Debunking myths about contraceptives

Contraception is a topic which people often hesitate to discuss, making it more complicated, creating a lot of confusion and they often end up doing witless things. Therefore, it becomes more important to clear the doubts that women are unaware of

Contraceptives or birth control can be used to prevent pregnancy since the contraceptives available are barrier contraceptives like condom, birth control pills or OC pill (oral contraceptive pills) or EC pill (emergency contraceptive pills), IUCD’s (Intra Uterine Contraceptive Devices) like Copper T and injectable contraceptives. It is best to speak to your gynaecologist to figure out which method is best suited for you.

Debunking myths about contraceptives  (cottonbro)

Contraception is a topic that people often hesitate to discuss which makes it more complicated, creates a lot of confusion and they often end up doing witless things therefore, it becomes more important to clear the doubts that women are unaware of the consequences and of the things which are untrue and thereby live their life fearlessly. Most myths surrounding the sexual and reproductive health of women are based on superstition, lack of scientific knowledge, stigma and gender-based discrimination hence, it is important to debunk the prevailing myths because otherwise the problem may be treated for a while but it would continue to recur with increasing severity.

More than 200 million women worldwide use oral contraceptive pills, which are reportedly safe with no scientific link to causation of cancer. Quite on the contrary, they help reduce the risk of certain cancers in women such as ovarian and uterine cancer and it has been shown that the longer a woman uses the pill, the lower her risk of these cancers.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr T Shilpa Reddy, Consultant - Reproductive Medicine at Milann Hospitals in Kumara Park, highlighted, “Some of the myths which women often end up believing are that they will gain a lot of weight if they take pills, contraception gives cancer, ruins natural fertility, it works as soon as one takes it, puts a stop to STI’s, older people do not need contraceptives, pills cause a lot of hair fall and that there is no other birth control method other than condoms and contraceptive pill. Likewise there is no end to these myths.Hence, it is important for people to stop believing in these myths and trust scientific facts.”

Echoing that there are many myths that surround the safety and efficiency of birth control and asserting that these myths create needless fear and may deter some people from using the most appropriate birth control for them, Dr Preeti Prabhakar, Senior Consultant, Obstetric and Gynaecology at Apollo Hospitals in Bengaluru, shared, “One of the myths is that birth control damages the fertility. It may take few months for a person’s menstrual cycle to return to normal following the usage of hormonal birth control including the long-acting hormonal IUCD, the pill, the patch and the implant but there is no evidence that hormonal contraceptives can affect the fertility over a long period of time.”

She revealed, “There had been studies which have compared pregnancy rates following the use of various forms of hormonal birth control and overall pregnancy rates were similar among previous users of birth control and those who had never used it. Hence, it is a myth. There is a myth around breast feeding being a superlative form natural contraception. It may prevent pregnancy if the woman is within 6 months of delivery, has not had a menstrual cycle and the baby is exclusively breastfed. All these three criteria have to be met for it to be an effective method of contraception.”

Talking about the myth around a woman’s unsafe period or the time to get pregnant is limited to single day, she contradicted and said, “In a woman, the menstrual cycle is regulated by FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone. The delicate balance of the hormones regulates the release of the egg. Now while a woman’s cycle is more or less regular most of the time, the balance of these hormones can be disrupted by various factors like age, stress, medications. So, to pinpoint the time of ovulation accurately might not be possible in every psyche. That’s why we see lots of failures of contraception happening when people follow the method of safe period.”

Dr Preeti Prabhakar added, “There are myths on women consuming contraceptive pills where they may experience health issues in terms of hair loss or weakness and fatigue. The fact is a woman may experience short term side effects like changes in the bleeding pattern or nausea. But it is not a sign of illness. There are also myths on gaining weight on consuming hormonal contraceptives. But various studies shows that either they do not cause any weight gain or the average users gain only 1 or 1.5 kgs of weight.”

She concluded, “Lastly there is also a myth about contraceptive pills causing cancers. There has been research which shows that it reduces risk of certain gynaecological malignancies like ovarian and endometrial cancers. There has been some research which has pointed out to slight increase in breast and cervical cancers but it cannot be considered because it is not done appropriately in large numbers.”