Medical Questions » Contraception Questions » Question No. 214
| Question: | What should I do if I forget a contraceptive pill? |
| Answer: | It is essential to take the pill properly for it to work. Forgetting even one pill could result in a very productive event nine months later!
With most types of the pill, if you forget one and then take it within eight hours, you will still be protected. With higher dose pills you have twelve hours grace, but with the single hormone mini-pills, you must take it within three hours of the same time every day for it to be effective.
If you miss a pill by more than these times, you should take the missed pill, and continue taking the rest of the pills at your usual time until the end of the pack, but take other contraceptive precautions until after you have taken at least seven of the active pills (do not count the sugar pills that you take at the end of each month).
If you miss more than one pill, stop the pill, use other contraceptive precautions (eg. condoms) until your next period starts, and then start a new pack of the pill. Do not rely on it until you have taken seven active hormone pills.
Remember, that if you have any vomiting or diarrhoea, you are effectively missing taking the pill, and must take appropriate precautions.
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