Birth Control Pill

There is hardly any other contraceptive method as efficient as the birth control pill. It is administered by women and it consists of a combination of hormones that control the release of the eggs from the ovaries into the uterus. And it works as follows:

-It contains a combination of estrogen and progesterone, both inhibitors of the ovulation. Pregnancy cannot appear without ovulation.

-It thickens the cervical mucus preventing the sperm from entering the uterus.

-It modifies the lining in the uterus making it unsuitable for the implantation of the egg.

The birth control pill has to be taken daily, preferably at the same hour, for twenty one days. There is no administration for the last seven days of the menstrual cycle, and it is within this interval that the period appears. The pills are available either in 21 or in 28 pill packages. The last seven pills in the 28-pill package are inactive as they contain no hormones.

As for the advantages of the birth control pill, they are pretty numerous.

-The bleeding is consistently reduced.
-The pre-menstrual discomfort disappears.
-Fertility is preserved, and it is totally reversible when you stop taking the pill.
-Hormonal imbalances may be treated.
-It prevents some forms of cancer.

There is one special kind of birth control pill that contains active hormones for 12 weeks and then inactive pills for a week. This means that you will have a bleeding once every three months.

Yet, another type of birth control pill is the mini-pill. It contains progesterone only, and it has to be taken daily without any interruption, preferably at the same time every day regardless of whether you have sex or not. The efficiency of the mini-pill has been reported as inferior to the combined birth control pill.

The normal efficiency of the birth control pill is very high, with only 8 couples out of 100 reporting a pregnancy during the treatment. When taking the pill at random hours or when forgetting to use it daily, the efficiency drops. Plus, there are some individual factors at work here, and they also influence the efficiency of the medication.

For example, the birth control pill may not work properly when drugs or herbal supplements are administered in parallel. Moreover, the incidence of side effects should not be overlooked. Read carefully about the possible adverse reactions to the birth control pill, as well as the health conditions that make the use of the pill very risky. Stick doctor's orders for the administration of the birth control pill!