Hormonal birth control is dangerous and puts women at risk of serious and unnecessary health problems. Unfortunately though, many women are not informed of these risks nor are they educated on safer, natural alternatives. In
a world that is increasingly concerned with "going green" and being
more healthy and organic, it is interesting that there is a strong push
use artificial means of family planning when there is a completely
natural and viable alternative available. Natural family planning is that alternative. It is just as effective as hormonal contraception when utilized properly, and it does not involve ingesting fake hormones and putting your body at risk in order to avoid pregnancy.
Hormonal contraceptives come in several forms, the most common and widely used of which is known as the pill. But all varieties contain some synthetic form of estrogen and/or progesterone which disrupts a woman’s natural cycle and tricks her body into thinking that it is pregnant. Pregnancy is avoided by either preventing ovulation or not allowing the fertilized egg to implant into the uterine wall, thus aborting it. According to the CDC, 17% of women living in the United States between the ages of 15 and 44 are currently on the pill, and roughly 80% of women in the same age group have taken the pill at some point in their lives. Side effects of these fertility suppressors include migraines, weight gain, decreased libido, breast tenderness, increased risk of blood clots, and irregular bleeding or spotting, to name a few. While many of these symptoms are simply irksome and not very serious or unmanageable, other symptoms, such as the increased possibility of blood clots and breast cancer, can and have proven to pose serious and sometimes fatal health risks for many women. How many women really know about the risks they are taking? The unfortunate answer is probably not too many, because we women put a lot of trust in our doctors instead of taking the time to do the research for ourselves.
The media does not help in this case, because they tend to highlight the positive side effects of the pill, such as in this article on WebMD. Planned Parenthood, a highly esteemed and trusted source for reproductive health information, also advocates the use of the pill. On their website, they do identify certain risk factors associated with the pill, but they also assert that it does not cause any problems in the long run, but rather “that over the long term, use of the pill has offered many health benefits to millions of women worldwide.” This claim is falsified by studies that prove otherwise. This one from 2007 showed that the risk of artery-clogging plaques increased 20 to 30% for every 10 years that a woman is on the pill. If such a prestigious and influential establishment like Planned Parenthood does not provide us with adequate material on the subject, how are women supposed to be informed of the consequences of choosing this form of birth control?
These risks are also often underplayed by the physicians and individuals who are recommending this option to women. Jamie Hergenrader was one such woman who did not understand the danger that her birth control posed to her health until she nearly died of a blood clot in her leg, mistakenly thinking that it was simply a muscle cramp. According to Jamie in article on the Huffington Post website, “I had no reason to worry because I had no idea what kind of damage birth control could cause.” Hergenrader fortunately was able to be properly diagnosed and treated, but many women are not so lucky. A study conducted in France in 2013 found that 20 women die every year from untreated blood clots caused by the pill, and another 2,500 suffer non-fatal blood clots, which leave many with lifelong health problems. Several women still have to take regular injections of blood thinners in order to avoid any future occurrences of clots, even though they no longer take hormonal contraceptives. Another little known side effect of the pill worth mentioning is the increased risk of stroke. According to the American Stroke Association, “Women who take even a low-estrogen birth control pill may be twice as likely to have a stroke than those who don’t….” These synthetic hormones seriously mess with a woman’s body, and too many women find that out the hard way.
The use of hormonal birth control also depletes a woman’s body of several important vitamins and nutrients. The metabolism of these pills requires the liver to use extra amounts of vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, magnesium, and zinc. Deficiencies in these nutrients can cause weight gain, mood swings, depression, fluid retention, and heart disease. This additional side effect is rarely, if ever, mentioned by doctors and the companies who produce the contraceptives. Again, women are not being informed of consequences of ingesting these synthetic hormones. Additionally, if these side effects aren’t enough to discourage someone from taking these pills, Dr. Carolyn Dean asserts that the long-term effects of most of the birth control pills on the market have not been studied. This means that we have no idea of the the effect they have on a woman’s long term health or her future fertility.
The pill is also considered to be a group one carcinogen, significantly increasing a woman’s risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, and liver cancer. To put this in context, it is classified alongside radium and arsenic according to their carcinogenic properties. Dr. Angela Lanfranchi is a prominent breast surgical oncologist who co-founded the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. She has been providing breast health care to women for over 25 years, and during most of those 25 years she prescribed hormonal birth control to many of her patients, but now speaks out against its use. Speaking at the “50 Years on the Pill” conference in Washington D.C. in 2010, she questions, “When is it ever right to give a group one carcinogen to a healthy woman? We don’t have to take a group one carcinogen to be liberated.” I support Dr. Angela’s view that we women do not need to suppress our fertility in order to be “liberated.” There is nothing “liberating” about disrupting a woman’s natural cycle in order to prevent a fundamental process that is necessary to perpetuate the human race through the use of synthetic hormones that cause cancer, among other things. Fertility is not a problem that needs to be solved. Many women do believe that this is the case though. They believe that by removing the possibility of conceiving a child from the sexual act allows women to go to college, advance their careers, and ultimately have more control over their own lives. But is increasing your risk of cancer in order to achieve this end really liberating? No. We women deserve more than that. We deserve a better, natural way to take control of our fertility.
All of this considered, though, I do understand that many women believe that they need to pill in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and therefore choose to overlook the harmful effects it has on their bodies. The pill is rather effective, but even then, between one percent and eight percent of women get pregnant every year while on the pill, depending on whether most women are using it properly or not. But what if I told you that there is a way of preventing pregnancy that is just as effective, natural, does not cause any of these harmful and troublesome problems, and all that it involves is a pen and some paper and a bit of self control? This method is known as natural family planning.
Natural family planning is a method of family planning that involves a woman charting her menstrual cycle through the use of one or more methods that brings about a greater awareness of her cycle and fertility. It is completely natural, safe, and effective when utilized properly. The effectiveness rates among couples who are really committed and responsible about using this method are around 90%. This is comparable to the effectiveness of hormonal methods of birth control, which is right around 91%. So there really is no difference in the effectiveness of each, contrary to what you may have been told by popular media. While it may take some effort to learn the methods, the benefits greatly outweigh the time it takes. There are no harmful side effects, it provides a woman with a greater understanding of her body and her natural cycle, and it actually improves a husband and wife’s relationship.
In a study on the differences in the relationships between couples using natural family planning (NFP) and couples using hormonal contraceptives, the findings indicated that “the NFP couples in this study felt that their method of family planning helped them to gain a greater fertility awareness, increased communication, provided self-control and confidence, a shared responsibility… and provided them with more ways of expressing their intimacy.” Contrast this with the results from the couples using contraception, who indicated that they did not feel like their method of family planning had any impact on their relationship. While their method of birth control did reportedly have any negative effect on their relationship, it certainly did not bring them closer together and encourage communication, as in the case of the NFP couples. Couples who use NFP have a significantly lower divorce rates as well, only 0.2%. While correlation does not necessarily mean causation, these findings are still representative of the effects that the fertility awareness method has on a couples relationship.
In conclusion, hormonal fertility suppressors are dangerous to a woman’s health and are not worth the risk. They cause an unnatural imbalance in a woman’s hormone levels, which can cause several problems, some riskier and more life-threatening than others. There is no cause for women to subject themselves to this when there is an equally effective and safer method of birth control available. Natural family planning is exactly as its title implies: natural. It has no harmful side effects, is just as effective, and brings couples closer together. Do not believe the media hype that the risks of hormonal contraceptives are negligible. Do the research and take the time to educate yourself on natural alternatives of family planning. Take the time to chart your cycle and become more aware of your natural, bodily rhythms. We women deserve more than fake hormones and risky side effects. We deserve a better, safer, and natural way to take control of our fertility and our lives.
