THE COMBINED ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE PILL: “THE PILL”
It is difficult to understand how such an innocent looking little tablet could be the centre of so much controversy. In the twenty or more years since being introduced ‘the pill’ has been seen as a major determining factor in social change, as the liberator of women, the instrument of the Devil, the supposed cause of every discomfort, disease and cancer experienced by women, and more.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the pill, perhaps partly due to inadequate explanation by the medical profession. It is not our job to tell women whether or not they should take the pill; that is a decision an individual woman should make, guided by reliable information, and in consultation with her doctor. Unfortunately, many decisions are based on misinformation. A woman may make an inappropriate contraceptive choice guided by hearsay, and consequently runs the risk of unwanted pregnancy.
How it works. The combined oral contraceptive pill gives a daily dose of synthetic hormones. The hormones are an oestrogen (usually ethinyl oestradiol), and a progesterone type (usually either levonorgestrol or norethisterone). These synthetic hormones act like the natural hormones in the body. When there is a certain level of these hormones acting on the brain, the ovary does not get stimulated to produce an egg. This is the mechanism by which the pill provides effective contraception (no egg, no pregnancy).
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