Health & Beauty

Hormonal Birth Control Methods

How It Works

Combination (estrogen and progestin) hormonal methods—pills, skin patch, or vaginal ring—help to prevent pregnancy by preventing eggs from being released from the ovaries (a process called ovulation). These methods also thicken cervical mucus to prevent sperm from entering the uterus.

Birth control pills

Birth control pills come in packs, each containing 3 weeks of hormone pills. The 28-day packs include a 4th week of no-hormone sugar pills. The 21-day packs do not—after finishing a pack, you take 7 days off, which is when you have your menstrual period. After the 7 days off, you start a new 3-week pack.

Seasonale contains 12 weeks (84 days) of hormone pills followed by 7 days of no-hormone pills. You have your menstrual period while taking the no-hormone pills, which is every 3 months. This dosing schedule changes your menstrual cycle to only 4 periods per year.

The Yasmin birth control pill contains a new progestin that reduces water retention (bloating) during the menstrual cycle. For this reason, Yasmin cannot be used by women who have kidney, liver, or adrenal gland disease.

Contraceptive skin patch

The transdermal patch is an adhesive patch [about 1.75 in. (4.4 cm)] that is prescribed by your health professional. You can wear it on your lower abdomen, buttocks, or upper arm. Each patch releases estrogen and progestin through your skin for 7 days. Over a 4-week period, you use 1 patch per week for 3 weeks, then no patch for 1 week. During this week, you have your menstrual period.

For more information, see how to use the patch.

Patch warnings. The patch delivers more estrogen than low-dose birth control pills do. In general, more estrogen raises the chance of blood clots in the legs and lungs, heart attack, and stroke. It is not yet known whether women who use the patch are more likely to have these serious problems.

Direct sunlight or high heat can increase, then lower, the amount of hormone released from a patch. This can give you a big dose at the time and leave less hormone for the patch to release later in the week. This increases your risk of pregnancy. Avoid direct sunlight on the hormone patch. Also avoid using a tanning bed, heating pad, electric blanket, hot tub, or sauna while you are using a hormone patch.

Contraceptive vaginal ring (CVR)

The vaginal ring is small [about 2 in. (5.1 cm) in diameter], flexible, and colorless. It releases a continuous low dose of hormones into the vagina to prevent pregnancy for that month.

You insert the vaginal ring at home and leave it in place for 3 weeks. This gives you continuous birth control for the month. On the first day of the fourth week, you remove the ring and you have a menstrual period. The exact position of the ring in the vagina is not critical for it to work because the ring is not a barrier contraceptive and therefore cannot be incorrectly inserted.