Although condoms are the only birth control method that protects your wellbeing from STIs, they are not 100% effective at preventing pregnancy – and, in the heat of the moment, they can be forgotten altogether. Therefore, it’s a wise idea to take your sexual health into your own hands, and use a second method of birth control. As many women turn to the Pill to guard their wellness against unwanted pregnancies, let’s take a closer look at what the Pill is, what it does, and whether or not it’s a good option for you.
The birth control pill is a pill you need to take every day, to give your body the hormones it needs to prevent pregnancy. The hormones in the Pill control your ovaries and uterus, providing your body with oestrogen and progesterone hormones that stop your ovaries from ovulating. Ovulation is the process in which your ovaries release an egg during your monthly cycle, and so no egg means no baby. The Pill also thickens the mucus around your cervix, making it difficult for the sperm to enter your uterus. Plus, the Pill can sometime affect the lining in your uterus, making it difficult for an egg to attach to the wall and enable a baby to develop.
If you buy the Pill, you’ll find it comes either in a 21-day pack or a 28-day pack. If you have the former, you take a pill every day at about the same time, and then stop taking pills for seven days. If you have the 28-day pack, you will continue to take pills, but the last seven do not contain hormones. This may be a good option for you if you need to stay in your pill-taking mindset, otherwise you might stop for seven days and get out of your routine. When you stop taking the pill for seven days, or use the 28-day pack, you will have your period.
You can also get a variation of combination pill that decreases the frequency of your periods by supplying a hormone pill for 12 weeks and then inactive pills for 7 days. As you can probably work out, this means you’ve have a period every 3 months instead of every month. Then you have what’s known as the mini-pill, which changes the number of periods you have but may be slightly less effective at preventing pregnancy. The mini-pill only contains a low dose of progesterone, rather than a combination of oestrogen and progesterone, and its main job is to change your cervical mucus and uterus lining, but it may sometimes also affect ovulation. You take the mini-pill every day without a break, and it may take away all your periods or still enable some, irregular periods.
For the mini-pill to work, it must be taken at the same time every day, without missing any doses. However, this is really the case for any type of birth control pill, although it becomes more important for progesterone-only pills. On the first seven days of taking the pill, you will also need an additional form of contraception, such as condoms, to prevent pregnancy. After this, the Pill should work on it’s own for birth control, but condoms will still be necessary for stopping the spread of STIs. If you forget to take your Pill one day, you won’t be protected against pregnancy and will need to use a backup form of birth control, or stop having sex for a while. If you find your Pill comes with side effects – such as irregular menstrual bleeding, mood changes, blood clots, nausea, headaches, dizziness, and breast tenderness – speak to your doctor, who may prescribe a different brand of the Pill.
