You may be surprised to discover that the placebo week found in most birth control packs was created as a marketing ploy. In the early days of the pill, manufacturers thought women would be so disturbed by the idea of not bleeding at all that they wouldn’t want to use it. That’s how the placebo week was born. For real menstruation to occur, you need to be ovulating; but the pill prevents this critical phase of your cycle. Without ovulation, your gorgeous hormonal cycle gets stuck in a static low-hormone phase and can’t create a period.
