“They are afraid a woman can be this strong. This color. This soft. This powerful”

Ijeoma Umebinyuo

In 2016, I decided that I was done with birth control. I did not want to put anything that was man made or altered by man in my body any longer. I had stopped putting a perm in my hair. I had stopped eating genetically modified foods. But then I had to look at the birth control pill that I took daily. Wasn’t that man-made? Hadn’t it been altered? Wasn’t it a chemical? Artificial? If I was going to fully commit to my healthy lifestyle then I was going to have to give up birth control.

I was scared at first because I did not want to become pregnant. I’ll be honest, celibacy and condoms weren’t exactly my thing, so I was taking a big risk by getting off the pill. But even though I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, I stopped birth control. I had been on and off birth control since I was 11. I had tried the pill and the shot. I had negative experiences with both. I experienced nausea and vomiting with the pill. I experienced daily spotting and depression with the shot. The only consolation was that at least I wouldn’t get pregnant.

I was so disconnected from the wisdom of my womb, that I relied on the US healthcare system and its pills and shots to manage my womanhood, femininity and fertility. Birth control disrupts the natural rhythm of the womb and the endocrine system. It creates a falsehood of independence and power over one’s life, when in reality it destroys Black Womanhood. When we rely on birth control, we reject the infinite wisdom of the womb to rely on the oppressor.

The high level of artificial hormones in the Pill are harmful. It increases the risk of hypertension, strokes and blood clots. IUDs continually irritate the uterine lining and can lead to an increase in dangerous bacteria. Additional side effects of birth control include weight gain, decreased libido, mood changes and depression. Inundating the body and womb with artificial hormones separates the woman from her body. She no longer becomes the source of her wellbeing. The womb is the “heart-brain” of the woman. When she takes any form of birth control it creates an energetic disconnect from the essence of Blackwomanhood.

This disconnect leads the Black woman to believe that she needs to rely on a source outside of herself (a white institution) to be in control of her fertility. When I stopped taking birth control, I was forced to become intimately acquainted with my womb and the detailed messages it sent via my fluids and cycles. I learned how to prevent an unwanted pregnancy the natural way. I began to use my womb as it was intended to be; my soul’s compass. It was no longer white society’s medical playground. When I was on birth control, I wasn’t my own woman. A part of me, the most sacred part was lost and on the verge of destruction. Birth control prevented me from truly embracing my power as a Black woman, fully in control of her life, womb and world.

This blog is an excerpt from my book, “The Black Girl’s Guide to Healing: 10 Ways to Achieve a Healthy, Pain-Free Period”. To download this book click HERE