Birth control pills have adverse impact on babies, mothers: govt

The Union health ministry has admitted that excessive use of birth control pills can adversely impact the health of mothers and babies and said that counselling of women is being done on the effects of the drug.

Updated on: Sep 11, 2013, 01:34:06 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

The Union health ministry has admitted that excessive use of birth control pills can adversely impact the health of mothers and babies and said that counselling of women is being done on the effects of the drug.

In a reply to Right To Information application filed by Pune-based Vihar Druve, the ministry said that excessive use of the birth control pills can adversely impact health of the newborn as it can alter hormonal cycle of the user. The government’s scientific health body the Indian Council for Medical Research in its reply admitted that it does not have any data on abnormal children born due to of excessive use of birth control pills. But, agreed that it was a problem and said that the government has taken steps to prevent misuse of the birth pills.

The council said that the government has issued detailed guidelines for health providers regarding use of birth control pills especially in cases of women whose foetus can be damaged. “The health providers are trained to take history of drug intake (which can harm the foetus) from the women at the time of registration,” the ICMR said the reply.

The council also said the guidelines also provide that no drug should be administered to a pregnant woman without advice of a doctor and all companies have been asked to clearly print the possible adverse impact of the birth control pills on the packs.

The guidelines say that use of birth control pills can lead to cardio-vascular problem in women above the age of 35 and can cause headache and bleeding between menses. It says that women with heart problems, diabetes and bleeding disorders should avoid taking the drugs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.