Birth control pills contain hormones like estrogen and progesterone
. They are also known as oral contraceptives. Birth control pills are classified into two pills namely mini pills and combination pills. Mini pills contain the hormone progesterone and combination pills contain both estrogen and progesterone. Ninety nine percent of the pills are usually combination pills.
Birth control pills are to be taken right from the fifth day of the menstrual cycle. Combination pills are usually available in the form of packets containing twenty one to twenty eight pills. If the pack containing twenty one pills is prescribed for a woman then she must have one pill a day for all twenty one days except one week of her menstrual cycle. In case of twenty eight pill packet she must have it all twenty eight days irrespective of her menstrual cycle. In twenty eight pill packet, seven blank pills without any active ingredient are present. If a woman forgets to take one pill then next day she could take two pills.
Suppose if two pills are missed out during the third week then the woman has to start a new pack since it is the fertile period. The quantity of milk supply during breast feeding may be reduced when combination pills are taken by a woman during breast feeding period. A woman has to stop consuming pills two to three months before deciding to get pregnant. This is adopted to reduce the chances of fetal malformations. These pills never end up in infertility when consumed.