Herbal Remedies for Birth Control: An Alternative to Synthetic Hormonal Contraceptives

Abstract

Background: Both women and men wish to have control over when to become parents. Birth control or contraception methods basically entail different types of mechanisms to avoid pregnancy. Making choices about birth control methods is not easy since there are many types of fertility control techniques available to avoid pregnancy. Objective: Several health problems are associated with females or males on the prominent use of oral contraceptives/pills. To reduce the side effects of these pills, nature provides us with several medicinal plants that act as good birth control pills. So this review aims to focus on the database provided in the literature to use these medicinal plants to avoid or control the severe health problems which directly or indirectly affect the health of the individual. Methods: All significant databases were collected via electronic search using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Science direct and were compiled. Results: Several common options include family planning through abstinence, hormonal methods like oral contraceptives, barrier methods, etc. Apart from this, some people who do not want to have children may opt for permanent sterilization, but these methods or pills, when taken orally, change the hormonal balance of the individual, which leads to the other disorders. Thus, this present review concludes the knowledgeable erudition on the natural plants acting as antifertility agents. Conclusion: This review article is mainly focused on the natural birth control methods to combat pregnancy and also emphasize on various medicinal active plants being used to avoid fertility.