3. You’ll revive your libido.

Countless numbers of women come to me with complaints of low libido. When I ask whether or not they are on hormonal birth control, the inevitable answer is yes. Many studies have confirmed hormonal birth control’s impact on libido, lubrication and enjoyment of sex.

4. You become more in tune with your body.

By listening to the signs that your body has to give you about your fertility and not having to rely on an outside source, you strengthen your ability to hear more of your body’s messages in general. You can hear other cues better, like hunger, arousal, fatigue and your “gut feeling” or intuition.

5. You’ll preserve the natural rhythms of your hormones and your cycle.

Suppressing normal hormonal ebbs and flows wreaks havoc on women’s systems. They feel the effects in everything from mood swings to weight gain.

6. It’s easy.

We’ve been conditioned as women to think that our cycles are complicated and mysterious, and that understanding fertility is a great challenge — something only an external device or pill can do successfully.

Millions of women around the world use the Billings Method. Robin Lim, a midwife in Indonesia who received CNN’s 2011 Hero of the Year Award for her work with women in developing countries, has taught the method to all education levels. The method is listed as one of the Chinese government’s endorsed choices of birth control.

If rice paddy workers all over the world can easily learn the method, so can you.

7. It’s sexy.

Your lover can walk up behind you while you are cooking dinner, slide his hand into your pants and tell you what’s happening there. Then you run off to the bedroom, put a sticker on the chart and either finish dinner or start having sex.

8. It’s free.

Women's rights activist Sandra Fluke claimed that she spent $1000 on birth control every year. Natural birth control costs nothing. You don’t need any kind of equipment or device. Except your finger.

9. It will be easier for you to get pregnant, when you decide to.

Getting to know your body’s natural windows of fertility and infertility will make it easy to know when to aim for sex dates.

I also attribute the myriad problems women have trying to get pregnant once they come off hormonal birth control to years of altering hormones and suppressing ovulation.

10. Birth control becomes a shared responsibility.

Both partners can participate in the process of observing and charting fertility. The Billings Method involves recording your cycle on a wall chart, in plain view for both partners to see. Understanding and practicing the method together builds intimacy.

There are four herbs that are quite effective natural birth control methods.

1. Queen Anne’s Lace

Another herb that is used as a natural birth control is Queen Anne’s Lace, also known as wild carrot. Mainly the seeds collected from the flower head of this herb work as a contraceptive. The seeds block progesterone synthesis, disrupting implantation, and are most effective as emergency contraception.

Several studies on wild carrot seeds as effective birth control have been encouraging. The extracts of the seeds disrupt the implantation process, and a fertilized egg will find implantation very difficult.

Some people may experience mild side effects like constipation for a few days when using Queen Anne’s Lace. Plus, it may not be suitable for those with a history of kidney or gallstones.

• Take one teaspoon of wild carrot seeds within eight hours of being exposed to sperm and continue once daily for another seven days. Chew the seeds for maximum effectiveness.
• Queen Anne’s Lace can also be used in tincture or tea form.

Note: Do not use Queen Anne’s Lace if you are breast feeding. Do not confuse this herb with similar-looking deadly plants like poison hemlock and water hemlock.

2. Blue Cohosh

The root of the blue cohosh plant is used as an effective natural birth control. Blue cohosh contains two uterine-contracting substances, one that mimics the hormone oxytocin, and the other a saponin called Caulosaponin. In case you are not using any protective measures, drink some tea made from blue cohosh soon after.

1. Add one teaspoon of blue cohosh to one quart of boiling water.
2. Steep for five minutes.
3. Sip this tea slowly, no more than three times per day (or no more than 300 to 400 mg daily) until your menstrual period starts.

Note: Blue cohosh has some side effects, so it is best to use this herb under the guidance of an herbalist.

3. Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal is a plant in the mint genus that has been used as birth control by the ancient Greeks and Romans. This herb works as an emmenagogue to promote menstrual flow and as an abortifacient to initiate self-abortion.

According to the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab, women may be prescribed pennyroyal in combination with other herbs to stop pregnancy.

Both fresh and dried leaves of this herb can be used for birth control. Pennyroyal tea can help induce menstruation and abortion.

1. Boil eight ounces of spring or distilled water.
2. Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of dried pennyroyal to the boiling water and allow it to stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Strain and add a little honey if desired.
4. Drink the tea immediately following unprotected sex and before implantation of a fertilized egg can occur for maximum effectiveness.

Note: Pennyroyal as natural birth control should be taken cautiously as it can cause liver and kidney damage, nervous system damage and a host of other problems. Do not drink more than three cups of pennyroyal tea within a six-day period. Do not drink this tea if your menstrual period is more than 10 days late.

4. Neem

Neem, also called Indian lilac, is a popular herb used extensively for birth control for women as well as men. As a birth control method, neem leaves, neem leaf extract and neem oil are used.

Neem has spermicidal action. For women, a single injection of a minute amount of neem oil in the uterine horns (the points where the uterus and fallopian tubes meet) will create a reversible block in fertility for a year without causing changes in menstrual cycles or ovarian function.

Researchers have found that neem oil can slow the motility of sperm, preventing their ability to reach their destination and fertilize the egg. In fact, neem oil can kill sperm in the vaginal region within just 30 seconds.

For men, ingesting neem leaf tablets for one month produces reversible male anti-fertility. Even daily oral doses of neem seed oil in gelatin-capsule form can also be taken as birth control. Using neem as a birth control method does not affect sperm production or libido.

Along with preventing pregnancy, neem also provides protection from vaginal and sexually transmitted diseases due to its antibiotic, antiviral and immune-stimulating properties.

If herbal birth control appeals to you, be sure to use the exact herb and follow the proper proportions. Along with these anti-fertility herbal remedies, it is essential to use a simple barrier method like the female or male condom to prevent pregnancy.