{"id":1883,"date":"2017-10-15T11:17:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T15:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natural-womanhood.local\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2024-04-03T14:31:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:31:46","slug":"les-3-raisons-pour-lesquelles-les-femmes-francaises-abandonnent-la-pilule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/fr\/the-3-reasons-why-french-women-are-dropping-the-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"Les 3 raisons pour lesquelles les Fran\u00e7aises abandonnent la pilule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Increasingly women in France (my homeland) are dropping the Pill and avoiding hormonal contraceptives in general. In a HuffPost article<\/a>, independent journalist and French public radio host Sabrina Debusquat<\/a> explains why. She conducted a survey of 3,616 French women who had taken the Pill and found out why 91% had stopped at least one time. After she published the results, the media and medical professionals responded by calling women\u2019s reluctance a \u201cdefiance\u201d toward the Pill, suggesting that women are misled, mistaken, and guided by fear rather than reason. \u201cWhen we ask them, we realize that the reality is very different,\u201d writes Ms. Debusquat. Here are women’s main reasons for dropping the Pill, she reports.<\/p>\n

\"Sabrina
Book cover of J’arr\u00eate la pilule<\/em> (I’m quitting the Pill) by Sabrina Debusquat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBecause of the minor but problematic side-effects\u201d<\/h2>\n

The top reason why women quit the Pill is \u201cside effects that are [considered] benign but problematic.\u201d Among the respondents of the survey, 70% reported they experienced side effects and the full report reveals how serious and endemic these problems are: 69.6% reported a loss of libido, 53.6% weight gain, 51.9% mood disorders (blues, depression, irritability), 36% migraines, 34.2% vaginal dryness. These are typical side-effects that doctors will try to correct by changing a prescription but tend to consider a minor and acceptable part of being on contraceptives. French women are no longer OK with that. Ms. Debusquat calls modern women the \u201cno-Pill generation\u201d and writes that they \u201cconsider that beyond the risks of cancer or blood clots, experiencing reduced libido, migraines, repetitive vaginal infections and any pain that spoils a good part of their lives is not \u2018benign.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s better for my health\u201d<\/h2>\n

Women are aware that it is not neutral to take a medication. The side-effects are signs that taking the Pill is not just blocking a mechanical process within their body (stopping ovulation, changing the cervical mucus or preventing the implantation of an embryo in the uterus). They realize it\u2019s affecting their bodies more generally. Since 2013, France has become better aware of the risks of blood clots<\/a> after a high profile report of the number of accidents caused by the 3rd<\/sup> and 4th<\/sup> generation pills appeared in the national newspaper Le Monde<\/a>. Among the women surveyed by Debusquat, 6.9% had experienced a serious health problem diagnosed by a doctor and related to the pill.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I refuse to take medication or hormones if I\u2019m healthy\u201d<\/h2>\n

The no-Pill generation \u201cquestions the principle of medicating contraception and rejects the idea that contraception must rhyme with side-effect risks,\u201d writes Ms. Debusquat. More and more, a woman wants to be in touch with her natural body,<\/a> to respect it just as she wants to respect the environment. Taking the Pill means using doses of powerful hormones to interfere with a healthy process in her body: the cycle, ovulation, and a number of good effects achieved by a healthy hormonal balance.<\/p>\n

\"Sabrina
Sabrina Debusquat discussing her book on French radio station Europe 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other reasons to stop the Pill in the survey included: \u201cto return to my natural cycles,\u201d \u201cbecause of mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry,\u201d \u201cbecause of concern for the environment<\/a>,\u201d \u201cto be consistent with my environmentally friendly lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are a few more important facts from this study:<\/p>\n