British women will no longer be advised to take a break in the pill every month

For decades, women taking contraceptive pills have been advised to take a seven-day break every month to trigger withdrawal bleeding, but in the UK this is about to change. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH) has updated its guidelines to reflect the fact that there is no known benefit to having this break – and no medical reason to not take the pill every day of the month.

"It should be made clear to women that this bleeding does not represent a physiological menstruation and that it has no beneficial effect on health," say the authors of the new guidelines.

According to a survey conducted between 2010 and 2012, more than a third of Britons aged 16 to 44 had used oral contraception in the past year. The majority use the combined oral contraceptive pill, which is usually provided in packs of 21 active pills and seven pills of sugar (placebo) to trigger monthly withdrawal bleeding. Less common but also available are brands like Seasonale that contain more active pills and fewer placebo pills, resulting in fewer withdrawal bleeds a year.

However, aside from a significant risk of bleeding, which usually decreases over time, there is no real reason to have withdrawal bleeding, period.

"It's not really necessary to take a break from the contraceptive pill for withdrawal bleeding, there's no harm in skipping this break or taking the combined oral contraceptive pill continually," he said. Karin O. Sullivan, clinical manager at FPA, a UK-based charity for badual health, has already explained to IFLScience.

This seems to be the general consensus of today's gynecologists and yet the medical guidelines have not changed to recognize this fact. Or the fact that one of the main reasons it was added was to please a man, especially to the pope.

Indeed, although there is nothing wrong with having withdrawal bleeding as such, some women actually benefit from taking active pills continuously, for example, if a health problem as endometriosis or dysmenorrhea is involved. Even people with less severe menstrual symptoms may find it more comfortable to ignore or shorten the monthly bleeding. A study conducted in 2014 found that women taking the pill had consistently fewer headaches and less fatigue, bloating, menstrual pain and bad irritation than those who took breaks.