Combined oral contraceptive pill

The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) is a contraceptive for women. It is often called birth control pill or simply "the pill." The pills contain hormones that make the women who take them infertile. Women who take the pill will not become pregnant during sexual intercourse. When a woman stops taking the pills, she will usually become fertile again. When taken as prescribed, the pills are one of the safest methods of contraception.

In the 1950s, scientists (such as Carl Djerassi, George Rosenkranz and Alejandro Zaffaroni) realized that the hormone progesterone stopped women from making eggs (stopped ovulation). After this discovery, the combined oral contraceptive pill was created.^[1] The combined oral contraceptive pill has two female hormones: estrogen and progesterone. Some oral contraceptive pills have only progesterone. These are often called the "minipill".

The combined oral contraceptive pill is thought to be safe and usually works well.^[2]

In the United States, the combined oral contraceptive pill was first given to women in 1960.^[3] It was a revolutionary breakthrough in contraception for two reasons. First, it is very effective at preventing pregnancy if it is used in the right way. Second, it was the first contraceptive to completely separate the act of contraception (in this case the taking of a pill) from sexual intercourse itself. Unlike barrier methods, when a woman is "on the Pill," she and the man are usually not even aware of it during sexual intercourse, which seems and feels very natural. The woman may be on the pill without her partner knowing. The couple can have sex at any time they wish; they don’t need to interrupt foreplay to put birth control in place, and they can feel the physical sensations and emotional closeness of intercourse without interference from a male or female condom. Unlike coitus interruptus, when a woman is on the Pill, intercourse usually ends with her man reaching orgasm while inside the vagina, which both the man and woman usually find very pleasurable. It may also make women's menses shorter and with less bleeding, as well as helping her complexion, which most women like. For all of these reasons, the Pill is very popular. In 2005, more than 80 million women across the world used the Pill.^[4] It is the most common method of contraception in the United States, with four out of five women there having used the pill for birth control at some point in their lives.^[5] Use of the Pill is different in different countries,^[4] and among women of different ages and levels of education.^[6] Both single women and married women use the Pill in large numbers.

The Pill has some slight risks for side effects. It may make a very small increase in the risk of blood clots in the lungs, strokes, heart attacks, and breast cancer. Most of these risk are small. Some women may experience mood swings, weight gain, or loss of sex drive. Sometimes these side effects are serious enough to make a woman decide to stop using the Pill.

1. ↑ Baird, David T.; Anna F. Glasier (May 27, 1993). "Hormonal Contraception". Volume 328:1543-1549 May 27, 1993 Number 21 Review Article - Drug Therapy. 328 (21). New England Journal of Medicine: 1543–1549. doi:10.1056/NEJM199305273282108. PMID 8479492. Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
2. ↑ Schwartz, Jill L.; Henry L. Gabelnick (2002). "Current Contraceptive Research" (PDF). Vol. 34, No. 6 (November/December 2002), Pp. 310-316. 34 (6). Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health: 310–316. PMID 12558094. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
3. ↑ Goldin, Claudia; Lawrence F. Katz (2002). "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions" (abstract). Journal of Political Economy, 2002, Vol. 110, No. 4. 110 (4). University of Chicago: 730–770. doi:10.1086/340778. S2CID 221286686.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} UN Population Division (2006). World Contraceptive Use 2005 (PDF). New York: United Nations. ISBN 92-1-151418-5. In 2005, there were 1,097,427,000 women in the world between the ages of 15-49, who were married or in union (living with a partner in a marriage-like relationship). Of these women, 7.5% used the Pill. However, in different countries, there are a lot of differences in how many women use the Pill. For example, in the United States, 15.6% of women in relationships use the Pill. In the United Kingdom, 22% do. In Japan, the Pill is much less common; only 2.3% of women in relationships use either the Pill or anIUD as well. The numbers for some other countries are: Algeria, 44.3%; Morocco, 40.1%; Zimbabwe, 35.5%; India, 2.1%; Egypt, 9.3%; Vietnam, 6.3%.
5. ↑ Mosher WD; Martinez GM; Chandra A; Abma JC; Willson SJ (2004). "Use of contraception and use of family planning services in the United States: 1982-2002" (PDF). Adv Data (350): 1–36. PMID 15633582. The leading method of contraception in the United States in 2002 was the oral contraceptive pill. It was being used by 11.6 million women 15–44 years of age; it had ever been used by 44.5 million women 15–44 years of age.
6. ↑ S Hamid and R Stephenson (2006). "Provider and Health Facility Influences On Contraceptive Adoption in Urban Pakistan" (PDF). International Family Planning Perspectives. 32 (2): 71–78. doi:10.1363/3207106. PMID 16837387.