The Pill: is a type of birth control that contains synthetic versions of estrogen and/or progesterone, which are hormones (aka chemicals) that are naturally occurring in the body. The hormones in the pill regulate the hormonal variations in a body to reduce the risk of pregnancy. The pill can provide relief from menstrual or premenstrual (aka. period) issues such as acne or irregular or painful periods.

To use the pill, you swallow one pill everyday at the same time. It’s important to take the pill at around the same time everyday to ensure the pill is as effective as possible. Birth control pills come in packs of 21 and 28 packs. If you have a 28 day pack of pills you’ll probably notice that the last line of pills are a different colour, these are sugar pills. The purpose of these pills are to help you stay in a routine of taking a pill everyday at the same time, but they don’t impact how effective the birth control pill is. Therefore, if your birth control pack doesn’t have sugar pills or you don’t want to take the sugar pills, you are still protected against pregnancy.

The pill is 92% effective at preventing pregnancy with typical use and is often around $30 a month in Ottawa. The Sexual Health Centre in Ottawa sometimes provides the birth control pill at a discounted rate for those who need it.