What is the minipill?

The anticonceptive pill It began to be used in the 60s of the last century and has been evolving since then. The first birth control pills had high doses of estrogens and progesterone and therefore they had more side effects than the current ones, with a risk of thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases much higher than the current ones.

Since then, research has been carried out on obtaining effective contraceptive pills with the minimum amount of hormones. This has been how it has developed the minipill which is composed only of hormones of the family of the progesterone. This avoids the estrogen that is responsible for most of the possible serious side effects of the combined drugs (estrogens and progesterone).

How do minipills work?

These pills work somewhat differently from those that combine estrogen and progesterone. The ovulation inhibiting effect of the minipills is minor, but adds two more contraceptive effects. The first is an increase in the thickness of the cervical mucus, making a barrier effect more difficult for the sperm to overcome.

The minipill produces a thinning of the endometrium, the innermost layer of the womb where a possible fertilized ovum would implant, so if fertilization had occurred, the implantation would not find a favorable environment to evolve correctly.

When is the minipill recommended?

We have already said that combined contraceptives increase the risk of cardiovascular and thrombosis, but the minipill has a much lower cardiovascular risk. For this reason, it can be indicated in women over 40 years of age or in younger women with other risk factors such as obesity, smoking or diabetes.

It usually has a lower incidence of as a side effect and therefore in migraineurs women it is usually a good contraceptive option. Specialist in gynecology and obstetrics