What Does Birth Control Do To The Body

Millions of people around the world take birth control for many different reasons. So, how exactly does birth control work?

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When I first started taking birth control at 17, it actually wasn’t to avoid pregnancy…it was to treat my acne. But as I grew up, started using the pill as a contraceptive, and became a scientist myself, I started asking more questions about what exactly the pill is doing in our bodies.

Because not only do I take it, but millions of people around the world do too. Now, there are a ton of different methods of birth control out there. We’ve got the hormonal ones, like the pill, IUDs, shots and implants, to physical barriers like condoms and diaphragms.

The list of choices is growing and frankly, it’s kinda overwhelming. So I figured we could focus on two of the most popular ones: the pill and the hormonal IUD, both of which have a myriad of interesting effects on the bodies of people who menstruate…some of which we’re still figuring out.

#womenshealth #birthcontrol #thepill #IUD #wellness #seeker

Read More:
Reversible Birth Control Can’t Cause Infertility or Affect Future Pregnancy
https://www.healthline.com/health/birth-control/can-birth-control-cause-infertility
“But, due to the delayed fertility of some modern methods, some people still believe that today’s contraceptives can lead to infertility.”

Why Don’t We Have Birth Control For Men?
https://interestingengineering.com/why-dont-we-have-birth-control-for-men
“Another promising product was announced in 2020. UC Davis Health in Sacramento, California asked for participants to join phase two of clinical studies for a gel-based form of male contraception. A small amount of the gel is placed on the shoulder every day.”

A Vaccine Side Effect Leaves Women Wondering: Why Isn’t the Pill Safer?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/30/health/coronavirus-vaccine-birth-control-clots.html
“The comparison was intended to reassure women of the vaccine’s safety. Instead it has stoked anger in some quarters – not about the pause, but about the fact that most contraceptives available to women are hundreds of times riskier; and yet safer alternatives are not in sight.”

Editor's Note: At Seeker, we recognized that people of many genders and identities have vaginas and uteruses, and are affected by the topics that fall into women’s health.


Body Language is Seeker’s latest series diving into the world of women’s health, and their bodies. For so long, the medical field only used men to conduct research, creating a gap in terms of what we know about women’s bodies. So in this series, we'll be talking to experts to get a better understanding of some of these issues, and what we actually know about them. So join us as we discover how incredibly cool the female body is and how much more we still have to learn about it.