I recently saw a 24-year-old woman who had just given birth to her fourth child. She was young and healthy, but had a complicated delivery. After delivery, she had major surgery and almost needed to have a hysterectomy, making any future pregnancies extremely dangerous and even life-threatening.

Fortunately, I work at a hospital where patients are able to get birth control such as implants (like Nexplanon) before going home after having a baby. My patient had previously told her medical team that this is what she wanted to use after her delivery, and we provided the device to her the day she was scheduled to go home.

This is something we do almost every single day, and patients are usually happy, but her excitement absolutely blew me away, reminding me of how fortunate I am to be able to provide reproductive health care. After the contraceptive implant was inserted, she practically started bouncing up and down in her bed, asking for high fives from the doctors, nurses, and family members in the room.

She explained this meant she would be able to avoid another potentially dangerous pregnancy in the near future, and getting the device right after giving birth meant she wouldn’t have any gap in protection against her next pregnancy. She told us how excited she was to be able to focus on being a mom and getting to know her new baby. And keep herself healthy. And stay alive. And have one less, hugely important thing to worry about. This is why access to birth control matters.