Some manufacturers do not use the "dummy" pills.They really do not have much purpose,other than to remind you to take a pill every day.These pills are usually taken during your menstrual cycle,so your chances of pregnancy are lessend,but not eliminated.There is always a chance of getting pregnant at any time of the month.Every woman is different as far as when she ovulates.To decrease your risk,do not have unprotected sex.This is especially true of reducing the risk of std's.Unless you and your partner are monogamous,do not have skin-to-skin contact.Best to you.Patty

My doctor told me that the 21 active pills last through out your off week, so you can have unprotected sex because the bc is still working, I do it all the time because on my off week my period does not come on until wednesday, so i'm off since the sunday right before, and I usually have unprotected sex sometime between sunday and wednesday. My doctor says it's the same chances of get pregnant on your off week as on your 3 weeks of active pills, so if you taking properly the chances should be slim.

I have been on the pill and have sex any time all month round with out a condom with my husband. I havent got pregnant.

You ovulate a week to two weeks after your period (depending on your body and cycle). If you are on the pill, you will ovulate during that time, but you are on the pill.



How the pill works is that the extra hormones in your system alter the way your cycle works: you will still ovulate, but even if you get pregnant you will still have your period about two to three weeks later (depending on when you ovulated). Some people have moral issues with that. Some people call this type of birth control abortifacient, meaning it forces you to lose the fetus. Some people believe that certain birth control pills prevent you from ovulating, but as far as I know, no birth control pills do that, they only force you to have your period every 21-28 days by putting your body on a regimented dose of hormones.



If you ask your doctor about it, if your pill is an "abortifacient" s/he will most likely avoid the issue, as my doctor did, as well as my friend's doctor, and even a third doctor of another friend. It's a sticky issue and honestly, a lot of doctors breeze over how the pill works (not even in relation to being an abortifacient). I see a lot of posts with a lot of confusion on "can I get pregnant if..." and "how do I take this during..." it seems that a lot of doctors aren't explaining how the pill works to a lot of their patients, they just want to tell you "you can't get pregnant, now take it". For the first few months that I was on the pill my husband and I were constantly nervous that I would get pregnant. But I have since learned about my cycle and what happens when, which hormones cause it and I know it is very unlikely to get pregnant on the pill for several reasons (even though it can still happen).



If you are on the pill, you most likely will not get pregnant, no matter when you have sex, because the extra hormones you are ingesting alter your cycle to make you have your period every 21-28 days, regardless. The pill is only 99% effective (one of my best friends got pregnant with her first son while she was on the pill), but that's a small gap.



There are other methods of birth control that do not involve inducing your period, if that is a concern for you, that are as effective as the pill.

Those 7 pills are typically sugar pills and are to only remind you to take your pill every day, they do have a little hormanal effect however. But do not affect the effectiveness of the pill. You can go that week w/o taking anything. Otherwise you can start a new pack right away and not have your period at all. I tried this once for about 3 months, and I had a lot of spot bleeding though. They do make pills esp. For this now though.

if you mean what I think you mean your protected on your 7 free days

Xxggno, nope I meant unprotected sex.

Thanks to all of you other guys who helped me out with this, I was just always a little confused if it could happen or not and what the chances were. I just have the 21 pills and no "sugar pills". I have been with my boyfriend for over 5 years now and we have had intercourse every now and then during my week off, but I still always wondered. Thanks again!!

Jriegel, I was told by my doctor that if I happened to be in the 1% that get pregnant while on the pill, the pill will not cause me to have my period. He said that the reason the pill makes your period start is the sudden loss of progesterone when you take the last active pill. He said if you are pregnant then the baby would be causing your body to make progesterone, and you won't lose the baby. According to him, and the other doctors i've talked to, it's the same as taking the provera pills to start your period...It doesn't work if you're pregnant.

Daile

The pill works be stopping you from ovulating. The hormones in the pill make your body think it is already pregnant, and so it does not release any more eggs. If you did happen to ovulate, the environment in the uterus would make it very difficult for fertilisation to occur (this is the main way that the mini-pill works). This is the same as in pregnancy -- otherwise you could conceive another baby while you were already pregnant, which obviously doesn't happen.

The pill does not work by "inducing your period." it's when you stop taking the active pills that your hormone level drops, and you get a sort-of period.

There is a big movement right now among some fundamentalist christians to stop the use of birth control pills, and claiming that they work by causing "abortions". This is complete nonsense, and it is incredibly malicious and dangerous.

It is true that the "morning-after" pill works by stopping an egg which might have been fertilised from being implanted. This is different. The old-style iud worked the same way -- stopping fertilised eggs from implanting.