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Women look beyond pill for birth control

Frustrated with side effects or uncomfortable with the daily flow of hormones into their bodies, some Canadian women have stopped using the tiny birth-control pills that ushered in an era of reproductive freedom.
Vanessa Richmond, a 36-year-old from Vancouver, said she went off the birth-control pill a decade ago because she never felt "quite right."
"Health-wise, I couldn't quite put my finger on it," Richmond said. "I talked to my doctor about my side effects, and she said there was no data at all to support what I was reporting. But regardless of those very non-serious side effects, I just didn't like the idea of the pill - the idea of taking something each day that fools your body."
Richmond said she wanted to be more in touch with her body and monthly cycle, although this isn't necessarily the most common reason women have stopped taking the pill. Some may be concerned about new research on its health implications.
A study from Texas A&M University made public last March found young women taking oral contraceptives were less likely to build muscle mass when compared with women who weren't taking the pill.
Several studies have highlighted the side effects of the Depo-Provera shot, a progestin-only birth-control injection that causes a loss of bone density in the women who use it.
Although often used for reasons other than pregnancy prevention, including acne and endometriosis, the pill has also been associated with a lower sex drive.
Oral contraceptives in Canada are still very popular. But the continued popularity of the pill doesn't indicate it is the best form of birth control for women, said Laura Wershler, executive director of Sexual Health Access Alberta in Calgary.
Instead, she said, it indicates women don't know enough about their options.
"What I see in our communities is an absolute failure to move beyond the idea that hormonal birth control is the be-all and end-all," Wershler said. "What's happening is we're not developing support programs and advocacy for women looking for non-hormonal methods."
Natural family-planning methods, or fertility-awareness methods, whereby a woman determines the fertile and non-fertile times of her monthly cycle, aren't often taken seriously by physicians, she added.
"There's this lack of knowledge and understanding within my own field," Wershler said. "Women are going to sexual health clinics and being laughed off by the doctors and clinics for looking for alternatives."
Geraldine Matus has seen a surge in the number of women interested in learning the Justisse method, a type of secular natural family planning she teaches from Edmonton.
"Most of the people who come to us are coming because they want to come off the birth-control pill and want to understand their cycles," she said. "Many women are not well informed."
But natural family planning is often stigmatized by the belief it is used only by couples or the religiously devout, or is simply not effective, Matus said.