How does Norgeston work?

This form of the contraceptive pill uses two main mechanisms in order to prevent pregnancy. It also has a third mechanism but it does not always work in some women. The pill is very effective due to these mechanisms because if one mechanism fails, there is another mechanism present to prevent pregnancy.

The first mechanism the pill uses, reduces the chance of the sperm meeting the egg. The journey for a sperm is great under normal circumstances because it has to cross the womb and reach the fallopian tubes to fertilise the egg. Most sperm do not make this journey, hence why millions of sperm are released at a time. The pill acts upon the vaginal mucous and causes it to become a more viscous like fluid, so that it is harder for the sperm to swim through. This fluid protects the neck of the womb and makes the journey much more difficult for the sperm so the chance of them meeting an egg is greatly reduced.

The other mechanism Norgeston uses is thinning the uterus lining. Under a normal cycle, the uterus wall thickens in anticipation of fertilisation. For an egg to develop into a foetus, it must embed into the uterus lining so that it can grow. It is much harder for the egg to embed into the wall if the lining is thinner so if you thin the lining, there is less chance of an egg being able to implant and you will not become pregnant.

The pill can sometimes prevent the egg from being released from follicles in the ovaries. The hormone levels trick the body into believing that it has already ovulated and as only one egg is released a month, no egg will actually be released. If there is no egg to fertilise, you cannot get pregnant. However in Norgeston, this method does not always work.

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