And it saves lives too… The Pill has prevented 400,000 cases of cancer

Over the past ten years alone, the Pill has helped to prevent an incredible 200,000 cases of womb cancer.

And in the 50 years since oral contraceptives were first introduced, a total of 400,000 incidents of the same cancer have been avoided.

That's according to Oxford University researchers – who also found that for every five years that a woman takes the oral contraceptive, the risk of developing endometrial cancer decreases by 25 percent.

And in females who have taken the Pill for ten years, rates of womb cancer diagnosis in under-75s also fall from 2.3 per 100 to just 1.3.

Previous research has shown that the Pill furthermore protects against ovarian cancer.

Incredibly, the Oxford study concluded that the protective effects of the Pill, which includes a dose of oestrogen, last for decades after someone stops taking the contraceptive – with women in their 20s continuing to benefit when they are in their 50s.

Professor Valerie Beral explained: "People used to worry that the Pill might cause cancer, but in the long-term, the Pill reduces the risk of getting cancer."

However, women are still being advised to weigh up the risks – especially if they have a family history of breast cancer – as some research suggests it can slightly increase the risk of this particular disease.

The Pill was first introduced in the US in May 1960, although back than it was licensed only for menstrual disorders.

In 1966, contraception became legal in the States for married women, and by the 1970s it was in wide usage. At the same time in Ireland, imports and sales of contraceptives had been expressly banned since 1935.

In 1971, the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement published a booklet called Chains Or Change, which called for equal pay, an end to the marriage bar, equal rights in law, justice for widows, deserted wives and unmarried mothers, equal educational opportunities and contraception.

They famously travelled from Dublin to Belfast and back on the ‘contraceptive train’, returning gleefully waving various birth control devices, then legal in Northern Ireland, at custom officials.

By 1978, the Irish Family Planning Act allowed the provision of contraceptives under prescription, and finally in 1985, condoms and spermicides could be sold without a doctor's approval.