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Original poster

Womens healthcare and ideological interference

37 replies

RedToothBrush · 22/01/2019 21:49

www.independent.co.uk/voices/pill-women-pope-catholic-contraceptive-birth-control-doctors-health-a8740231.html?amp&utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true
Women were lied to about the pill because a man wanted to please the Pope – what else are we not being told?
With a medical research industry as sophisticated as ours, it’s a scandal that we know so little about women’s bodies

Voices
Women were lied to about the pill because a man wanted to please the Pope – what else are we not being told?
With a medical research industry as sophisticated as ours, it’s a scandal that we know so little about women’s bodies

Women on the contraceptive pill know how they’re meant to take it: every day for three weeks of the month with a break so we can bleed. Or, we thought we knew.

As it turns out, the reason we’ve been told to stop taking the pill for a week each month is because one of the men working on the drug when it came out 60 years ago was a Catholic and wanted the Pope’s approval. He thought he’d get the Pope on board with oral contraceptives if it could mimic a woman’s natural cycle, still making her bleed once a month. The Pope, being the Pope, did not approve and the man renounced Catholicism, but that’s another story.

Now, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) has said that there is no medical benefit to having that week off the pill. There is no reason – other than a man’s sanctimonious whim – to bleed each month.

In fact, the FSRH has confirmed that it’s safer to take the pill every day because it increases protection against pregnancy. From now on, NHS doctors will advise women on the pill to take it continuously.

Wow.

OP posts:
SkylightAndChandelier · 23/01/2019 09:27

I was told it was possible, but to only do it occasionally - and this was by doctors in 3 different countries.. so yes, hearing officially that it's fine is good, and having it hidden for 60 years is appalling. Mind you I'm past the age for the pill now, so it's all a bit late for me.

Sarahandduck18 · 23/01/2019 07:58

I always did take my packs back to back. The break seemed daft

Cwenthryth · 23/01/2019 07:45

So is it a fallacy that taking the Pill continuously can dangerously thicken the endometrium and lead to uterine cancer?

From personal experience I found that back-to-backing repeatedly lead to a decidual cast although I don’t think there’s any evidence that decidual casts are associated with any other health issues other than wtf-just-came-outta-me-itis, which is just because of poor understanding/education around female reproductive health in general really, isn’t it. So thicken the lining, yes, that’s exactly what it does. Lead to cancer, I’m not convinced that’s evidenced.

Google ‘decidual cast’ and it’s all about how rare they are, but I’ve seen plenty of threads on MN posted by panicked women only to be reassured by plenty of others that it’s happened to them. I suspect a lack of specific research into true incidence combined with under reporting might mean they’re not that rare at all in certain circumstances. The other theme on google is ew how gross which tbh come across as misogyny for entertainment to me.

Anyway - this pill revelation was all over Twitter a few days ago too - the aspect of the conversation I found most interesting was the posters saying they already knew this, yeah isn’t it bad, ah well. The seeming lack of anger at the manipulation of women to appease patriarchal doctrine. I don’t know what to do or say about that really, but it’s depressing!

JellySlice · 23/01/2019 07:14

So is it a fallacy that taking the Pill continuously can dangerously thicken the endometrium and lead to uterine cancer? This Catholicism story sounds so bizarre that I'd worry it was urban myth. I'd want empirical evidence that the cancer risk was untrue, before changing how I took the Pill. I was told by a specialist to aim for 3-4 periods a year, to balance comfort with safety.

FloralBunting · 23/01/2019 00:42

Yup. Completely ridiculous nonsense that I am sure many Catholics find baffling. I mean, ok, the guy thought that he might convince the pope and he didn't, and he left the church over it. Ok. That's really unfortunate. But to actually keep the damned system in place for no reason at all, not even a wrong headed attempt to curry favour which is a shitty reason? I wish i could say I was shocked, but I'm pretty much getting beyond that ability now.

MargueritaPink · 23/01/2019 00:04

I took the pill scrupulously and to the letter of the instructions and it worked perfectly. Having a light period every 4 weeks was reassuring it was working.

If I had been taking it continuously I would have done a pregnancy test every few weeks. I vaguely recall I was on one continuous brand at one point and in fact did do pregnancy tests.

adultFemaleElf · 22/01/2019 22:56

Yep I heard this many years ago from a guy who worked in pharmaceuticals - I think it was well known in the industry but not made very public.

failingatlife · 22/01/2019 22:45

www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/380684/

Interesting article from The Atlantic.

failingatlife · 22/01/2019 22:21

I thought this was more commonly known. I read an article many years ago in cosmo (I think). As a lapsed Catholic Iyoung woman taking the pill I was furious! Angry

SonicVersusGynaephobia · 22/01/2019 22:12

Whaaaat.

I used to not have a week break with my pill (to avoid sickness) and my (male) GP used to give me a really hard time for it.

Dragon3 · 22/01/2019 21:54

What?!

Kettleon80 · 22/01/2019 21:50

Absolutely fucking unbelievable