There are many different types and effective methods of birth control a women can either self administer or have a medical professional administer. These tools, whether devices that are inserted, patches, injections, sponges or birth control pills usually contain some measure of hormones which either alone or in conjunction with a device (such as an IUD) prevents the union of sperm and egg. In other words keeping pregnancy from happening.
Birth control pills, one of the most popular widely used methods, has been available to women by prescription since the 1960's. Popularly known as "the pill" birth control pills are what's known as a combination pills since they contain both estrogen and progesterone. These two hormones regulate a woman's menstrual cycle and ovulation-- release of an egg from the ovaries. Following ovulation the egg travels down the Fallopian tubes and enters the uterus which has been preparing for the possibility of implantation by a fertilized egg by building up its wall. If the egg isn't fertilized the material sloughs off and exits the body along with the unfertilized egg.
Birth control pills are oral contraception that suppresses the release of an egg from the ovaries. This is facilitated through increased levels of estrogen which the birth control pills supply. The increased levels of estrogen causes thickening of the cervical mucus which helps keep sperm from entering the uterus and possibly reaching an egg.
It behooves women to take care when being sexually active since the only procedure that man can avail themselves of that nearly guarantees-there are no absolute guarantees in life-inability to produce or deposit sperm in the vagina is a vasectomy. The high vasectomy reversal cost, many times offsets a male's desire to take such contraceptive measures. Vasectomy reversal cost may be as low as $2,000.00 but can go as high as $10,000.00 to $12,000.00, depending on the surgeon, what type of facility it performed in (inpatient or outpatient hospital, clinic, office, etc) and what part of the country the patient lives in. While many vasectomy reversals can be done on an outpatient basis and under local or regional anesthesia this is not true for all those seeking to regain the ability to father children again. While generally successful there are those times when the reversal doesn't happen and the vasectomy reversal cost is wasted money.
Such possibilities play key roles when a male considers whether to have a vasectomy or not. Birth control pills with their ability to provide a 95% success rate in preventing pregnancy are a worthwhile consideration for women seeking an easy, reversible and fairly reliable means of birth control.
Birth control pills are safe for most women but it's suggested that those over 35, smokers and those having certain medical conditions such as a history of predilection towards blood clots, breast or endometrial cancer avoid their use. Initial side effects of using birth control pills may include nausea, headache, breast tenderness, weight gain, irregular bleeding and depression. Generally they subside with time the proper dosage of the hormones contained within the birth control pills.
Benefits of using these birth control pills, in addition to avoiding an unwanted pregnancy include easing of PMS symptoms, helping alleviate acne problems, alleviate severe menstrual cramps, providing protection against both ovarian and endometrial cancers.
In addition to the combination pill there is what's called the mini-pill. These birth control pills only contain progesterone. The mini-pill achieved its contraceptive goal by thickening the cervical mucus to keep sperm from gaining access to the uterus and possibly fertilizing an egg. It's also hypothesized that this mini-pill thins the lining of the uterus thus preventing implantation form occurring.
The advantage of this type of pill may lie in the fact that it doesn't contain estrogen and therefore can be used by those who are adversely affected by too much estrogen in their system.