Key Points
- Contraception can have serious side effects including migraines, chronic pain and mental health issues.
- Many women say their doctor did not inform them about contraception options and risks.
- Advocates and experts say the medical system is not adequately meeting the needs of women.
This article contains references to suicide and mental health.
Faye Kent describes her experience on contraception as the worst years of her life.
After attending a doctor's appointment due to irregular periods when she was 18, she was advised to start taking the combined oestrogen and progesterone pill.
She was not sexually active at the time, did not particularly want to go on birth control, and says she was given the prescription with no real discussion or advice about other options.
When she was 21, a different doctor told her she should not be taking oestrogen due to a family history of breast cancer, and she swapped to the progesterone-only pill.
"That is where the worst years of my life began," she said.
"I was so violently depressed and (having) suicide ideation for no reason ... when I got sad, I would be genuinely sad for about five days, which isn't normal."
When she stopped taking the pill, her mental health improved almost immediately, she said.
Years later, she found out that she has sleep apnea, polycystic ovarian syndrome and insulin resistance, which she believes are the reasons behind her irregular cycle.
She says she feels "extremely" let down by the medical system.
"When you're 18, you have very limited critical thinking skills, and I definitely trusted my doctor," she said.
"They literally didn’t even try to investigate, just popped me straight on the pill ... it was a band-aid solution and I didn't even know about these three other chronic health issues that were going on in my body."
Faye Kent says she feels "extremely" let down by the medical system over her experiences with chronic health conditions and the contraceptive pill. Source: Supplied / Faye Kent
What are the side effects of contraception?
Contraceptive medication and devices - including the pill, intrauterine devices, and implants - are some of the most common forms of healthcare around the country, but many women experience a wide array of side effects.
These can include weight fluctuations, irregular bleeding, changes in skin and hair, mood swings and mental health issues, migraines, and chronic pain.
On Tuesday, 100 women began a class action in Victoria against companies involved with a contraceptive implant that they allege left them in debilitating pain, with some saying they were left with no choice but to undergo a hysterectomy.
In 2022, two class actions over defective pelvic mesh products - items inserted transvaginally to support weakened tissue - settled for $300 million.
In both cases, women have reported what they describe as extreme side effects and complications including heavy bleeding, chronic pain, and depression.
Medical professionals say contraceptives are broadly safe, but some advocates and patients say the system is routinely letting down women and not adequately informing them about options and risks.
'Let down by the medical system'
Faye believes she was not given adequate care, and that young women in general are not taken seriously by doctors.
"The fact that I was a young female meant doctors made all of these assumptions without actually doing any investigating ... I am now 10 years behind getting the medical treatment I needed," she said.
"You should be able to trust your doctors to take your case seriously."
Kristin Perissinotto had a similar experience when she went to her university doctor at 20 years old, and was interested in the pill for both contraception and regulating her menstrual cycle.
She was given a prescription for the combination pill, and says she was given very little guidance or questioning other than a blood pressure check.
"I started bleeding very heavily, and it was unusual sort of blood ... I was convinced I was internally bleeding or something," she said.
"In terms of the mental and emotional side, I had never had any issues before ... but I definitely became much quicker to get emotional, I've never cried so much as I did on that specific pill ... it was very unlike me."
She went to the doctor again, but says she was told to "wait it out".
Kristin Perissinotto says she was disappointed in the medical system after her experience with the contraceptive pill. Source: Supplied / Kristin Perissinotto
She said that, while it was validating to get the second doctor's opinion, she felt betrayed by her first experience.
"In that moment, I felt quite betrayed by the medical system," she said.
"I knew that it wasn't right, I had brought it up to a medical professional who I thought would empathise and she basically told me that 'it'll take a while, get used to it'."
Lauren Anthes is the CEO of Women's Health Matters, a peak body advocating for improved outcomes for women's health, particularly in the reproductive health space.
She told SBS News the legal cases and extensive side effects are "really concerning", and represent broader issues across women's health and contraception.
"We know that women - particularly when they're young, but right across the lifespan - often don't get presented with all of the options or all of the information to make informed decisions," she said.
Ms Anthes believes side effects of contraception - along with women's health issues more broadly - are often not taken seriously and are accepted as being "normal".
The oral contraceptive pill was approved for distribution in Australia in 1961. Credit: Tim Ireland/PA/Alamy
"If a person starts taking a contraceptive pill, it's not normal to experience severe migraines, that is something that needs to be explored ... it's just assumed that if women are wanting to take a form of contraception, they'll be willing to accept these side effects, which is not acceptable."
Is contraception safe?
Associate Professor Gino Pecoraro, president of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, says contraceptives are generally just as safe as other medications.
"Everything could have a side effect, you can have a serious allergic reaction to any medication," he said.
He said birth control medications go through substantial testing before being available in Australia.
"For every method of contraception that is licensed for use in Australia, people can be confident that it works; you're not going to get anything approved by the department unless they have good data that has followed women for years showing that it works."
"They have to go through a number of studies internationally before it can get approved, and if it's a new product they also have post-marketing surveys where they continue to get information on particular medication."
However, he said there is "no question" reproductive care and women's health is under-resourced.
"Our Australian government has under-spent in women's health for generations," he said.
Dr Pecoraro pointed to health insurance policies, access to pregnancy termination services, contraception costs, "collapse" of maternity services in remote and regional areas, and lack of support for menopause management as examples of medical misogyny.
He also highlighted the lack of menopause leave or period leave, and the process of diagnoses and treatment of endometriosis as problematic.
"Every step of the way when you look at women's health, there is under-investment," he said.
"Something must be done about it."
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