The UCSF Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy is throwing a 40th birthday party for the birth control pill, a tiny oral medication that fundamentally changed the way many women control their fertility and their menstrual cycles.
In addition to providing highly effective contraceptive protection for women, the pill has been liberating in many other ways, said Felicia Stewart, MD, and Center co-director.
"It gives women control over their own cycles ," Stewart said. "Before the pill, many young women suffered through disabling menstrual problems that kept them in bed in agony for several days each month, and there was little we could do to help them. For other women, abnormal hormone patterns causing unpredictable or prolonged bleeding were also a source of difficulty. For these situations, birth control pills provide a simple treatment with few risks or side effects. Women can be spared the mayhem and aggravation they used to go through."
While the event will be celebratory in nature, the party also will be educational. UCSF women's health and contraception experts will discuss: how the pill has changed since its' birth, the historical sociology of the pill and the next phase of the pill's life.
DATE: Wednesday, May 31
TIME: 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
PLACE: UCSF Laurel Heights Campus, 3333 California St., President's Room
COST: Free
CONTACT: Siobhan Hayes 415-514-1550 or hayess@obgyn.ucsf.edu
About 10 million U.S. women take the pill for birth control, according to the journal Family Planning Perspectives, and more than 50 million have ever used this method. But today's birth control pill is not the same as the pill approved by the FDA in 1960. One of the most significant changes is that pills today have much lower levels of estrogen and progesterone, the two hormones present in most pills, Stewart said. This means today's pills cause fewer side effects such as nausea and breast tenderness than did the pills introduced in 1960.
Another important innovation is use of oral contraceptives for emergency contraception-ordinary pills used in two strong doses soon after unprotected intercourse to prevent pregnancy, Stewart said. In 1997, the FDA approved this approach, and in 1998 and 1999 the first products-Plan B and Preven-specifically for emergency treatment became available in the United States. Treatment is most effective when initiated in the first 12 hours after intercourse, but can be started up to 72 hours later. Emergency contraception works by preventing ovulation, fertilization or implantation.
In addition, the pill has helped to usher in a new wave of contraceptive methods for women that most likely will be available in the next few years. These include a skin patch worn on the hip for a week and a vaginal ring that provides protection against pregnancy for a month.
"The more choices we have the more likely couples are going to be able to find a birth control method that they can use with success," said Phil Darney, UCSF professor in residence in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and co-director of the Center "One reason the unintended pregnancy and abortion rates are high in this country is because we don't have as many contraceptive choices as women in European and Asian countries have. The more methods we have, the better."
The Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy was launched about a year ago at the UCSF Laurel Heights. Its main goal is to promote reproductive health in women and adolescents.