What You Should Know About The Long-Term Side Effects Of Birth Control

Jolene Brighten, NMD, is a naturopathic medical doctor, a leading expert in post-birth-control syndrome, the author of the new book Beyond the Pill, and a member of the mbg Collective. After struggling with post-birth-control symptoms like cystic acne and amenorrhea—and hearing her doctor say she was the only person ever to experience it—she decided to make women's health her life's work. Now, she has patients reaching out to her every single day saying "You're the doctor who believes women's birth control stories."

This week on the mbg podcast, I sat down with Jolene to talk about how we should be addressing the rarely talked about but long-term side effects of taking hormonal birth control. She explains the science behind what the pill is doing to our health and the implications it could have on future fertility.

We also discussed why women are starting to look for other options, beyond just oral contraception. "While 100 million women are using oral contraceptives currently in the world, we are seeing a decline in the number of the new generation that is coming of age," says Jolene. We talk about why we are seeing this trend, and it comes down to people listening to what their bodies are saying.