From Health magazine
Fallen out of love with your birth control? Maybe you’re put off by the side effects—cramps from hell! unpredictable bleeding! Or maybe remembering to pop a pill just isn’t your strong suit.
Problem is, going without isn’t a good choice, even as you get older: Nearly 40% of pregnancies among women in their 40s, for instance, are unplanned.
The good news is that there are more safe, effective contraception options than ever for women who may be done having children or who are 30-plus.
Which one is best for you? We’ve ruled out the least-popular (diaphragm, female condom, NuvaRing) and higher- risk (the Patch) methods, and assembled the likely candidates here.
The combo Pill
Who can try it: Almost all women. Surprised? Truth is, a growing body of research debunks some myths surrounding this 99%–effective form of contraception—like the notion that it brings on menopause or ups the risk for some cancers. A recent meta-analysis in the The New England Journal of Medicine reveals that many women can safely take the Pill—which serves up low doses of estrogen and progestin three weeks a month to suppress egg release—right into menopause.
The Pill can ease maddening perimenopausal symptoms like hot flashes, hormonal mood swings, and irregular bleeding. What’s more, it may help prevent ovarian and uterine cancers, says study author Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Florida College of Medicine at Jacksonville. “The longer you’re on the Pill, the more protection you have,” he says. The protection against ovarian cancer extends some 30 years after you quit the Pill, according to a recent study in The Lancet. And the Pill does not cause breast cancer, Dr. Kaunitz says.
Next: Who should avoid it
Comments (8)
Why do people keep saying birth control pills “may help with the protection against ovarian cancer”? I was on the pill for 12 years when I developed ovarian cancer at the age of 32.
Camille, everyone is different. There is no guarantee that any pill will prevent ovarian cancer (especially if someone has other risk factors for the disease). Studies have repeatedly shown that there is a significant decrease in risk of developing ovarian cancer in young women on oral contraceptives.
As such a young age it is unlikely that the pill caused the ovarian cancer. Look closley at your family history. Sometimes there is no good reason or cause for why we get cancer.
I agree that it is sometimes hard to know why someone develops cancer. I’m not saying the pill caused it, I’m just saying that despite many medical professionals claiming that it helps PREVENT it, it certainly did not help to prevent me from getting it.
I think that’s Big Phama hype. They want to sell the medication. I don’t believe in these studies anymore. They are funded by drug companies.
Infect when it comes to birth control, the women are always on the line for discussion,what are re-seachers doing about men,we also want to control it not by wearing condons or any other means, but by taking pills that can make the sperms very weak not to fertilize the egg.Thanks.
Well, color me surprised, but I was not aware that NuvaRing was a “least-popular” option. Last time I checked, NuvaRing provided a consistent and low level of hormones that has, for me at least, far fewer side-effects than the variety of pills trotted out in the article. While more expensive than its blister-packaged sisters, NuvaRing is reliable, easy to use, and calls on me to have good memory only once a month. Perhaps NuvaRing’s manufacturer didn’t pony up enough sponsorship dough to be given a fair shake in this article.
The pill is not the be-all, end-all of birth control. As a woman over 30 who has spent her entire adult life jumping the reproductive hoops, I know this for a fact.
I was on the first episode of Wifeswap. I love kids. Who needs birth control when you can just have more kids?