Once you have a prescription for birth control pills they are safe to start at anytime, as long as you know for sure that you are not pregnant. After seven days of taking them correctly, you will be protected from an unplanned pregnancy. Unfortunately, there *can* be many side effects to starting birth control, many of which are like pms. It may cause you to spot and have some break thru bleeding for the first few months until your body adjusts.

Congratulations on the baby girl!

When you get the pills from your ob-gyn, someone should sit down with you and discuss the side effects. If they try to give you pills and send you on your way, ask questions. Make them tell you the side effects. There are a lot of side effects and some of them actually are serious. Even though the serious side effects are rare, your doctor still should make you aware of them.

Like mc4 said, you have to use another form of birth control for at least the first seven days of being on the pill to let it fully get into your system. After seven days, you can have sex without any other method of birth control if you want. Your doctor should also tell you that.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Your doctor is the best person to get information from. Your doctor has a responsibility to tell you this stuff, but many doctors try to rush people in and out without making sure they understand everything that they need to know.

That is 100% correct. After you leave the doctor, if you have another question you can also speak with your pharmacist. They are very educated about side effects and interactions. (and you don't have to wait for them to call you back )