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The modern birth control pill could be your safest, easiest, and most stress-free contraception option yet. New low-dose pills contain one-quarter of the estrogen and one-tenth progesterone (there’s also a progesterone-only Pill for breast-feeding mothers) packed into the Pills that put a previous generation of women at risk of having a stroke and developing blood clots, high blood pressure, and migraine headaches. “The low-dose Pill is much safer than the high-estrogen Pill of the sixties and seventies,” says Leon Speroff, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health Sciences University. Still, myths that the pill has serious physical and psychological side effects refuse to die. Here, 10 to ignore for good.

Myth 1: The Pill increases your risk of cancer.
Oral contraceptives may actually offer protection against it. Numerous studies have shown that women who use the Pill for just one year lower their lifetime risk of developing cancer of the uterine lining by half and those who take it for a year or more are 40 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer. And a reanalysis of recent studies found that women who had used oral contraceptives were at no higher risk of getting breast cancer 10 years later than women who had never used them. Because cervical cancer appears to be caused by the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, women on the Pill may have a slightly increased risk of developing that disease. “But that’s primarily because if you’re on the Pill, you may not be using condoms or other protection against sexually transmitted diseases,” explains Carolyn Westhoff, M.D., medical director of the Family Planning Clinic at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. To be safe, use condoms if you’re not in a monogamous relationship and make sure to get an annual Pap Smear to detect precancerous changes.

Myth 2: You’ll pile on the pounds.
A 1995 study published in the medical journal Contraception found that women on oral contraceptives were no more likely to gain weight that nonusers. “I put on 20 pounds my freshman year of college—the same year I started the Pill,” recalls Jean, a software designer in Pasig. “But my doctor told me I was more likely experiencing the infamous freshman weight gain.” Sure enough, at home that summer (and away from all the beer and late-night pizza in her dorm), Jean slimmed down to her previous weight.

Myth 3: The Pill derails your sex drive.
“Once the fear of pregnancy is eliminated, most women actually want and enjoy sex more,” says Elizabeth Connell, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. But not all pills are the same—at least as far as your sex drive is concerned. A San Francisco State University study reported in the February 1996 Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that women who take triphasic pills (such as Triphasil-21, Triphasil-28, Ortho Novum 7/7/7), which vary the level of progesterone, report greater desire for and enjoyment of sex than women on monophasic ones (such as Lo/Ovral, Desogen, and Ortho-Cept). Why? Researchers say triphasic Pills follow more closely your natural hormonal cycle.

Myth 4: The Pill increases your risk of stroke.
Not according to a comprehensive study, released last August by the World Health Organization, that surveyed nearly 8,000 Pill users, ages 20 to 44, and found no elevated risk. A study published in the July 1996 New England Journal of Medicine came to the same conclusion. So how did this misconception arise? “There is some evidence that the high-dose Pill of the ‘60s and ‘70s may have slightly increased a woman’s risk because extremely high doses of estrogen can cause blood clots, which can lead to stroke,” explains Dr. Speroff. In some women, the old Pill also caused blood pressure to spike—another precursor to stroke. One Pill taker of the late ‘70s remembers: “I was about 17 when my doctor put me on the Pill, and I panicked because my blood pressure went way up after six months.” Today, in her mid-30s, she takes low-dose Pill that has had no effect on her blood pressure.

Myth 5: You should stop when you’re thirty-five.
If you’re a healthy, non-smoking woman, you can stay on the Pill until you reach menopause. Studies have shown that women on low-dose oral contraceptives have no more health problems than non-users of the same age. “I occasionally recommend that women in their early 40s actually get back on the Pill, because it helps relieve the irregular periods and hot flashes that come a few years before menopause,” says Anita Nelson, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Myth 6: It prevents pregnancy only when taken every day.
At higher dosages, the Pill works as a “morning after” drug if administered within three days following unprotected sex. Although reproductive health clinics and college health services have been prescribing the “emergency” Pill for more than a decade, the US Food and Drug Administration sanctioned this usage in 1996. How it works: Your doctor will give you two high-dosage Ovral up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, followed by another two Pills two hours later. The Pills thwart pregnancy by either blocking the release of an egg from the ovaries or preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine lining. Ask your doctor about it.

Myth 7: The Pill makes you moody.
Although the higher estrogen and progesterone content of the old Pill was often blamed for causing irritability and depression, levels of the hormones in today’s version are unlikely to cause mood swings. In fact, some doctors prescribe the Pill for patients with severe PMS because of its hormone-regulating properties. “Every month, the week before my period I was a basket case,” recalls Sarah, a pastry chef. “Finally, I bitched so much to my doctor, he suggested I go on the Pill—and within two months, my PMS was gone.” There are also no studies that show a link between clinical depression and use of the Pill.

Myth 8: It won’t work when mixed with antibiotics.
Doctors say you don’t have to use backup birth control even if you’re on antibiotics. Recent studies have concluded that hormone levels of Pill users are unaffected by antibiotics. “If a woman on oral contraceptives does get pregnant, it’s probably because the antibiotic made her sick and she threw up her Pill,” explains Dr. Nelson. If you vomit after taking the Pill, use a backup method for the rest of your cycle.

Myth 9: The Pill decreases your future fertility.
One of the most common misconceptions about the Pill is that once you stop taking it, your body requires several months to return to its natural hormonal rhythm. “If the effects of the oral contraceptives were that long-lasting women wouldn’t have to take them everyday,” explains Dr. Nelson. Once you go off the Pill, you should have no greater trouble conceiving than do nonusers—you may even find yourself pregnant the next month.

Myth 10: You shouldn’t use the Pill after having a baby.
You can as long as you switch to the progesterone-only Pill while you’re breastfeeding, since combination Pills may dry up breast milk. Although this modified Pill, with a failure rate of three percent, is less effective than the combination version, doctors believe that your chances of getting pregnant are decreased anyway because of lactation’s natural contraceptive effects. One caveat: You have to take the progestin Pill at exactly the same time every day, because its effects rapidly wear off after 24 hours.

Pill Health Plusses
Benefits of the Pill go beyond mere coincidence:
· Because you don’t ovulate, you experience shorter, lighter and less crampy periods are less likely to develop iron-deficiency anemia.
· It thickens your cervical mucus, thus protecting you against pelvic inflammatory disease, and reduces your risk of developing ovarian cysts and fibroids.
· It prevents or improves endometriosis.
· Pill users have greater bone mass than nonusers and thus may be protected against developing osteoporosis.