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Women who are on the birth control pill come to a FertilityCare Practitioner for a variety of reasons. The most common include:
They are unhappy with the side effects of the pill and want to continue avoiding pregnancy without the artificial hormones
They have been taking it to “manage” a health condition and need help
For moral/ethical reasons
In our experience, women are very often prescribed the birth control pill as means to manage a health condition. This can be anything from PCOS, endometriosis, difficult cycles, irregular cycles, acne, depression, the list goes on. It’s very important to understand this: the birth control pill does not fix ANY health condition. Sometimes women experiencing reproductive health problems feel better on the pill because the consistent artificial hormone level provided by the pill masks their symptoms. But the reality is, when they stop taking the pill, that health problem will still be there. Physicians trained in NaPro Technology have the desire to truly help women by addressing the underlying cause of their health conditions. Why are they having such terrible periods? Terrible pain? How can we address and manage their PCOS or endometriosis to vastly improve their quality of life. Giving a woman experiencing a health crisis the pill to mask their symptoms, temporarily and artificially make them feel better and sending them away is a bad band aid and an affront to the dignity of women. Women deserve better health care. But, diving into these health conditions and NaPro Technology is another post for another day. The important thing to understand is that you will not fix your health with the pill.
If you are interested in coming off of the birth control pill for any reason, the first step is to contact a FertilityCare Practitioner (FCP) and schedule an Introductory Session so that you can get the information and materials to start charting your fertility. Your FCP can gather information about your situation and your history to determine if a physician may need to be involved in helping you discontinue the pill. Most often, if a woman needs help managing a health condition, a NaPro physician will like to see about 3 months of her charting before seeing the patient to lay the groundwork for a plan of care.
When coming off of the birth control pill, you may be anovulatory (your body may not ovulate) for a short or long period of time. You can still effectively chart with the Creighton Model during this time. As your fertility normalizes, you may experience a lot of cycle irregularity and anxiety in making this big change in your health - your FCP is with you every step of the way to help support you and guide you through this process. It is important that women feel empowered to take control of their health and to feel that they have the resources to achieve true reproductive health. Groesbeck FertilityCare Center would love to help you in the journey!
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