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  • How the Pill Changes Everything

  • Your Brain on Birth Control
  • By: Sarah E Hill
  • Narrated by: Nan McNamara
  • Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (421 ratings)

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How the Pill Changes Everything cover art

How the Pill Changes Everything

By: Sarah E Hill
Narrated by: Nan McNamara
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Summary

'It's time for all of us to join together to ask science for some new choices and for more information about what happens to us with the choices we have. We shouldn't have to change who we are to protect ourselves from pregnancy, and we should know enough about how our own bodies work to recognize that this is exactly what we're doing when we go on the birth control pill'

Hormonal contraception is something most women will use at some point during their life. But the reach of the pill goes far beyond the small number of targeted effects we take it for. It affects almost every system in our body.Column inches and anecdotal conversations prove there are many questions about the pill and its effects yet until now we have known very little about. In this trailblazing book expert psychologist Dr Hill reveals the latest science on the pill, and how it's changing women and the world, for better and for worse.

Dr Hill examines cutting-edge research, some of it conducted in her own lab, that shows how the pill affects everything from stress response to autoimmune disorders, mate selection to declining levels of male achievement. Some of her findings are shocking, others will simply verify things you suspected for a long time, but figured were all in your head. Dr Hill signals a rallying cry for better science - for too long women have been understudied as research subjects. Their cycles are more complicated, it's more expensive to do research on them, and scientists are under so much pressure to publish that it's often easier to just use a largely male testing pool, or one that ignores important factors for women.

This is your Brain on Birth Control will open your eyes and put you in a position of power. It provides the latest science so that you can understand the risks, weigh up the costs and make smarter, more informed choices about your health and hormones.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Sarah E Hill (P)2019 Penguin Random House Audio LLC

What listeners say about How the Pill Changes Everything

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A must read

I Wish I knew the contents of this book many years ago! But I guess it's not too late to still benefit from the research detailed here. Every woman should read this book!

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Great!

Love the concepts in the book and how there is so much food for thought flowing through the pages. It's so important to educate people on topics that pertain to their body so we can make more informed decisions. The narration was also spot on and very engaging!

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Very informative and thorough

Loved it. The author is very knowledgeable and funny. A must read for all women and men

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Very good and informative

As a male listener this book is clearly aimed at women, this is understandable but her references of “sexist bullsh*t” undermine her professionalism. There is also a lot of apologetics and appeasement when stating data/facts, she goes on to explain that this is due to emotive backlash from women who take offence to any suggestion that they aren’t entirely free from deterministic influences (the human brain and body make this impossible).

The information is perfect as I would never convince my wife to read anything like this, but I like to be informed and then feed her information in conversation.

All in all a good book that I highly recommend to all women and men who care for their partners.

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Vital reading for mothers of girls.

I never normally write reviews but feel this book has so much vital information to share I can’t recommend it highly enough. I chose it because as a homeopath I come across lots of young girls on the pill for problems unassociated with pregnancy prevention and this has led to so many other problems. I’m no endocrinologist but I have seen first hand the huge effect infinitesimal changes in hormone levels can create in a woman.

This book helped me to understand why the science is so ham-fisted and just what these pesky hormones are capable of. I laughed and gasped in equal amounts and will listen to it again and again.

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8 people found this helpful

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Fantastic

Loved it. so informative and has really opened my mind to contraception and the implications.

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Everyone should read this book

This book has a so educational and eye opening. A must read for anyone considering the impact of the pill for everyone.

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Eye opening

An interesting read to learn about a new area of women’s health research. It was written / read in a colloquial style which I think demeans the content unfortunately. This isn’t a gossip magazine - it’s real science so please present it that way but still in accessible language etc for the everyday reader. Five stars for the content though. I’ve been on the pill since 15 due to acne and I had so many light bulb moments while listening to this book. Take the achievement gap with a pinch of salt as she uses university degrees as a proxy for success which I disagree with. Plenty of people are successful without a degree.

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1 person found this helpful

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Eye Opening

I knew some of the information, had turned an eye to some information and was overwhelmed with the information I didn't know. Having recently come of off hormonal contraception after 14 years (and switching to a copper IUD), I'm facinated to know the changes that may happen. I've already welcomed a few; Clear skin? Yes. Increased sex drive? Oooooh yes.

Very information, everyone should read this to understand the effects on themselves and those around them.

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Mind blown!

I wish had all this information when I was on the pill! The pill literally changes everything! Great book!

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