Perimenopausal women still need to consider birth control even if they're on hormone therapy

Birth control isn’t just for younger people looking to delay pregnancy. Women in peri-menopause also need to think about how to avoid becoming unintentionally pregnant.

Dr. Kathleen Curley is an assistant clinical professor of OB-GYN at the University of Arizona and Banner Health. She says, on one hand, more women over the age of 40 are intentionally getting pregnant, “But I do think that there is, especially as kind of hormones and menopause and perimenopause is having its heyday, there are some unintentional pregnancies in this group as well,” she explains.

A couple reasons why she says. One, a person might feel like their old self when on hormone replacement therapy; and two, periods can be infrequent or sporadic.

“And so people often think that because they're having these symptoms of perimenopause that they can't get pregnant, and that is not true. You still need reliable birth control as long as you are still having periods," Curley said.

One way to prevent pregnancy while still getting the benefits of HRT is to use an estrogen patch and an IUD. But an IUD insertion can be uncomfortable and pain medication isn't always offered.

“And I do think that has helped as people have gone through these procedures themselves and realizing that maybe the traditional teaching of ‘there are no nerve endings in the cervix’ is not true. And I also think that with the rise of social media, people are talking about their experiences and people, women are able to more really advocate for themselves,” Curley said.

Curley said even if periods are infrequent or sporadic pregnancy is still a possibility. Menopause is defined as that point when you've gone 12 months in a row without a period.