Are you protected while taking the sugar pills in your birth control?

Answer 1

When you are on the sugar pills, you have the same protection as on the earlier active pills as long as you took the previous weeks of pills as directed. This protection is in place whether you are having withdrawal bleeding that day or not. Using a condom further lowers the risk of pregnancy, and provides protection against disease. The sugar pills are there to make sure you maintain a routine with the taking of the pill.

There is always a chance of pregnancy while using Birth Control. If you are really afraid of pregnancy you should use two methods (like the pill and a condom, or the pill and a spermicide etc.) Among 1000 couples using the birth control pill perfectly for a year, three couples will get pregnant. When you consider that perfect use is challenging, then it's worth looking at "typical use" failure rates: of 1000 couples using the birth control pill "typically" (with mistakes) during a year, 30 will have a pregnancy. Using a condom each time you have sex lowers the rate of pregnancy significantly.

Some birth control brands contain iron or other vitamins in the placebo pills. Whether your placebos contain iron or not, you have protection from pregnancy during the placebo period as long as you took the previous weeks of pills correctly.

Answer 2

The placebo pills in your birth control pack have no hormones in them, but you are still protected from pregnancy during this seven-day break as long as you took the first 21 pills correctly.