Although diaphragms and condoms were available when the pill went on the market, there were no methods of birth control as effective or easy to use as the pill. The pill was the first proven effective way women could gain control of their own fertility. The number of maternal and infant deaths is much lower now, because women are having less frequent pregnancies. The formulation of the pill has changed dramatically since it became available in 1960. There are three basic kinds of pills, and within each, there are different balances of estrogen and progesterone, according to Kier-Merrihew.
Monophasic pills deliver a steady dose of both estrogen and progesterone.
The combination pills might be slightly more effective than progesterone only pills, but a breast-feeding mother might find the progesterone only pills to be a highly effective method of birth control which would not deplete her milk supply as the combination pills would. There is a critical link between clinician and patient. When the pill first came out, the dosage of hormones was much higher than it is now, and side effects were more common. The pill is the most studied medication on the market now. It is very low risk for most women, and low risk for the women who were high risk in the 60s.