Hey, women! To take control of our health we must be educated and/or informed. We must also be introspective, willing to see how a situation feels to us; we are the ultimate arbiter of our own beings. As women, we need insight that is true to what seems to us common sense, good science AND good health, especially in the United States, where the infrastructure to care for mothers and babies–indeed, the next generation of workers and leaders–is less than perfect for the middle class and poor, and where “pro-life” does not necessarily mean loving life. Women are in a complex situation, but that’s why we should be open to new science…and why we need to deal with our health care professionals with as much information as we can muster, and as much self-esteem as we can, because we are really special and the quest for our best care is not necessarily over yet.
A conversation with a celebrity changed the way I think about birth control—that it could be more proactive! I talked to Dr. Bronner (now deceased), of All-One-God-Faith liquid castile soap (no, I am not making this up—natural food stores sell it in several scents) fame. On his liquid soap bottles, among other things, it mentioned that the product could be used for birth control purposes. I’m like, What? So I called the number on the bottle. I asked the Doctor what he was talking about. He said a bit of soap inside the vagina would change its pH level (acidity/alkalinity), making it an environment in which sperm could not perform; lemon juice also provides this function, he told me. An acidic pH interferes with sperm motility. Sperm need a basic pH environment of more than 6, out of zero to 14. Please, don’t take my word for this– have a backup method; you should consult a professional. Later, I read that both lemon juice and pineapple juice kill sperm (see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303916477_Spermicidal_effects_of_lemon_juice_and_juices_from_other_natural_products ).
One may ask, J., you are a post-menopausal woman yourself, why make such a fuss? I respond that a) I care deeply for women and all life; b) my experience has taught me that abortion is not the best method for birth control; c) I want to tell you that for years I used not Dr. Bronner’s soap method but another form of birth control, Depo-Provera progesterone shots. They have advantages for some folks, like, for me, completely stopping my periods—what a deal! Also, Depo stabilized my mood; I have bipolar illness, and was utilizing the shots also for mental health reasons. The injections were no painful problem; after the first one, they weren’t bad. The slight pain was worth it, to not bleed and be able to have unprotected sex!
I also found a book called Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions (Francis Brinker, N. D., 1997, Eclectic Institute). I am no professional, but do perceive that women who are trying to conceive should know about and stay away from some herbs/foods. It said that eating too much watercress could cause one’s late period to start (they call substances with this type of action emmenagogues). There are many other foods and herbs that have this property! Some other emmenagogues, according to the book, are licorice and rosemary. Black pepper is an abortifacient, as are hibiscus, caffeine, and nutmeg, while saffron, sage, nettles, and St. John’s wort have both properties—inducing menstruation and causing miscarriage. (Consult medical information if you want to, here. I have never studied herbalism, but do respect it. There were healers for thousands of years before modern medicine, don’t forget that!)
Later, being inquisitive, I did e-research to discover that not only can substances placed in the vagina control the ease of conception, but foods a woman could eat could also change her vagina’s pH level. Furthermore, eating certain foods can apparently control whether a boy or a girl is conceived, as can controlling the pH of the vagina by making it more acidic or basic. There is more information online about controlling the sex of a child, and some of it may be correct; I can understand that some gynecologists and potential parents would want to reject all of it, but it seems to me that there is some science out there.
Why is this stuff not common knowledge? I talked to one gynecologist who said that the mechanics of abortion are reliable—after an abortion, they can see that a fetus is removed. I refuse to give up hope, however, that American women of the future will grab the bull by the horns here, managing to halt a birth a) before conception or b) at an early stage, if they want to. Or, if they prefer, they can rest assured that, with a little information, they will not ingest foods or herbs that will harm their developing new life!
Who said, Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food? The great doctor Hippocrates said that, and also that walking is humankind’s best medicine! Knowledge comes from somewhere; it is not always wise to dismiss history. In Hippocrates’ day, they worshipped gods AND goddesses. Apparently they believed that women could be divine. Let that be a lesson to us!
Some day women may decide to sync up their periods all over the world, or in one region; this can be done and observed in dorms and households, where women live in close proximity to each other (it occurs through smell, of hormones, I think). Would it be a good idea for universal menstruation? It seems to me that it might: holiday for a week or so, while women bleed, might make them more effective when they were not having their period. I was always able to function fine while bleeding, and never had unpleasant symptoms that some women get during their periods: cramps, etc. But this might be something to experiment with.