Sex & fertility
Can women or their partner feel the NuvaRing during intercourse?
Q: Will my partner or I be able to feel the NuvaRing during sexual intercourse? What if it falls out?
A. The NuvaRing method of birth control provides another way to deliver the same hormones as the Pill and the patch, but through the walls of the vagina. The NuvaRing is similar to a stiff rubber band that slides into the vagina like a tampon. Most women don’t feel it at all.
The NuvaRing is first inserted within five days of the beginning of a period and left in place for three weeks. After three weeks it is removed and discarded. Once out, it stays out for up to seven days, then a new one is inserted. The week when it is out is when you will usually have a withdrawal bleed.
A few women have told me that their partners have felt it or that it has fallen out during sex. If this is a concern, you can remove the NuvaRing for up to three hours, then re-insert it without any loss of effectiveness.
One positive side effect of the NuvaRing is that it seems to improve the moisture of the vagina and the normalcy of vaginal fluid, which helps ward off yeast infections. (Conversely, the oral Pill can make the vagina drier and more vulnerable to yeast.) If switching from the Pill to NuvaRing, you should know that an increase in vaginal fluid is normal and does not necessarily indicate an infection.
For a woman choosing to use a hormonal birth control method who has symptoms triggered by her baseline hormonal fluctuations, such as hormonal migraines, the steady-state dosing methods like the Evra patch or NuvaRing can be particularly helpful.
The NuvaRing does not increase rates of abnormal Pap smears in studies thus far, and overall has the same risks and benefits of birth control pill use.
(Visit the NuvaRing website to learn more.)
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Original Publication Date: 11/01/2005
Last Modified: 03/27/2008
Principal Author: Marcy Holmes, NP, Certified Menopause Clinician