

It's important not to miss any active pills. As long as you've taken your pills exactly as directed – ideally, at the same time every day – you'll also be protected during the hormone-free week and don't need to use other contraception during that time. (You may need to use backup contraception for seven days after you first start the Pill – more on that in a second.) In both cases, if you start your pack on a Sunday, you take an active pill each day for 21 days, then dummy pills or no pills for the next seven days, and then begin the next pack on a Sunday, exactly four weeks from when you started the previous pack. With a 21-pill package, you take one hormone pill each day for 21 days and then nothing for the next seven. If you have a 28-pill pack, you take one active pill every day for 21 days and then a dummy pill – to keep you in the habit – for the next seven days and start the new pack immediately afterward. Finally, progestin thins the lining in your uterus, making it less likely that an egg would implant if it did get fertilized. It thickens your cervical mucus, making it hard for sperm to get through your cervix and into your fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg, if one is released. The progestin in the Pill has other contraceptive effects, too. This means they keep your ovaries from releasing any eggs. When the Pill is taken as directed, the estrogen and progestin work together to prevent pregnancy primarily by suppressing ovulation.
#Taking birth control 2 minutes late full#
If you use this chewable pill, be sure to drink a full glass of water immediately afterwards so the whole dose reaches your stomach. So, you take active pills for 12 weeks straight and then inactive pills for one week, during which time you'll get your period.īirth control pills are quite small, but if you have trouble swallowing them, ask for a chewable Pill. Some versions come in a pack of 91 pills – that is, 84 active pills followed by seven inactive pills.

In others, the amount of hormones varies depending on where you are in your cycle.įor women who would prefer to have their period less often, there is another option: extended-cycle combination pills. In some brands, each active pill contains the same amount of hormones. In other packages, 24 pills are "active" and the other four are hormone-free. In some cases, 21 of these are "active" pills and the other seven are hormone-free. Your prescription will come in a pack of 28 pills (or more, if you get more than one cycle's worth). There are dozens of brands (and many more generic versions) of combination pills on the market and they vary in cost, dosages, and types of estrogens and progestins. With typical use, it can be slightly less effective than the combination pill, but may be a good alternative for women who want to use an oral contraceptive but who are breastfeeding or can't take estrogen for some other reason.) Are there different types of combination birth control pills? (Note: There's also a progestin-only birth control pill, known as the mini-pill.

When you've completed the 28-day cycle, you start a new pack of pills the very next day. During this last week, your hormone levels drop off, causing you to get your period. With most brands, you take one pill every day for 21 days and then take nothing or a dummy pill that contains no hormones for the next seven. The combination birth control pill, commonly known as the Pill, is an oral contraceptive that contains synthetic forms of two hormones, estrogen and progesterone. (Synthetic progesterone is known as progestin.)
