Not The Only One Who Hates The Pill

Yay for diaphragms:

My experience was more comical than complicated. My gynecologist looked at me like I wanted to wear a chastity belt. I had tried five different Pills in my life and I refused to experiment with another. So she finally agreed to fit me for a diaphragm and pulled a brochure out from the bottom drawer of her desk and dusted it off and said 'Well this is old, but I am sure not a lot has changed.' The pharmacist also gave me a lot of attitude and said the prescription would take a week to fill, rolling his eyes when I gave him the script.

I have heard stories from the friends who I have convinced to try a diaphragm, and then needed to go to three different doctors before they could find one that would fit it. We are told the diaphragm is not effective, but it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you speak to women older than us, we can see this is not the case. My mother used a diaphragm for years without an issue. I had to get used to using it – how it felt to put it in, which angle would work for me, but that took about a week to two weeks. The bigger barrier (no pun intended) was getting over my fear that it wouldn’t work and trusting myself to use it properly. Nothing I had heard about the diaphragm was true – it wasn’t excessively messy, it didn’t adversely effect my sex life. It can be put in ahead of time. It is wonderful!

Women just don't often trust anything other than the Pill to prevent pregnancy. There's a certain amount of superstition that comes in to trying to avoid getting pregnant. You put your faith in one method or another. Being more in control of the process and taking responsibility for what happens can be scary. It's amazing that we have this one size fits all Pill where someone who is 4'10'' and 95 pounds takes the same one as someone who is 6'2'' – that doesn't seem right. The fewer women that use the diaphragm and the fewer doctors that know how to fit it - the less effective it will be. Women are not getting access or the quality of care to use other methods properly.

I didn't mention but I got a lot of attitude when I was filling out my prescription for a diaphragm by a female pharmacist. Glad to see my layman approach to the pill is getting some scientific backing.