Contraception can be a controversial topic, but regardless of your personal beliefs, it’s important to know what your options are so you can make an informed decision that’s best for you and your partner. It’s also important to be aware of the potential side effects especially of hormonal birth control, which most doctors don’t tell you.

There are four types of contraception: hormonal, barrier methods, permanent methods and family planning (which includes fertility awareness method otherwise known as the symptothermal method). I highly recommend you read my previous post about How the menstrual cycle works and 7 signs of a healthy period first to give you some background about how female hormones are supposed to work throughout your cycle.

Women are cyclical creatures by nature in part because of our menstrual cycle. Unlike men, our hormones fluctuate throughout the month and even daily in most cases. Traditionally the menstrual cycle has been associated with the lunar cycles and seasons of the year. Unfortunately, the sacred nature of the menstrual cycle, its rituals and rites of passage from menarche to menopause has become lost in modern society, and as a result, the menstrual cycle has become a mystery and something to be ashamed of or even hated.

One of the reasons so few women let alone men know how the menstrual cycle works is because we’ve been taught that it’s gross and should be suppressed with hormonal birth control or stopped completely. Newsflash— without menstrual cycles, none of us would exist!