Introduction
The pill is a hormonal contraceptive taken orally by the woman. The hormones in the pill regulate the woman’s cycle and, depending on the pill preparation, prevent ovulation or prevent the egg from implanting in the uterus. In order to know and understand what happens if you forget to take the pill, you should first know how the pill works if you take it correctly.
First of all, it is important to know that the pill is different from the so-called minipill because it contains more hormones and therefore completely prevents ovulation, whereas the minipill only prevents the egg from implanting in the lining of the uterus. The pill is a hormone preparation and protects the woman from fertilization in three ways. Firstly, the pill prevents ovulation.
This means that the egg does not leave the woman’s ovary and thus cannot implant itself in the uterus. If, however, ovulation occurs, the pill prevents the sperm from penetrating the wall of the egg, so fertilisation does not occur. In the third place, the pill prevents the build-up of the mucous membrane. However, a fertilized egg needs a well-formed and built up mucous membrane to settle down in it. If the mucosa is insufficiently built up, the egg cannot implant itself and pregnancy is thus prevented.
Overview
So if you take the pill regularly, it is extremely unlikely that you will still become pregnant. Problems can arise if you take the pill irregularly or forget to take it. If you forget to take the pill, it is possible that you will become pregnant.
It is important to know that a man’s sperm can survive in a woman’s body for up to 5 days. So if the woman had intercourse with her partner on a Friday, for example, and forgets to take the pill on Sunday, she can still become pregnant, even if she uses condoms afterwards. The reason for this is the long survival time of the sperm inside the woman.
If you have absolutely no desire to have children and have forgotten to take the pill, you can always consult your gynaecologist or a pharmacist to obtain the emergency contraceptive pill. It is important to remember that the emergency contraceptive pill is most effective when taken as soon as possible. The emergency contraceptive pill can be effective up to 3 days after unprotected intercourse, but the likelihood of its effect is greatest within the first 48 hours.
If there is no risk of pregnancy because of lack of intercourse, there is no need to take the morning-after pill. Instead, care should be taken to ensure additional protection with a condom during future intercourse. It is also important to know that forgetting to take the pill can lead to unwanted spotting or bleeding.
In this case you should consult your gynecologist to rule out a possible pregnancy. In general, it is always possible that forgetting the pill can lead to pregnancy, even if your partner also uses condoms. Therefore, whenever you have forgotten to take a pill, you should visit your gynecologist to rule out pregnancy before taking the next pack.
Normally you take the pill prescribed by your gynecologist at the same time every day for 21 days. It does not matter whether you had intercourse every day or whether you only had sex with your partner on one of the 21 days. After the 21 days there is a 7-day break.
It is important not to prolong this break under any circumstances, otherwise the pill will no longer offer any protection! If you have stopped taking the pill on Tuesday, for example, you must start taking it again in 7 days on Wednesday. If you do not do this or if you take the pill only on Thursday, you have forgotten the pill and therefore no protection against pregnancy for the following month!
The reason for this is ovulation, which normally occurs in the first week after the end of your period (doctors speak of the 14th day as they calculate from the first day of your period), but ovulation can occur earlier. If you have intercourse then, pregnancy cannot be prevented. It is therefore important not to forget to take the pill, but to take it regularly and at the right time.
If you have forgotten to take the pill on the first day, it is also important to keep the time window in mind. In total, you have about 10 hours to take the pill.This means the following: If a woman always takes her pill at 2 p.m. and has forgotten to take it that day, she cannot take the pill until 10 p.m. on the same day. There is still the protection of the pill!
If this woman takes the pill only the next day at 8 a.m., she has no more protection because she has forgotten to take the pill in the next possible 10 hours. So there is a certain time window in which one may “forget” to take the pill. However, if this window is exceeded, the pill is no longer safe and additional contraceptive methods such as the condom should be used. Above all, it should not be underestimated that the pill must always be taken very carefully and that the first day of taking the pill cannot simply be changed freely, as the pill is then virtually forgotten and offers no protection.
