Many women today cannot remember a time when the contraceptive pill was not available. I’m one of them. The pill has been around for longer than I have been married. May 9, Mothers Day was the 50 year anniversary of the day the contraceptive pill became available. From that time, couples had more choice in when they fell pregnant and the number of children they have.
Yet even in the 1960s, the pill was still illegal in some states of America. It took till 1965 before a high court ruled that it was not up to the government to interfere and make such decisions.
The reason is became so popular with many women was the simplicity of it. Of course there have always been those who are against it for various reasons, yet it remains one of the most popular forms of contraception today. Millions of women world wide are on the pill. In America 1 in 5 women use this form of contraception. Does it surprise you that it’s not higher than that?
There are reasons. Despite the popularity of the pill, there are those who won’t take it because they ethically don’t agree with it, or they have found side effects to the pill as outweighing the benefits. Some side effects can be weight gain, headaches, hormonal swings and depression. Years ago it was believed that a number of years on the pill could prevent you becoming pregnant when you wanted. This has largely been disproved, often by those who have been in that situation.
Some side effects can be deadly serious especially if the woman also smokes. These include heart attacks, blood clots and strokes.
The benefits are women or, one would hope in the case of marriages, couples can decide when they want children and the spacing of those children and number of them. It’s not completely foolproof but it does give a better form of contraception than many other options. Basically the best idea is for couple to talk together first about their family plans and then together with their doctor weigh up all the options before making any decisions.
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