When a woman decides not to have any more children, there are several surgical methods of female sterilisation. Traditionally female sterilisation has been carried out by tubal ligation, involving a surgical incision into the abdomen so that the fallopian tubes can be located, cut and tied, or clips applied. It is generally done laparoscopically so the surgical wounds are quite small. This method is effective instantly as a met6hod of birth control.
This is considered a final step, as it is complicated and not always possible to reverse, so couples are usually offered counselling before they go ahead. Nowadays long term hormonal methods like implants (3years) and the intra-uterine system (5 years) offer a good alternative to the more permanent surgical options.
The following clip from Youtube shows laparoscopic tubal ligation, where the tube is drawn inside a surgical instrument which commpresses it, and then applies a ligature.
The following clip shows location of the tube, diathermy of the tubes prior to cutting.
A more recent method is the insertion via hysteroscope, which is a small camera, of a titanium implant, which can be done without a general anesthetic, and does not involve an incision or a hospital stay. However it takes up to 3 months for scarring around the implant to block the tubes, so it requires an alternative method of contraception for those three months.
