Informative Essay On Birth Control

As humans in society, having a child has always been a dominant issue in women 's’ lives. A child is a commitment and if unwanted can be a curse upon a woman for the rest of her life. The amount of effort from going to school and work can be stressful enough, adding a baby on top of that could impact a woman’s life in a way that may consume her will to work or go to school. Birth control, at least the pill, has not been readily available for single women up until the recent decades. Birth control can reduce the chance of a woman conceiving a child, some methods more effective and intrusive than others. While other forms have been passed just by word of mouth and proven to be just a myth. There have been many forms of contraceptives invented …show more content…
The pill was not convenient enough. From an implant in your arm to a copper insertion into your uterus. Now there are contraceptive methods that you only need to take or replace once a week, month, year, or even twelve years. This includes, the Emergency Contraceptive, or Plan B, that you can take up to three days after having unprotected intercourse. Each of these contraceptive methods contain either or both synthetic versions of the female hormones, progesterone and estrogen. Both progesterone and estrogen are produced in the ovaries, and levels tend to fall and rise during a woman’s cycle. Every month, after the rise and fall of a woman’s natural hormone levels, an egg is released from the ovaries and awaits fertilization - this window of time is usually called a woman’s ovulation period. If the egg does not become fertilized, it is released - and this is the woman’s period. Synthetic hormones are used to stabilize the levels of natural hormones, preventing estrogen from peaking in the middle of a woman’s cycle as it normally does which causes the release of an egg from the ovaries. Synthetic estrogen works to stop the pituitary gland (the master gland of hormones) from producing estrogen which in turn, prevents ovulation. Synthetic progesterone, also known as progestin, stops the pituitary gland from producing it’s own progesterone which prevents the release of an egg. Progestin also makes the uterine line thicker which doesn’t allow for a fertilized egg to attach onto it. It also thickens the cervical mucus which limits the sperm’s movement and it’s ability to fertilize the egg. Although beneficial, these synthetic hormones are unhealthy for women and have a tremendous amount of side effects, some from long term use including; nausea, mood swings, depletion of nutrients, decreased bone density, impaired sex drive, depression, and gallbladder disease (“Risks