The Pill is a tablet containing two female hormones – an oestrogen and a progestogen.

Various oestrogens and progestogens are used in the many different types of Pill which are available. There are currently 23 brands on the market in Britain.

These two hormones stop you from ovulating (producing an egg) each month. And if you don’t ovulate, you won’t get pregnant.

In addition, the hormones thicken the secretions round your cervix, making it more difficult for sperm to get through. Also, they make the lining of your womb thinner, so that it’s less receptive to an egg.


So is the Pill safe?

Basically, yes. But very occasionally, it can have serious side-effects.

However, recent news about Pill safety has been remarkably good.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has produced an important report that revealed the remarkable fact that Pill-users have a 12% reduction in their risk of developing cancer.

The report also found that breast cancer rates were the same in women who have used the Pill, and women who haven’t.


Nevertheless, most doctors don’t think that the Pill should be ‘dished out’ to absolutely everyone, without any need for a prescription.

So when you want to start on the Pill, you should see a doctor (or family planning nurse) and have a short check-up.

The this is to see if you have any ‘risk factors’ that would make you more liable to deep vein thrombosis (DVT), heart attacks or strokes.


How effective is the Pill?

It’s very effective indeed, which is why so many millions of women rely on it.

If you take it exactly as prescribed, then its effectiveness is likely to be almost 100 per cent.

Put it another way: let’s say that 100 women use the Pill for a year, and that all of them never forget to take a tablet. It’s likely that not a single one of them will get pregnant.

In contrast, if they were all relying on the condom instead, then probably about five of them would become pregnant. And if they used no contraception at all, then at least 20 of them would fall pregnant!

So the Pill is just about the most effective method of contraception there is, apart from sterilisation.



How do you take it?

In the UK, you’re given a pack containing 21 Pills and you take one every day for three weeks. At the end of those three weeks, you ‘break’ for a week. During those seven days, you’ll have your period.

It’s stopping the Pill at the end of the pack that brings on the period.

After the week’s break, you start on your next packet. So it’s ‘three weeks on and one week off’ throughout the year.

If you want to, you can set your mobile phone so that it beeps at the same time every day, to remind you to take your Pill.