When I mentioned to my general practitioner this past summer that I had been experiencing practically debilitating period symptoms, she said the words I was dreading hearing.
“Oh, well I can get you a prescription for birth control to help with that.”
I politely declined her offer, and began to do research on ways of alleviating these issues other than taking hormonal birth control. Avoiding taking the Pill was a decision I had made, not because of religious reasons (I am a practicing Catholic), but for scientific and health reasons. I would like to clarify that although my Church does condemn usage of birth control for avoiding conception, it is permissible as a treatment for other symptoms, like those I was experiencing.
The reason that I have personally decided against using birth control is because I believe that women deserve better options than taking medication which purposefully works against the natural inner-workings of their bodies. All other medications one would take — for whatever reason — are for the objective of helping one’s body work as it is supposed to. However, birth control works against a woman’s natural body to make it not work as it was originally designed to, which begs the question if it can be considered medication at all.
Veronica Arnold Smither, a Fertility-based Awareness Method (FAM) instructor from Houston, believes there are other ways to help women with health issues than giving them hormonal birth control. She explained to me that while birth control does work for some women, it opens you up to a whole host of potential issues — such as weight gain, headaches, nausea or even future infertility.
This is why she believes that instead of just prescribing the Pill for any woman who comes into the doctor’s office complaining about premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or other diagnoses, doctors should instead try to actually get to the root of the real issue. “I think women deserve to know whatever knowledge is available,” Arnold Smither said. “Why not tell women that this is how your fertility works? Let’s take care of women — and men — inside and out.”
When I asked her how exactly FAM can help with women who experience issues such as endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), she explained to me that a doctor will first start out by telling a woman to begin charting her cycle. Options for charting are wide, and include keeping track of cycle days, recording basal body temperature, observing cervical mucus or measuring urinary metabolites.
“NaPro [Natural Procreative Technology] technicians use this data to take it a step further,” Arnold Smither explained. “They focus the treatment at the point in the cycle when it would be the most effective, whereas a standard OB-GYN does not collect the data where a woman is in her cycle … because standard practice is not focused on treatment.”
The difficulty with explaining FAM methods to people is that they have a very heavy Catholic and pro-life connotation. Therefore, many outside Catholic or pro-life circles ignore the evidence on why birth control can be harmful, and why there are better solutions out there.
“[FAM] should be for everyone,” said Arnold Smither. She believes that the Green Movement should also care about the issues with birth control. “Why aren’t we going green when it comes to our own health care? … Even though there is a conservative Catholic connotation, the science shows that this is successful.”
If you are a woman who is interested in learning more about alternative methods of birth control and managing your gynecological health, please do your own research and keep an open mind. Factsaboutfertility.org is a great resource, and San Antonio has multiple listings for Naprotechnology OB-GYNs or FAM instructors that can help you learn more about your body and how to take control of your cycle without taking pills.
Although hormonal birth control might be the right choice for some, I believe that all women should have a full understanding of how their bodies work and the choice to manage their symptoms in a natural way that respects the body’s innate inner-workings. We deserve better than simply getting prescribed pills which may create even more problems than they fix, as true empowerment begins with understanding oneself and one’s body.
no • Oct 18, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Do you honestly believe that medications always work with your body? Are you actually saying that cancer patients should not take medication cause their body naturally works to have cancer? So since cancer is “natural” we shouldn’t medicate it? This is ridiculous. You want me to actually track my fertility cycle so I can preemptively prepare for the pain (a natural process) to take pain medication? Endometriosis is a natural disease for some people, and you expect them to count the days until their pain keeps them in bed for a week? Get off your high horse.
Sounds to me like you’ve been indoctrinated to the Catholic Church but are too blind to see it. I bet you think childhood vaccines are bad as well.
Short story short, your logic is severely flawed.
Hannah • Oct 22, 2018 at 4:10 pm
This article clearly states that women deserve better than symptom-inducing medication. We deserve better than birth control companies benefiting from the suggestions of our doctors. The title and references of the article make clear that the Pill is a temporary “fix” to serious health issues, merely addressing the symptoms and not evaluating the actual causes or a woman’s cycle. Giving women a prescription without any real explanation to their fertility is a failure of healthcare.
Trying to dismiss the author’s point on the basis of her faith is wrong, and puts forward no effort to resolve this issue that all women face to some degree (regardless of faith).
In addition, this topic matter has nothing to do with cancer treatment, given that cancer is a genetic disease and not medically comparable to women’s fertility.
I am not Catholic, but I know that FAM aims to educate women on the nature of their bodies, as opposed to a medication (that is so frequently suggested by physicians to young women in regular health check-ups) that changes the nature of a woman’s bodily function. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t situations in which a woman might need hormonal birth control to address severe health issues, but the prescription of the Pill is overused by healthcare providers to the benefit of pharmaceutical companies.
Irregardless of faith, I hope we can all agree that we should provide women with real solutions – which seems to me the original intent of this article.
In the last paragraph it is clear that no imposition is made on what others should do. Rather, the point is made that medical care providers should not continue to push the use of the Pill to their patients without addressing healthcare (such as FAM) that works with (rather than in opposition to) a woman’s body.
no • Oct 30, 2018 at 2:50 am
In no way did I compare cancer to a woman’s fertility cycle, I compared it to the author’s lack of understanding what the word natural means. I, as a woman, take birth control. It has saved my life. The article hopes to push a basic understanding of the cycle as treatment for periods and conditions, such as endometriosis. How, I ask, is counting the days to your period going to treat uncontrollable pain and endless bleeding. Answer, it’s not. I know every day of my cycle, thanks to my Planned Parenthood app which helps track the days of my period and records information such as, my mood that day, what period like symptoms I experienced, and if I took my pill. While this is a helpful service, the only thing that enables me to get out of bed while on my period is my daily pill which controls my period symptoms.
Yes, woman should understand their cycle, but by no means is it a cure for a natural cycle. In fact, the author and you treat the period as if it is a disease, which is sadly not the case. Natural things in the body are not always beneficial, and therefore must be treated. Hence, why doctors suggest birth control. Oh by the way, a suggestion is not forcing the patient to take birth control. So therefore, each person makes their own decision, not the pharmaceutical companies. What, pray tell, would you suggest to people suffering from their natural cycle? I hope it isn’t to count the days until they’re laying in bed bleeding uncontrollably.
no • Oct 18, 2018 at 10:49 pm
ugh
Francis Dameron • Aug 31, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Excellent article with great alternatives and if there were greater awareness of these alternatives there would be greater and safer healthcare choices. Thanks for shining the light.