Women's Health Australia

THE BIG QUESTION

I keep running my pills back to back. Is it safe?

Answer In a word, yes. “The combined oral contraceptive pill pairs synthetic oestrogen with progesterone to stop ovulation,” says gynaecologist Dr Anita Mitra. Traditionally, it’s taken for 21 days in a row, with a seven-day break to allow a bleed before you start a new pack – a hangover from the ’60s when the pill first became available. “There was roughly seven times more oestrogen in the pill than there is today, so the break was to relieve women from its side effects,” says Mitra. The period-like

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