

A myriad of contraception methods are available to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The selected method will be reliant on your health, age and personal preference. You can choose from oral methods, while other techniques require implantation by an OB/GYN.

Immediate and long-term preventatives are available. They are safe, convenient and effective:

  • Birth control pills are available that are taken every day, along with those that reduce the number of periods each year from 13 to 4
  • Mini pills work by thickening cervical mucus, thereby preventing access of the sperm to an egg
  • Contraceptive patches, much like those used in smoking cessation programs, stick to the skin
  • “Morning after” pills are also an option
  • Vaginal rings inserted into the vagina are effective for four weeks
  • An IUD is a tiny device inserted into the uterus by an OB/GYN
  • Condoms offer effective protection against pregnancy
  • Coils inserted into the Fallopian tubes, scar the tissue to prevent pregnancy

For those who don’t want more children or don’t want children at all, a tubal ligation is a surgical method of cutting, tying or blocking the Fallopian tubes to prevent the egg from traveling to the uterus.

Prevention & Management of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

It’s important that every women understand that many STDs don’t cause any symptoms and others can lie dormant for many years before becoming active.

Prevention is the key to good sexual health and your doctor is one of the most important sources for the latest information on how to protect yourself from multiple types of preventable sexually transmitted conditions. This is especially true for individuals entering puberty and why Dr. Cook offers Adolescent Gynecology services.

The transmission of STDs continues to increase. There are a myriad of myths surrounding how STDs are spread and how-to prevent them. Some can be cured with antibiotics, while others can be suppressed with antivirals. The most virulent have no cure and they can be transmitted through oral or vaginal sex.

Infertility Management

For many individuals, spontaneous conception isn’t an option for any number of reasons. Infertility can affect both men and women. Your OB/GYN is a trusted resource for advice and guidance on infertility issues.

Pregnancy Testing

Pregnancy testing is an essential step in determining if you are pregnant. A number of conditions and situations can result in a missed period. Visit us to confirm your pregnancy. If you are not pregnant, we can diagnose the reason for your missed period.

Why Family Planning with Dr. Cook?

Family planning encompasses a comprehensive range of concerns to your health. It includes pregnancy, disease, painful periods and STDs. Dr. Cook has extensive experience with reproductive care and education.

Dr. Cook combines her 20 years of experience with personal and compassionate care, allowing you to make informed decisions about every facet of your reproductive health at every stage of your life.

Dr. Cook and staff provides these services in a discreet, supportive environment.

Request Appointment

For same day appointments please call us at (770) 431-2322. We make every effort to respond to your request right away during regular business hours.

About US

Our team’s mission is to provide quality healthcare to women in a nurturing environment that allows each patient to feel unique.
Dr. Nanette Cook & Staff
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