Birth control pills, a daily oral medication taken to prevent pregnancy, work by introducing extra hormones into the female body that prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs, a process called ovulation. According to Planned Parenthood, this medication also thickens cervical mucus, which blocks sperm from making its way to an egg if the fallopian tubes do release one. A variety of birth control pill options exist, and the highest rated types do more than just prevent pregnancy.
Lybrel
Lybrel, in addition to preventing pregnancy, reduces the number of times each year a woman menstruates to just once during a 12-month period. One of the highest rated birth control pills on the "Marie Claire" website, which ranked birth control pills according to the benefits they afford, this medication received the first approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a birth control pill meant to prevent bleeding on a monthly basis. Lybrel users take a daily pill each day of the month, instead of either ceasing pill use for one week or taking a week of inactive pills.
Yaz
Yaz, one of the highest selling birth control medications, gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD. PMDD presents with irritability, moodiness, bloating, fatigue, headaches and muscle aches. This medication does not prevent PMDD in all users. MinnPost reports that Bayer HealthCare, the manufacturer of Yaz, claimed in 2006 that Yaz also helped to clear acne, a use not cleared by the FDA. Despite a variety of lawsuits filed by users accusing Bayer of not disclosing all side effects, Yaz remains a highly-rated and high-selling birth control pill option.
Ortho Micronor
Ortho Micronor offers a progesterone-only pill option for women. Unlike birth control pills that combine estrogen and progesterone, progesterone-only pills do not prevent ovulation, working instead to block access to the egg and making it difficult for a fertilized egg to embed in the uterine wall. Physicians may prescribe Ortho Micronor to nursing mothers or others who should not take estrogen for health reasons like high blood pressure or obese women over the age of 35 who smoke.
