Birth Control Pills - to avoid pregnancy

Birth control is a way for men and women to prevent pregnancy. There are many different methods of birth control, including hormonal contraception such as "the pill."

Women take the pill by mouth to prevent pregnancy and when taken as per prescription it is up to 99.9% effective. However, the pill does not protect you against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). The latex-made condom provides the best protection from most STDs.

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How Does a Hormonal Contraception Work?

Normally a woman becomes pregnant when an egg released from her ovary gets fertilized by a man's sperm. The fertilized egg attaches itself inside a woman's womb (uterus), where it receives nourishment and develops into a baby. Hormones in the woman's body control the release of the egg from the ovary -- called ovulation -- and prepare the body to accept the fertilized egg.

Hormonal contraceptives (which can be in a shape of a pill, the patch, or a vaginal ring) all contain a small amount of man-made estrogen and progestin hormones. These hormones work to inhibit the body's natural cyclical hormones to prevent pregnancy. Pregnancy is prevented by a combination of factors. The hormonal contraceptives usually stop the body from ovulating. Hormonal contraceptives also change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to find an egg. Hormonal contraceptives can also prevent pregnancy by making the lining of the womb inhospitable for implantation.

Most birth control pills come in either a 21-day pack or a 28-day pack. One hormone pill is taken each day at about the same time for 21 days. Depending on your pack, you will either stop taking birth control pills for 7 days (as in the 21-day pack) or you will take a pill that contains no hormones for 7 days (the 28-day pack). A woman has her period when she stops taking the pills that contain hormones. Some women prefer the 28-day pack because it helps them stay in the habit of taking a pill every day.

What Are Mini Pills?

Another kind of pill that may change the number of monthly periods is the low-dose progesterone pill, sometimes called the mini-pill. This type of birth control pill differs from the other pills in that it only contains one type of hormone — progesterone — rather than a combination of estrogen and progesterone. It works by changing the cervical mucus and the lining of the uterus, and sometimes by affecting ovulation as well. The mini-pill may be slightly less effective at preventing pregnancy than combination pills.

A girl who is taking the mini-pill may have no period at all or she may have irregular periods. For the minipill to work, it must be taken at the same time every day, without missing any doses.
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.

Morning-after pill- emergency contraception at a glance
EC pills work by preventing or delaying ovula
tion and preventing sperm from fertilizing the egg. You can use EC right away or up to five days after sex. The sooner you use it, the better it works. The EC pills currently on the market in the U.S.—all made with the hormone levonorgestrel—are:

  • Plan B One-Step—as the name suggests, it’s a single pill taken once.
  • Plan B / Next Choice—Next Choice is the generic version of Plan B. Both are taken as two pills, 12 hours apart.

If you take EC pills within 24 hours after sex, they reduce your risk of pregnancy by up to 95%. Overall, they are 88.9% effective, meaning they prevent about 7 of 8 pregnancies that normally would have occurred.

There are several side effects that you may experience when using an EC pill. Some women get a headache, feel nauseous or throw up. Some women feel tired; have mild abdominal pain, or irregular bleeding. These side effects clear up after one or two days. Your next period may start earlier or later than normal, or be heavier or lighter than normal. Most women will have their period within a week of taking EC pills.


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