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"We are so busy fighting to keep hormonal birth control available that we don't want to question what it is doing to our health and our lives. After reading this book, we can never see the Pill in the same way again."

Carol Downer

"Holly Grigg-Spall is fearless, and her courageous advocacy on behalf of women whose stories are too often silenced is a model for others trying to make positive change through health activism. Read the book and get inspired, get angry, and most importantly get information."

Laura Eldridge

"Holly Grigg-Spall effectively melts the candy coating that obscures a simple truth: what we don't know, can indeed hurt us."

Chris Bobel

The DOCUMENTARY

Holly’s book is the inspiration for the documentary ‘The Business of Birth Control.’

The film is executive produced by Ricki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein, the team that brought you the groundbreaking ‘The Business of Being Born.’ They like to say ‘The Business of Birth Control’ is like ‘The Business of Being Born: The Prequel” because they spend so much more time trying to avoid, rather than achieve, pregnancy! The movie is now available via their website. 

Watch the movie

 

 

Going Off Hormonal Birth Control: A Workshop

Holly leads an online workshop with slide series on going off hormonal birth control. This can be used by an individual, group, or by a practitioner looking to support their clients. 
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The Guardian: Nine major myths about the pill – from cancer to weight gain

Last month, the UK’s Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare announced updated guidelines on oral contraceptives, declaring a seven-day break each month to bleed unnecessary. This prompted many women to voice their anger at having been seemingly hoodwinked by...
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Washington Post: ‘It’s not in your head’ – Striking new study links birth control to depression

“Today in vindication,” wrote a woman on Twitter on Tuesday, summarizing the way many have received a striking new study that found those who use birth control — especially teenage girls — may be at a significantly higher risk of experiencing depression. The research,...
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Broadly: The Racist & Sexist History of Keeping Birth Control Side Effects Secret

On September 2016, JAMA Psychiatry published a Danish study that found a correlation between the use of hormonal birth control and being diagnosed with clinical depression. The study tracked hormonal birth control use and prescription of antidepressants over...
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VICE: Why Can’t We Be More Critical of the Pill?

Like an inflatable penis pool toy at a hen's party, for many women the Pill has been a license to go wild. Simply by taking a tiny tablet every day, a woman can outsmart her inbuilt baby-making equipage and enjoy worry-free sex. But while the majority of the 100+...
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Sister Magazine: Sweetening The Pill

If you've picked up a copy of our latest issue (and if you haven't, you can here) you'll know that our EIC Beccy Hill interviewed Holly Grigg Spall about her incredible research into the contraceptive pill and it's effects on women's mental and physical health. After...
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BBC News: My Nightmare On The Pill

Millions of women rely on the contraceptive pill and many are happy with it - but some find it has a devastating effect on their mental health. Here Vicky Spratt, deputy editor of The Debrief, describes years of depression, anxiety and panic as she tried one version...
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Study Links Depression with Birth Control, Especially for Teen Girls

Women using birth control - especially teenagers - are at significantly higher risk of depression, according to a new study from Denmark that tracked more than a million women. The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows...
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MagaMama Episode 51

Holly Grigg-Spall on Birth Control, Feminism & Moving Forward Holly Griggs-Spall, author of Sweetening the Pill, shares how her mental health changed when she stopped taking hormonal birth control. She shares her own journey, the dearth of critical examination of...
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