Know the need, history and types of birth control pills available to prevent unplanned pregnancy

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Need for birth control in today’s world

With the rapid growth of the population in the world as well as the increased sense in general awareness for HIV/AIDS, has forced to think on birth control methods. The current world’s population is estimated to be around 6.4 billion with annual growth of 76 million and hence, it is estimated to reach 9 billion by year 2050. In next two decades, world’s two highly populous countries, China & India are expected to reach the population of 1.5 billion each i.e more than one third of the total world population of that time. It is alarming situation for the world to control this “population explosion”. Therefore, United Nations are urging countries specially highly populated countries to control their population.

As per the survey report for birth control methods if applied in 169 countries, 137 million women willing to delay their contraceptives, 64 million women are using less effective birth control measures. If these women are helped with adequate birth control treatment (like pills, condoms), 23 million of unplanned births, 22 million induced abortions and 1.4 million infants could be avoided as estimated by United Nations Population Fund.

Besides population, HIV/AIDS is also very important factor forcing the need for birth control. An estimated, world has 38 million people have either AIDS or infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). In seven African countries, one out of 5 adults is infected with HIV. Birth control methods are, therefore, become imperative to control further spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in these countries. The population in these countries is projected at 35% lower by 2025 free from HIV/AIDS. It will further reduce the total life expectancy by an average of 29 years in these countries.

History of Birth Control

200 AD, Greek gynecologist Soranus said that women become fertile during ovulation. He suggested some birth control tips for women to avoid unwanted pregnancy like smearing olive oil, pomegranate pulp, ginger, or tobacco juice around vagina to kill sperm, drinking water used by blacksmith to cool hot metals and jumping 7 times backward after the sexual intercourse. Many birth control methods like ayurvedic treatments used centuries ago (aside from sexual abstinence). However, there are some historical records of Egyptian women are found who were using some herbal or acid substances like crocodile dung or lubricants like honey or household olive oil as vaginal suppository, which they may have found effective at killing sperm.

However, commercial use of birth control method started in 1960 in the form of birth control pill. It was in 1950, when Planned Parenthood Federation of America invited biologist Dr. Gregory Pincus to develop oral contraceptive pill that would be harmless, universally acceptable and safe for husband and wife. After under going many tests with more than 6,000 women in Puerto Rico and Haiti , it was 1960 when the first commercially produced birth control pill called Enovid-10 was introduced to women in USA . This first oral contraceptive was made with two hormones Estrogen (100 to 175 microgram) and Progestin (10 mg). They were proved to be 99% effective if taken as directed. With estimation, more than 18 million women in US are relying on birth control pills

Types of birth control pills

Unlike the decades old oral contraceptive pills (which had higher number of hormones), today’s birth control pills are in low-dose forms with health benefits. So, women can take birth control pills with much fewer health risks.

Generally there are three types of birth control pills available

1. Progestin only pills (POP)

It is also known as “mini-pill” containing no estrogen. It is recommended for breastfeeding women because estrogen reduced milk production. This POP pill works by thickening the cervical mucus and thus preventing sperm to enter uterus

2. Combination birth control pills

The widely known birth control pills are having combination of two hormones progestin and estrogen. These types of oral contraceptive pills come with the pack of 21 “active pills” and 7 “placebos” , which do not contain any hormones. These are, in fact, known as “reminder pills”

These combination pills are further sub-divided into three types of pills due to the level of two hormones progestin and estrogen.

i) Monophasic birth control pills

Here, every active pill contains the equal number of progestin and estrogen. The other seven pills are placebo having no hormones. Menstruation starts when these placebo pills are taken

ii) Multiphasic birth control pills

They are also known as biphasic or trphasic oral contraceptive pills due to different levels of hormones in active pills. These pills are required to be taken at specific time in its entire pills schedule. Multiphasic birth control pills help offsetting the risks of oral contraceptives.

iii) Continuous birth control pills

it is also known as 365 days pills to be taken continuously throughout the year without the year. This is the new entry of oral contraceptive pills in the birth control market. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lybrel, which is the only continuous birth control pill approved so far and available for general women use. Women do not get menstrual period while they are under the treatment of Lybrel, however, they might find some breakthrough bleeding or spotting, particularly at the initial stage.

3) Emergency birth control pills

Also known as “morning after pills”, these are designed for immediate pregnancy protection after the unprotected sex. It is highly recommended to take emergency pills within 48 hours and maximum 72 hours to be effective in avoiding pregnancy. These are different than usual oral contraceptive pills where you plan your birth control much in advance. Emergency pills are also taken when the women are sexually assaulted. FDA has approved Plan B as the safest emergency pills. Due to OTC (over the counter) approval by FDA for women above 18 years, Plan B can now be ordered behind pharmacy counter.

This gateway is recognized in absolutely all cultures as being a significant transition in a person’s life just as reaching puberty. When we reach puberty, we move from being a child to an adult. When we get pregnant and give birth, we move from being a woman and man to being a mother and father. These are huge changes. Puberty for a woman occurs at one time … menses starts. For young boys this is not as clear a time.

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Pregnancy and childbirth is an experience that only women physically experience. There is truth in the statement ‘no one will do the labour except you.’ However, pregnancy and childbirth stimulate emotional changes in both men and women. Many cultures honour the becoming a father. Many fathers exhibit physical and emotional sympathetic symptoms when their partner is pregnant. This has been given termed ‘Couvade symptoms.’ The Pink Kit Method for birthing better™ resources have been loved by fathers ever where. They like the practical, can do approach and they can do. Men are absolutely wonderful childbirth coaches. Remember, they have all been born through a woman’s body. No woman has been inside a man’s body. And, they have the same body. Once they learn to work with the ‘pain’ of labour being part of the process (unless told differently) rather than indicating a ‘problem’; men will bring persistent and determined skills that their partners can rely on. In modern maternity care, the role of the father in childbirth has changed dramatically in the past 30 years.Up to the 1970s fathers were excluded from the labour and delivery. In some cultures this exclusion existed historically and still exists. Women were left alone in a hospital ward or room while staff periodically came in and checked them. Since the 1970s fathers have been encouraged to support their partner in labour. As an aside, there are many terms used in childbirth discussions that no one has bothered to define or clarify but we are somehow all expected to know. Do your own research and ask 20 people what a natural birth is, what interventions mean or what a father is supposed to do to support his partner in labour. You’ll discover that we use those terms to mean or imply something significant yet few people have the same understanding. Since The Pink Kit Method has been used by so many women and men, we have come to find our own set of definitions. Birth is natural, it comes at the conclusion of pregnancy. Birth is natural, so is pain, death, bleeding, long labours, quick births, tears, pain free experiences, tension, relaxation, screaming, quiet breathing and all the combinations you can imagine. Childbirth interventions can be lying down for a vaginal exam, taking a shower if you’re tense, having someone breathe with you, taking castor oil to stimulate labour along with all the medical assessments, monitoring and procedures that people discuss. Fathers, friends and relatives who support a woman can be there yet not know what to do, feel useless, helpless, a failure, know how to breathe with the woman, touch her just right, encourage her or wish someone would give her pain relief because she is so obviously suffering.Variability is the name of the game in childbirth.Yet, childbirth is a remarkably same experience for all women. (At the moment we will assume a woman will labour to give birth. Women who plan an elective delivery for personal choice or necessity can still use The Pink Kit Method. Doing so gives expectant parents a sense of involvement and closeness not offered in other types of childbirth education. Many of the skills learned are applicable.) Childbirth is an exercise in plumbing. An object will move through your container. Your job is to get out of the way of the object. In other words, work with the process of opening up for the object and ejecting it. The opening up phase of childbirth is accompanied by a series of contractions that open the diaphragm (cervix). Once the cervix is open and when the object has moved through the tube (pelvis), the contractions begin to eject the object by opening the aperture (vagina). Not one woman in history or any place on Earth has given birth by a different experience. No baby has popped out of the crown of a woman’s head after a shiver started at her big toe, moving up her body until her cranium separated. No baby has delivered out a mouth, nose or ear. As silly as it sounds, we must remind ourselves of our similarities. Instead people have focused on all the variability’s, diversity and differences. Common Knowledge Trust shares our similarities:· The childbirth preparation that does prepare our physical container to allow this object to pass through it with less trauma. · The positive birthing behaviours we can use to work through the process of childbirth even when we don’t like the experience AND in and around all medical care. · The real and effective coaching skills that help women stay focused, open, relaxed and willing to meet the challenge of childbirth.Pregnant women and expectant fathers have a specific window of opportunity to prepare for childbirth in the last 12 weeks of pregnancy. The pregnant body is beginning to prepare for childbirth and so is the baby. Our body and baby prepare in their own way but arrive at the same point together which is labour. If a woman needs or plans a non-labouring delivery, her body and baby don’t know that. They are still preparing for labour and birth. Why is childbirth called ‘labour’? It’s hard work. Use The Pink Kit Method and learn the skills to make your work easier. The Pink Kit Method for birthing better™ presents 4 foundations. The first two are presented in The Pink Kit: Essential Preparations for your birthing body which is mostly about the body preparation necessary. In order to prepare for birth, we must have a relaxed and good understanding of our 3D body. As one father explained ‘Until my wife and I used The Pink Kit, I thought giving birth was about having strong muscles to push the baby out. Now I understand it’s about creating space.’ Space creation is done in a 3 dimensional reality, not a 2 dimensional one.This means that we must know those parts of our body that are most involved with birth. Because CKT is the collective voice of ordinary people, we explain birth as plumbing: object, container, tube (pelvis), diaphragm (cervix) and aperture (vagina). Mostly we, the container, must prepare so that when the object decides to come out, we can work to open our container through the process of the efforts of our baby. The physical parts of our container must be prepared and as humans we have minds that direct us how to do that. Humans are gifted with an amazing mind. We can remember the past and even alter our perceptions or responses of what happened before. We can make plans into the future just as athletes mentally go over the event again and again, we can imagine ourselves working through labour and giving birth. When we prepare our container, we use our amazing Mind. When childbirth occurs, then we can use our minds to implement our skills in how to create space, stay open and relaxed for our child to move through us. It’s vigorous for most of us. Babies are big.When we connect our mind to our body or yoke them together then we have more control over our body and instinctive responses. For example, all professional or amateur athletes have a