contraception and menstruation

There's an argument that monthly periods for decades at a time are very far from natural, that until pretty recently (in evolutionary terms) we would have been working on a roughly 24 month pg/bf/menstruation/pg/bf/menstruation/pg "cycle".

We are, thank heavens, now liberated from this, so there's no reason not to go the whole hog and ditch the periods as well. Maybe? I'm not fully au fair with the data because I'm not allowed hormonal contraception anyway, but it's an interesting POV to throw into the mix.

For me, I don't want anything that interferes with my body.

I don't care if that makes me a luddite, I don't want it.

But it's easy for me as I don't get bad periods and pain and stuff.

I was thinking the other day how much narrower the contraception options are than they were when I was young. Barrier methods, apart from condoms, seem to be heavily discouraged - I had to go to a FP clinic to get a diaphragm, as the doc's only do injections, IUD and the pill. All of which are methods where the medical profession, rather than women themselves, have control.

I will be stopping menstruation sometime after I have my next last dc. I didn't used to mind so much when I was younger but prolapse has made tampons uncomfortable/unreliable which stops me swimming one week out of four.

I don't like messing about with hormones but nor do I like to deal with the limitations of my 8 day long periods. Its not just the swimming, although that is the main reason, I take over the limit of painkillers for 3-4 days a month which can't be good for me and I use sea pearls/jam sponge which are great but awkward as you ideally need to change them in a toilet which has a sink in it which can mean explaining to acquaintances why you are using the disabled toilet and feeling guilty when coming out of said toilet with a toddler and getting tutted at and directed towards the baby change room.