How Does The Pill Prevent Your Ovulation Day?

Question: How Does The Pill Prevent Your Ovulation Day?

Answer:

Hormonal birth control comes in two forms:

1. One type supplies a steady level of both progestin and estrogen every day. These methods include:

• Combination Birth Control Pills
• NuvaRing
• Ortho Evra Patch

2. The other type only supplies a steady level of progestin each day. These methods include:

• Mini Pill
• Depo Provera Injection
• Implanon
• Mirena IUD

In order for ovulation to occur, there needs to be a surge of the luteinizing hormone (LH) to trigger the release of the egg. So, the steady release of hormones actually prevents your ovulation day. The presence of these hormones results in:

• No signal being sent to a your hypothalamus to release gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) -- the hormone responsible to begin the whole process of egg maturation.
  
  
• So, there is never a signal to the pituitary gland to produce the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) -- the hormone that signals the growth of egg follicles in the ovaries.
  
  
• This means that nothing will trigger the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge -- necessary to activate the egg's release on your ovulation day.

So to Recap:

• The FSH signals the growth of egg follicles in the ovaries
• The LH triggers your ovulation day
• The ovary becomes relatively inactive without these hormones present

The Result:

• Your ovulation day does not occur because no mature egg is produced or released.

Hormonal birth control will keep your reproductive system in the same phase of your reproductive (menstrual) cycle on a continuous basis -- all because hormonal contraceptives will continuously cause your cycle to skip the release of GnRH.

The Bottom Line:

It basically comes down to the notion that hormonal birth control works by suppressing the two key hormones that are involved in your ovulation day: FSH and LH.

These two hormones begin to be produced when the body notices a shortage of estrogen and progesterone. Hormonal birth control provides just enough of these synthetic hormones to prevent the stimulation of FSH and LH production. Keeping estrogen and progesterone levels constant produces constant levels of FSH and LH, which keeps the egg from ripening and maturing -- thus the egg is never released, so your ovulation day does not occur.

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