The birth control pill is one of the most popular and most effective forms of contraception, and is relatively easy to take, but requires constant vigilance, since a woman must take a pill every day at about the same time. Missing even one dose, especially for women who are taking the progesterone pill, means a significant risk of pregnancy. Therefore, a woman should always keep her pills with her at all times in her purse, and in case her birth control pill case is lost, she needs to have it replaced as soon as possible.

The most commonly used birth control pill contains a combination of progesterone and estrogen hormones. The birth control pill works by leading the body to "think" it is pregnant by preventing ovulation and thickening the lining of the uterus. The birth control pill comes in 21 day and 28 day packs, and each pill is assigned to a certain day. This is to ensure that she never misses a day.

The birth control pill is not 100% foolproof, and it is estimated that 5 to 8 pregnancies occur for every 100 women who are taking the pill. However, these pregnancies can be the result of human error, such as problems with drug interactions. Care must be taken even when using herbal remedies, since it has been shown that some medicines and herbs such as S. John's Wort can interfere with the effectiveness of the birth control pill.

There can be side effects to using the birth control pill, and it seems that the positive effects balance out the negative. While a woman might experience unpredictable and irregular menstrual bleeding, headaches, dizzy spells, moodiness, she also reduces the severity of her periods and can lessen acne breakouts with the birth control pill. There have been cases of blood clots that have been blamed on the pill, but these are very rare among women under 35 who do not smoke.