The combined oral contraceptive

By Dr Brigid Monda

For a contraceptive method that has been in use for more than five decades now and with major improvements to its brands, our relationship with the pill still remains cautious. Many women who use it do so with mixed feelings because so many myths and half-truths about the pill abound. Its risks are wildly exaggerated and its health benefits vastly underestimated; yet the combined oral contraceptive pill is an extremely safe and very effective method of birth control when used correctly. It is also one of the most extensively studied medications ever taken by human beings.