Natural Birth Control

One of the more popular questions I get as a health professional is about birth control. 

Women of all ages need to fulfill the natural part of being human and being a women by having a healthy sex life.  The problem is, a child is not always the intended result, and the typical birth control options have numerous side effects, health risks or are too time consuming.

Side Effects

Side effects from drugs can vary from change in sexual desire, to rashes, various forms of cancer, bone loss, circulation and blood clot issues.  There are lawsuits it seems every year on many of the popular products.  There are two suits right now; one for the Ortho Evra Patch, and one for the Depo-Provera shots.  These have caused life-threatening issues for women.

Importance of Menstrual Cycle

What people seem to have forgotten is that our normal menstrual cycle is there for a purpose.  Yes it is there for pro-creation, but it also considered by many health professionals to be another one of our elimination systems for our bodies.  When you stop this process, you are shutting down an elimination system.  Where are these toxins now supposed to go?  Hopefully women will have their other elimination systems working optimally (respiratory, lymph/skin, urinary system, intestinal system). But typically this isn’t always the case. In fact, taking a drug  adds more toxins to the party, and more imbalances that your body then has to work to overcome.  This causes other annoying or harmful symptoms, which doesn’t really fix the problem, it just created more issues.

So what does a woman do?

There are natural methods of birth control available.  By natural, it is meant there is no drug or harmful substance involved.

There are condoms; all different types of condoms are available and you can get them anywhere.  Some people have a reaction to latex, or creams often used with these – so avoid the creams or latex if you have reactions to these – and purchase more natural creams such as coconut oil or other natural vegetable oils.  There are several natural creams available at health food stores that do not contain parabens (methyl-paraben or propyl-paraben), or other substances that can cause irritation.

There are cervical caps and diaphragms. The cervical cap and the diaphragm are small, rubber devices that women insert into their vagina and place over their cervix. Both devices are designed to prevent pregnancy by blocking the passage of sperm. Also, both hold a chemical that kills sperm. If you have irritation problems with these spermicidal creams as some people do, you can try a natural progesterone cream instead (again, one without parabens) or after using the spermicidal cream you can clean your vagina with a douche of natural enzymes freshened with essential oils.   The cap and the diaphragm have to be prescribed by your doctor or nurse practitioner, as you need to be properly fitted for them to make sure they fit your specific body. Then you just have to remember to use it before you have sex.  This isn’t too much of an issue as women typically like to “freshen up” before getting intimate and this is a perfect time to perform this task.

There are also other birth control methods that require you pay attention to your body.

There is the Standard Days Method (SDM) (http://www.epigee.org/guide/sdm.html), The Ovulation Method, also known as the cervical mucus method, (http://www.epigee.org/guide/cervicalmucus.html), the most popular Rhythm/Calendar Method  (http://www.epigee.org/guide/rhythm.html), Basal Body Temperature Charting (http://www.epigee.org/guide/nfpchart.html). All these require you to pay attention to your body on levels you may not yet be comfortable with, and yet each may or may not be the most effective for your lifestyle.

The method that seems to stand out from all of these is the Sympto-thermal Method - this birth control method involves recording your body temperature every day. Since your temperature changes depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle, finding the continual spike in your core temperature will alert you as to when you are most fertile during your monthly cycle.

For this natural birth control to work, a woman needs to take her temperature every day, first thing in the morning. And by first thing, that means before you even get out of bed. This can be simple if you do it as your normal every morning routine – instead of having to do it only certain times of the month. Also known as the post-ovulatory temperature method, with perfect use it can be as much as 99% effective. To learn more about this method here is a link http://www.epigee.org/guide/symptothermal.html

For many people, a major deterrent of these methods is the amount of work involved. Taking temperatures, recording bodily changes, calculating cycle days and then interpreting everything so that you can know when to avoid having sex – it’s enough to make you just want to avoid sex all together. If you want to simplify your natural birth control methods, then you might want to consider investing in an electronic fertility monitor.

Electronic Monitors

An electronic fertility monitor is a handheld device that will indicate just when you are fertile and when you are not. Some models, like the popular LadyComp, only measure your core body temperature and will immediately tell you whether or not you are fertile that day. The need to record your bodily changes throughout the month is also eliminated. Most electronic fertility computers use a system of red, yellow and green lights to indicate your level of fertility (red meaning that sex should be avoided while green denotes that your chances of pregnancy are low). Not surprisingly, these monitors can also easily be used to help you get pregnant.

The biggest disadvantage of electronic fertility monitors is the cost. Prices range from $100 to as much as $700 for one device. However, while the initial cost is quite substantial, these devices are designed to last for many years and can save you money in the long run when compared to buying other types of birth control over the same time period. Average failure rates of fertility monitors vary according to which brand you use. Persona has been shown to have a failure rate of 6% while LadyComp has a failure rate 0.6%.

Wild Yam

There is a book out by Willa Shaffer that discusses using the herb wild yam as a birth control.  It is called Wild Yam: Birth Control Without Fear. 

The premise of the book is if you take the amount of wild yam that is best for your body – every day. You won’t get pregnant.  You have to take it every day – no matter what.  I have worked with many women in the past with this method and we have muscle tested (used kinesiology) to find what is the appropriate amount of capsules for each women to take for her specific body.  Typically for the first 3 months we want to muscle test to ensure that it is working optimally for the women.  The book also states that if you are a person that gets pregnant, on the pill, or on any other form of birth control – this most likely won’t work either.  But if other birth control methods have worked for you in the past, this most likely will.  It is important to get the right amount for your body however.

Wild yam cream does not work the same as taking the herb wild yam internally.  In fact taking the cream topically will most likely help you get pregnant rather than preventing pregnancy.

There are a wide variety of methods, devices, or herbs that you can investigate to make sure that you are achieving a varied and healthy sex life with out the fear of pregnancy.