Africa-Press – Lesotho. According to research, birth control has been practiced since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only became available in the 20th
century. This is the use of contraceptives, anticonception and fertility control medication with the aim to prevent pregnancy. In a bid to find rational
over the common myths attached to birth control, Informative Newspaperreached out to a Sexual and Reproductive Health (SHR) Professional – Lesotho Planned Parenthood Association
(LPPA) Nurse Paramente Masakale. Masakale explained that there are nine types of contraceptives; Condom, Oral contraceptive pills, Intrauterine
Device (IUD), Contraceptive Implant, Contraceptive Injection, Emergency Contraception Pill (Morning After Pill), Contraceptive Ring and Diaphragm. He stated that effectiveness of these contraceptives depends more on the user,
saying if one take the pills in the morning, they need to be consistent with the time. “It also depends on which drugs or medication one is in-taking by
that time because there are some interactions that can reduce the effectiveness of the contraceptives,” he said. Masakale also informed that mothers are advised to use contraceptives after six weeks of giving birth because
they are likely to conceive if they engage in sexual intercourse. He affirmed that they do have sight effects, which differ per individual. “Oral contraceptives may cause spotting between periods.
Breakthrough bleeding or spotting refers to when vaginal bleeding occurs between menstrual cycles, nausea, breast tenderness, headaches and migraine, weight gain, mood
changes, missed periods and decreased libido,” he mentioned. Meanwhile, the paper also reached out to users of emergency contraceptives, one of which disclosed that she resorted to this method of birth control because contraceptives
made her fat. Her other reason is that emergency contraceptives do not stop menstruation cycle in contrast with pills and injections. However, Masakale
informed that morning after pills are called emergency pill because they are used only for emergencies, and for it to be effective a woman should use it
within five days after exposure to unprotected sex but the earlier the better. He also mentioned that it could happen that a woman falls pregnant still.
“We condemn the frequent use of morning after pill since it brings negative effects to the
body, it could interrupt the menstruation cycle and a woman could have prolonged periods or repeat menstruation,” he said. Also demystifying this misconception, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has noted thus; “People
claim the menstruation accumulates in the woman’s body, the correction to that is that the hormonal contraceptives may stop monthly bleeding but does not
accumulate and this is not usually harmful. Secondly, people claim contraceptives make them fertile – the correction is some contraceptives may delay return to fertility only for a short while but does not cause infertility.
There are other factors that may contribute to infertility such as frequent untreated STIs. There are many factors that may cause birth defects for example, genetic factors, folic acid deficiency, young age at first birth and
delivery in old age. The other misconception is that contraceptives disrupt current pregnancy – hormonal contraceptives prevent pregnancy, they do not disrupt the pregnancy when it has already occurred”.
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