The combined pill contains two hormones and stops the ovaries releasing an egg each month. The progestogen-only pill mini pill has only one hormone and works by changing the mucus at the entrance to the womb uterus so that sperm cannot pass through to fertilise the egg.
The combined pill is Nearly one in ten women 9 per cent taking the Pill may still get pregnant. The effectiveness is reduced because women take it irregularly, or because they have diarrhoea and vomiting, or they take medicine that can affect pill absorption. You are not protected against pregnancy until you have taken hormonal pills for seven days.
It is important to not be more than 24 hours late when taking the combined pill. Serious health problems with the Pill are rare.
Smoking increases the risk of harmful effects. The Pill is not suitable for women with the following conditions:.
In any of these scenarios, keep taking the Pill but use some other form of contraception e. BUT if these seven days run into the end of your packet then miss the seven inactive pills and start taking the hormone pills in the next packet.
If you are not sure which pills are inactive, ask your doctor or local pharmacist. Some newer versions of the Pill are effective from the first day they are taken. Ask your health practitioner or local pharmacists which type you are using. The progestogen makes the cervical mucus thicken. This mucus then acts as a plug and prevents sperm from entering the uterus and traveling to the tube to fertilise the egg. What stops the pill from working? The pill may not work if: you miss a pill or it is taken more than 24 hours late you vomit within three hours of taking it you have very severe diarrhoea you are taking some medications or natural remedies.
Check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. You use the pill by swallowing one pill around the same time every day. The pill works by stopping the ovaries from releasing an egg each month. The pill can: be used to skip your period make your periods become lighter, more regular, and less painful improve acne reduce your chance of getting cancer of the uterus womb , ovaries and bowel help with symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS and endometriosis.
Once you stop taking the pill your fertility quickly returns to normal. Possible side effects for a small number of people who take the pill can include: irregular vaginal bleeding nausea sore or tender breasts headaches bloating changes to your skin mood changes. These side effects often settle with time. The pill has not been shown to cause weight gain.
The pill may not be a good option for you if you: find remembering to take a daily tablet difficult have certain types of migraine or headache are very overweight have a close family member who has had a deep vein thrombosis are taking certain types of medication which might stop the pill from working check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist have had some health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart or liver disease check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist are over 35 years and smoke have been treated for breast cancer are unable to move around for a long time for example, because of surgery or disability.
If you miss a pill: Take the missed pill as soon as you notice this may mean taking two pills on the same day. Continue to take your pills as normal. Use condoms for the next seven days. If you have had sex without a condom in the seven days before missing a pill, you may need emergency contraception or you may need to skip your next sugar pills and start a new pill pack in the hormone section.
This depends on where you are up to in the pill packet check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. You can stop the pill at any time and your fertility will quickly return. The pill: does not protect you from sexually transmissible infections STIs. The best way to lessen the risk of STIs is to use barrier protection such as male and female condoms with all new sexual partners can sometime be supplied in small quantities by your pharmacist, without a prescription.
If you run out of pills and cannot see a doctor for a new script, speak to a pharmacist. They can often give you a small supply of pills without a script. If possible show them your old pill packet. Give feedback about this page. Was this page helpful? Yes No. View all sexual health. Related information. Support groups The combined pill - Arabic. The combined pill - Assyrian. The combined pill - Burmese. The combined pill - Chinese.
The combined pill - Dinka. From other websites Cancer Research UK. If pills are skipped or forgotten, a girl is not protected against pregnancy and she will need a backup form of birth control, such as condoms. Or she will need to stop having sex for a while. Do not take a friend's or relative's pills. Over the course of 1 year, about 9 out of typical couples who rely on the Pill to prevent pregnancy will have an accidental pregnancy.
Of course, this is an average figure and the chance of getting pregnant depends on whether you take your birth control pills every day. The Pill is an effective form of birth control, but even missing 1 day increases the chance of getting pregnant.
In general, how well each type of birth control method works depends on a lot of things. These include whether a person has any health conditions or is taking any medicines or herbal supplements that might interfere with its use for example, an herb like St.
John's wort can affect how well the Pill works. Talk to your doctor to check if anything you take could affect how the Pill works for you. How well a particular method of birth control works also depends on whether the method chosen is convenient — and whether the person remembers to use it correctly all the time.
The birth control pill does not protect against STDs. Couples having sex or any intimate sexual contact must always use condoms along with the Pill to protect against STDs. Abstinence the decision to not have sex or any intimate sexual contact is the only method that always prevents pregnancy and STDs.
The birth control pill is a safe and effective method of birth control. Most young women who take the Pill have none to very few side effects. The side effects that some women have while on the Pill include:. Some of these side effects improve over the first 3 months on the Pill.
When a girl has side effects, a doctor will sometimes prescribe a different brand of the Pill. The Pill also has some side effects that most girls are happy about. It usually makes periods lighter, reduces cramps, and is often prescribed for women who have menstrual problems. Taking the combination Pill often improves acne, and some doctors prescribe it for this purpose.
Combination birth control pills have also been found to protect against some forms of breast disease, anemia , ovarian cysts, and ovarian and endometrial cancers.
Young women who can remember to take a pill each day and who want excellent protection from pregnancy use birth control pills.
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