prevention – Why the pill doesn't work the way everyone thinks it does

The pill doesn't trick your body into thinking you're pregnant. The hormones in the body are more likely to represent menopausal status.

During pregnancy, estrogen and progesterone levels increase by up to 500%! The pill, on the other hand, with its synthetic forms of estrogen and progesterone, regulates hormones in such a way that they are kept low permanently (compared to pregnancy).

The pill and its synthetic hormones often interfere with the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary axis), i.e. the brain's communication path with the ovaries.

However, during pregnancy, this axis is not “disturbed.” Instead, the increased progesterone levels and hCG levels prevent a new ovulation or the onset of menstruation.

Although certain pill models also “suppress” ovulation, it is not a correct statement that the pill merely pretends that the body is becoming pregnant when hormone levels differ so drastically.

But this myth is likely to persist.

Because the pill will probably sell a lot worse if it meant that the hormones are shifting towards “menopause.”