After the Procedure:

You will probably go home the same day you have the procedure. Some women may need to stay in the hospital overnight.

You will have some tenderness and pain. Your doctor will give you a prescription for pain medicine or tell you what over-the-counter pain medicine you can take.

After laparoscopy, many women will have shoulder pain for a few days. This is caused by the gas used in the abdomen to help the surgeon see better during the procedure. You can relieve the gas by lying down.

You should avoid heavy lifting for 3 weeks, but you can return to most normal activities within a few days.

If you have the hysteroscopic tubal occlusion procedure, you will need to keep using a birth control method until you have a test 3 months after the procedure to make sure it worked.

Outlook (Prognosis):

Most women will have no problems. Tubal ligation is an effective form of birth control for women. You will NOT need to have any tests to make sure you cannot get pregnant in the future if the procedure is done with laparoscopy or after delivering a baby.

If you have the type of sterilization done through the uterus (Essure or Adiana), you will need to have a test called hysterosalpingogram 3 months after the procedure to make sure your tubes are blocked.

Your menstrual cycles will return to whatever pattern is normal for you. If you used hormonal birth control, or the Mirena IUD before, then your periods will change to whatever is normal for you after you stop using these methods.

Women who have a tubal ligation have a decreased risk of later developing ovarian cancer.