6 Benefits of Nonhormonal Birth Control Methods
The pill, hormonal IUD, vaginal ring, arm insert, injections, and the patch are all hormonal birth control options that will stunt your natural hormone production in the body to prevent pregnancy. Many complications can occur while taking these hormonal methods, so many women opt to take nonhormonal methods. These include the copper IUD, sponge, condoms, diaphragm, and the fertility awareness method. All of these options use a more physical approach to prevent pregnancy rather than a hormonal approach. Here we will discuss the benefits of nonhormonal birth control methods.
Here are 6 Benefits of NonHormonal Birth Control Methods:
1. You can still ovulate
Ovulation is one of the most essential signals that your hormones are balanced and produced at the right time. When the ovary releases the egg into the fallopian tube, ovulation occurs. If the egg gets fertilized during ovulation, you become pregnant; if it does not get fertilized, it will follow the path down the uterus and become excreted as a period. For ovulation to properly occur each month, your body needs to produce enough progesterone and estrogen to mature the follicle in the ovary to release the egg. Stress and testosterone levels need to be maintained at lower levels as well. On hormonal birth control, your body receives artificial hormones that will turn off ovulation and natural hormone production to inhibit pregnancy. Inhibiting ovulation over long periods can elicit some adverse side effects mentioned next. Nonhormonal birth control methods restore ovulation and allow the body to continue its natural production of hormones.
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2. Avoid Hormone Related Side Effects
As mentioned, nonhormonal birth control methods maintain ovulation and natural hormone production. As a result, while using nonhormonal birth control methods, the body won’t have any side effects like unwanted weight gain, nausea, depression, high blood pressure, blood clots, among many others. These side effects are very common when using hormonal birth control methods. This is because your body may not adapt to the artificial hormone dose from hormonal methods like the oral pill and thus can result in adverse side effects. Our hormones control so much more in our body than just our menstrual cycle. The body’s stress and energy levels, satiety, hunger, emotions, and even our digestive system are all dependent on hormone balance. By using nonhormonal birth control methods, you get to maintain all these functions while also preventing pregnancy.
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3. Not married to the method
When using nonhormonal birth control methods, it is easier to stop using them than hormonal birth control methods. Because nonhormonal birth control methods do not impact our chemical or hormonal processes in the body, you can stop using them without any harmful effects. Options like the sponge, diaphragm, and condoms can be inserted or removed at any point. These methods are just physical barriers that don’t allow the sperm to come in contact with the egg in the fallopian tube. Additionally, many of these methods can not be reused and need to be disposed of after intercourse. Having the flexibility to stop the use of these methods is beneficial, especially when trying to get pregnant. In contrast, hormonal birth control methods are not as easy to stop the use of because your body has to readapt to producing its own hormones, resulting in a period of infertility.
4. Can be used while breastfeeding
While breastfeeding, you can use nonhormonal birth control methods without any harm to your baby. This is a benefit because you can not use hormonal methods during pregnancy because these artificial hormones will transfer to the baby and can cause harm. Breastfeeding your child has been shown to have a lot more benefits than formula milk because breast milk contains antibodies, natural hormones, and antiallergens that formula milk doesn’t. These components can help the baby to become more healthy as it grows up.
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5. Back-Up Protection
Nonhormonal birth control methods are a backup method for hormonal birth control. You can combine them simultaneously, or you can use them in place of your hormonal option. For example, if you miss a day or two of the pill, and that method becomes less effective, you can use a nonhormonal birth control method on those days.
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6. STD Protection
Lastly, nonhormonal birth control methods are the only form of sexually transmitted disease (STD) protection. Specifically, condoms are the main method for protecting against STDs currently. This is because condoms do not allow for sperm to come in contact with the vaginal region. You can use condoms in combination with a hormonal birth control method to protect against STDs because there is no hormonal option to prevent the transmission.
Source: NIH
