Different Birth Control Contraceptives

More than 45 years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the birth control pill in 1960; it continues to be the most popular and one of the most effective forms of reversible birth control. Today, American women have more than 40 different oral contraceptive products from which they can choose.

The birth control pill is the common name for oral contraceptive. There are two basic types of birth control pills, progestin-only pills and combination pills. Both are made of hormones like those composed of a woman's ovaries. Combination pills contain estrogen and progestin hormone supplements. Both types of contraceptive pills require a medical evaluation and prescription and both can effectively prevent pregnancy.

The progestin-only pills are also called mini-pills became available in the 1970s. Their use was and has been limited making up only 1 to 10% of birth control contraceptive market. This type of pills contains no estrogen hormonal supplement and therefore they do not usually prevent ovulation. To work effectively, they must be taken at a certain time at every 24 hours. Even missing one pill can reduce effectiveness to a great extent.

Progestin-only pills have exact advantages over combined oral contraceptives. Because these pills do not contain estrogen, they are a good contraceptive choice for breastfeeding women, as estrogen reduces milk production, and for women with health conditions that preclude use of combined oral contraceptives pills, such as thromboembolism, migraine headaches and cardiovascular disease. In addition, progestin-only pills do not have most of the estrogen-related side effects of oral birth control contraception: headaches nausea, and other symptoms associated with starting the combined pill are minimal. However, bleeding and spotting days during the intra-menstrual period may be higher than with the combined pills and missed pills may result in a higher chance of pregnancy that with the combined oral birth control contraceptives.

When people hear the term birth control pill, it mainly often refers to oral contraceptives containing estrogen and progestin. Combination pills contain a combination of these two hormones, the estrogen and progestin and they are categorized as monophasic, biphasic, or triphasic pills depending on whether the level of hormones stays the same during the first three weeks of the menstrual cycle or changes. Combined birth control pills work by restricting ovulation the release of a mature egg from a woman's ovary.

Monophasic pills contain the same amount of estrogen and progestin hormones in all of the active pills in a pack. Because of the uniform hormone level in all the pills, monophasics are least likely to cause any side effects, such as mood changes, that can often result from fluctuating hormone levels in the body. Monophasic birth control pills work as well as the pricier and more complex biphasic and triphasic products. Monophasic products are composed of low amounts of estrogen and for most women; the monophasic birth control pills represent a good first option. In fact, all combination products containing both estrogen and progestogen are more effective in preventing pregnancy than are the mini-pills. However, progestin-only pills are a good choice for breastfeeding women and for women who can not use combined oral birth control contraceptives pills.

• John Palsson
• 30/11/2008, 10:59 AM
• 0 Comments