It’s hard enough trying to fight the current stereotypes of todays world when trying to help my clients feel positive about their femininity and their monthly cycles… now we have this. Tell me why I would want to stop myself from ever bleeding again, forcing my body to constantly think I am pregnant, and pretending that I don’t cycle with the moon? And with research results like this, it sounds just peachy!
“Women who use Lybrel would not have a scheduled menstrual period, but will most likely have unplanned, breakthrough, unscheduled bleeding or spotting,” Shames said. The bleeding can last four to five days and may persist for a year…”
Maria!!!! Hi!!!! I’ve missed your ramblings and OH MY WORD your house is amazing!!! I can’t wait to see the finished project!
We are well here….adding baby after baby after baby. A bit overwhelmed but happy indeed!
Mary
I so agree. When I first heard this I thought someone had just totally lost their mind. I hope that women across america and around the world will stand up to this artificial control of their bodies by not buying into this ridiculous idea of stopping their peroids all together. My own moon time is not always the most pleasant but I would never, ever consider doing this to my body.
unfortunately, this goes right along with the mentality of scheduling a c-section when it’s convenient to have the baby with no regards of how it may affect the well being of mother or child.
disgusting.
I, too, have wondered why anyone would want to stop their natural cycles. Seems to me that after some point the body would “reject” the convenient schedule and a serious health issue would be the result. Man, it’s only a few days out of the month for most, right?
I did have a scheduled C-section though, not out of convenience, persay, but due to an incompetent cervix that wasn’t discovered until my first nearly died (in fact, he was born a 1 on the apgar scale). I often have guilt over this because I know it’s not natural.
No, a c-section is not ‘natural’, but they have been doing it since the time of Caesar (and before) to save the lives of moms and babies, and without it Shawnee might not have survived. I think in these cases, a c-section is just wonderful!! Don’t feel guilty!
Hi – de-lurking to say: EWW, ACH, WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I was a maternity nurse up until recently (with midwife dreams) and I find the whole concept of stopping periods deeply disturbing. ‘They’ don’t even know why we HAVE periods so who are they to tell us we’re better off stopping them? Especially when our bodies clearly fight this kind of misogynistic control by bleeding whenever they can break through and rebel (yay wombs!). Yikes. I’ve seen so many women who are disgusted by their own amazing bodies and this just reinforces that stuff. It makes me sad and really angry.
As for c-sections – I’m a huge natural birthing proponent but c-sections ARE necessary sometimes and the most important thing is a healthy baby. Period. No guilt needed – you did what you had to do for your baby and that is the most natural mothering there is! You gave birth, you just used a slightly different route. Birth is just a moment, a beginning. The love you infuse your baby with before and after that moment is what really counts.
Just want to say how much I love this blog – you’re doing what I hope to do someday and it’s incredibly inspiring to follow your progress. Thanks for sharing!
One of the arguments for the cessation of monthly periods is that before widespread use of birth control, and, indeed, having few children, women spent much of their reproductive lives pregnant or lactating, which halts periods in many, but not all, women. There are many who believe that we were never meant to have periods every month for 30 or so years, but that as our fmaily lives have changed so much, so have the number of periods we have. There isno way to tell if this is “good” or “bad.” I think it is probably neither; I doubt any harm can come from having more now that we would have in a different time/place, and stopping them may not be harmful wither, especially if you hate them, or have terrible PMS. Hello from Chapel Hill, Maria. This is Leigh, Ella’s mother tuning in.
I don’t know… I don’t buy that argument the we were pregnant most of our lives and that’s why birth control is similar to how we use to be. Some cultures had 8 and 10 kids, while some still only had 2 or 3. I think women in ‘ancient’ times were more in touch with their cycles and more able to control when pregnancy happened.
Good discussion point though!
I’ve heard the same argument about pregnancy and lactation halting periods and I can see that the theory makes sense in a general way, but I have two concerns with the chemical method of mimicking this supposedly ancient pattern. (Oh, and I’m arguing with the scientists here, not you personally Maria – I’m always interested in a good debate! :D) One is that the processes of pregnancy and lactation are so complex chemically that we still don’t fully understand all of the interactions that occur so using synthetics may not fully mimic the old patterns and might cause harm we won’t see until 20 years later. The second concern is cultural: we are constantly bombarded by messages that ell us our bodies are wrong in some way. All these products give us signals that our bodies are dirty and smelly and gross. Having seen the results of this I’m deeply concerned that the medical community is perpetuating this idea for their own gain. I’ve seen SO many women who are deeply disgusted and even frightened by the WORDS for their genitalia, let alone the actual working parts! It makes it so tough for them to handle all the things that happen naturally during pregnancy and birth and then they often can’t learn to breastfeed because they won’t touch their own breasts. It’s very sad and very wide-spread.
All that said, I do know that there are women who will be grateful for a break from a painful part of their lives and I sympathize. I just wish the docs would consider offering dietary changes and gentle herbal help before Prozac and hormones. Pipes dreams! 😀 I’m so long-winded – can you tell I”m passionate about this?! Hee hee
Oops – I meant Leigh when I typed Maria!! Sorry. 🙂
I guess, on the science side of it though, we have to remember that many, many people truly don’t believe that menses, women’s bodies, pregnancy, etc. are beautiful things. Most of us aren’t brought up that way. So, though there is definitely monetary gain to these pills, many of the people who are developing them may truly feel that they are doing women a good service.