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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
The birth control pill, or "the Pill," is a very effective method of birth control — almost as effective as sterilization, in fact — assuming full compliance. Basically, the active ingredients in the Pill are the same hormones that a woman’s body uses to regulate her menstrual cycle. Today’s lower doses greatly reduce the side effects, and do a great job of preventing unintended pregnancy if you remember to take the Pill regularly. It does not, however, protect against STDs.These days, the Pill comes in two types:Combination pills, which contain both estrogen and progestin, keep the ovaries from releasing eggs. The so-called mini-pills contain only progestin. The Pill can prevent ovulation, but the primary way it prevents conception is by thickening the cervical mucus so the sperm can’t penetrate it. The Pill also makes the uterine lining less receptive to the implantation of sperm.If you use the Pill, you must remember to take it every day, and preferably at the same time of the day — say, every morning — for the hormones to work best. (When using the combination pill, the woman goes off the hormones for seven days a month to allow for withdrawal bleeding, which simulates normal menstrual flow. In most cases, however, she continues to take placebo pills during this time to enforce the habit.)The failure rate of the Pill relates closely to compliance, so if you are on the Pill and don’t want to become pregnant, make sure that you follow to the letter the directions that your doctor gives you.Advantages of the PillBesides preventing pregnancy, the Pill has several advantages, includingMore regular periods Less menstrual flow Less menstrual cramping Less iron deficiency anemia Fewer ectopic pregnancies (pregnancies that occur outside the uterus) Less pelvic inflammatory disease Less acne Less premenstrual tension Less rheumatoid arthritis Less ovarian cyst formation Protection against endometrial and ovarian cancer, two of the most common types of cancer in women When you start taking the Pill, you may experience a little bleeding between periods, which is usually a temporary phenomenon.The birth control pill now offers another potential advantage, the end
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