Your friend’s wedding is coming up, but you can’t fit into the little black dress you had planned to wear anymore, and the number on the scale keeps rising. You want to ask her to help you pick out a new one, but your erratic mood swings have put a strain on your relationship. Awkward! Speaking of strained relationships, your indifference towards “sexy time” with your partner has definitely brought a Cape Town style cold front into your relationship. At least your Instagram followers still love you right? Well, maybe they did when you still used to post photos, up until you started getting self-conscious because of the dark patches on your face and mad breakouts.  Weight gain, mood swings, lower sex drive, dark patches on your face, and breakouts. Sound familiar?

To some women out there, this might feel like reading a checklist of their experience with hormonal birth control. Sure, you might not fall pregnant but the price you pay by trying to do so is a heavy one. Is it worth it?

Women want to feel in control of their own bodies and ultimately their lives, which is why they get birth control in the first place. With hormonal contraceptives,  while some women enjoy the many benefits, other women may feel like victims of biological circumstance. They have no control over the havoc that their contraceptive is wreaking on their body.

This is the part where non-hormonal contraceptives swoop into the scene to save the day and help women reclaim their freedom from the tyranny of hormonal side effects.

Should you go non-hormonal?

There are a number of scenarios where you ought to consider going with non-hormonal birth control. 

Here are 5 of some of the most compelling reasons you ought to choose non-hormonal contraception:

1. If you are breastfeeding, going non-hormonal is a good choice. Hormonal contraceptives containing oestrogen will typically reduce a woman’s milk supply and sometimes dry it up completely. To put things into perspective, how would you feel if somebody were to cut off your chocolate or coffee supply? With non-hormonal contraceptives, your milk bank stays full and so does your baby’s little belly. Of course, this is given that your lactation remains unhindered by other factors.
2. If your hormonal birth control gives you intense mood swings, it might be best to switch to non-hormonal. Living a life that makes you feel like 2 different people, kind of like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, might not be worth putting up with the hormonal contraceptive. One second, you’re happy and ready to take life by the horns and the next, you’re in sweatpants in a dark room with a depressing Coldplay number on repeat. Instead of waiting to find out which of your hormone-induced multiple personalities will come out during the day, you can just be you! Go non-hormonal.
3. Numerous other side effects from hormonal contraceptives may cause you to throw in the towel. Aside from changes in moods, hormonal birth control can cause side effects such as weight gain, lower sex drive, changes in skin tone, migraines, and nausea and so much more. If you’re thinking “I don’t have time for that”, you know what to do. Go hormone free!
4. Health reasons that make hormonal birth control unsuitable and, in some cases, flat-out dangerous for you leave you no choice but to go non-hormonal. If you have a medical history of migraines, blood clots, breast or liver cancer, and high blood pressure, you might not be a candidate for hormonal contraception. It might feel like you are backed into a corner, but hormone-free contraceptive is a pretty cool corner to hang out. There are numerous options to pick from and even more benefits than there are options.
5. Sometimes, there is no deep and philosophical meaning behind going non-hormonal aside from the fact that you simply don’t want hormones in your body. You hate the idea of putting hormones in your body, and that’s okay. If your preference is hormone-free, then go hormone-free

Are you beginning to feel compelled that hormonal contraception might not be right for you? If you are, then that’s okay because there are plenty of great options for non-hormonal contraception out there for you, and as you can see, going non-hormonal has so many perks!