Missed Birth Control

Missed birth control can lead to unwanted side effects! Most women who are in their childbearing age use birth control methods to help plan their pregnancy. However, some may find it hard to comply with such methods especially if they are on a hectic schedule. Missed birth control issues are common to those methods that require daily or regular use such as the birth control pills.

When deciding to use birth control pills, it is crucial that you know the proper use of the pill, such as when to start taking the pill. Common mistake in taking the pill is the day the first dose is to be taken. A lot of women don't know that the pills have to be taken in a specified time. This alone can already affect the effectiveness of the pill. But this is not the main issue with missed birth control using this method.

The real issue lies in the compliance of each woman when it comes to taking the pills on time. Before taking the pills, you should understand the responsibility that comes along with it. This means that you should follow proper instructions on when to take the pills. Each pack of birth control pills comes with a drug literature containing all the information about the pill such as the indications, contraindications, mechanism of action, side effects, adverse effects, dosage information and patient teachings. You must follow the dosage information strictly.

Non-compliance can lead to pregnancy. The effectiveness of the pill is reduced once doses are skipped. This is just like taking any other medications. This is because each pill has a life span. Once you take the pill, it will be broken down by gastric juices in the stomach and will be absorbed in the blood. Once absorbed, the hormone level present in the pill rises. This level drops halfway after a several hours, a term known as half life. During this time, you need to take the next dose to raise the level again and to keep the drug functioning effectively. So once a dose is missed, this level entirely drops and can lead to pregnancy if intercourse takes place during the fertile days.

About 80% of women who missed 2-3 doses of taking their pills ended up being pregnant. Missed birth control commonly happens when a woman knows she missed her pills but did not use any back up methods during the intercourse. Aside from that, back up methods are important in cases when you run out of pills or need to discontinue using the pills for some reasons.

If you started a pack one day late or missed one hormonal or active pill, you can take the pill as soon as you remember then continue taking the rest of the pills as usual. In this case, emergency contraception pills or back up methods is not necessary.

If two or more pills are missed, take the missed pills as soon as you remember and continue with taking the rest of the pills as usual. Back up methods are needed in this case.

Not all pills though have the same strategies when missed birth control pills take place. To be safe, make sure you read the drug literature that comes along when you purchased the pill. If the information is not clear, do not hesitate to visit your health care provider to discuss what to do about missed birth control.