Women should hold off on taking their contraceptive pill when deciding who they want to marry as it can change who they are attracted to, a life coach has claimed.
Maisie Hill, a women’s health writer, said some of her clients found they were no longer attracted to their long-term partners once they had come off hormonal contraception.
Previous studies have found some evidence that women who are on the contraceptive pill prefer men with less masculine faces, the Times reported.
And by implication, when they come off the pill, their physical attraction towards their partner changes.
But last week the NHS warned that misinformation surrounding the pill online has sparked a rise in unplanned pregnancies and abortions.
Dr Sue Mann, the NHS clinical director for women’s health, said myths surrounding the contraceptive pill, such as that it causes infertility, was a ‘real cause for concern’.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival about her book Powerful: Be the Expert in Your Own Life, Ms Hill said she had learned from her client’s experiences.
She said: ‘[I] started recommending to people that if you’re considering settling down or making major life decisions, even if the pill is working well for you, come off it, be off it for a bit, see if you’re still into that person.’
Recently the claim that women are more attracted to feminine men has been shared widely on social media, alongside other myths about the potential side effects of hormonal contraception.
NHS data shows that the proportion of women using the pill as their main form of contraception has fallen from 47 per cent in 2012-13 to 27 per cent in 2022-23.
Abortions in England and Wales are at the highest level on record, with 251,377 terminations in 2022, up from 184,122 in 2012.