Trinovum was a brand of birth control pill that is no longer available in some countries, including the UK where it was discontinued in 2016. It was a triphasic combined oral contraceptive pill, meaning it contained three different doses of hormones that changed throughout the 21-day pill cycle. These hormones were synthetic versions of the female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone.
Trinovum worked in three ways to prevent pregnancy:
- It stopped an egg from being released from the ovaries each month (ovulation suppression)
- It thickened the mucus in the cervix, making it more difficult for sperm to reach the egg (sperm hostility)
- It thinned the lining of the womb (endometrium), making it less likely that a fertilized egg could implant (endometrial suppression) [2]
Trinovum was also sometimes prescribed to manage heavy and painful periods, and to treat conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) [1].