Weighing up hormonal and non-hormonal contraception, choosing a method for a person's needs, how the hormones work, and (Higher) fertility drugs, clomifene, IVF costs and multiple births.
What you will learn
- Evaluate hormonal and non-hormonal methods of contraception
- Choose a method to suit someone's needs and justify it
- Explain how oestrogen and progesterone prevent pregnancy
- Explain how fertility drugs, clomifene (Edexcel) and IVF treat infertility, and work out costs and risks from data (Higher)
How hormonal methods work
Hormonal methods copy what the body's own hormones do.
- Oestrogen, taken every day in the combined pill or a skin patch, keeps the level high. A steady high level of oestrogen inhibits the release of FSH, so no eggs mature.
- Progesterone, in implants, injections, the progesterone-only pill and some IUDs, stops eggs maturing and being released and makes the mucus at the cervix thick and sticky, so sperm cannot get through.
The first pills had high doses of oestrogen and many side effects. Modern pills use lower doses that still stop eggs maturing.
The rest of this lesson and its 12 practice questions are locked.
In this lesson
- How hormonal methods work
- Evaluating methods
- Higher: treating infertility
- Try it: Match the method
12 practice questions, marked as you go; about 25 minutes in all.
Key terms
Oestrogen, Progesterone, Evaluate, Fertility drug, IVF
In this unit: Homeostasis and response
How the nervous and hormonal systems keep the body's internal conditions steady: reflexes and reaction time, blood glucose and diabetes, reproductive hormones and contraception, the brain, eye, temperature and kidneys, and plant hormones.