Can you start the birth control pill before your next period starts?

Answer 1

You can start the Birth Control pill at any time in your cycle. The quick start approach is the current standard of care. Studies show that starting the pill as soon as you get it decreases the risk of pregnancy and increases the risk of continuing the pill.

If you're starting the birth control pill in the first five days of menstrual bleeding, you have immediate protection. If you're starting at any other time in your cycle, use a back up method of birth control, like condoms or abstinence from vaginal sex, for the first seven days of the first cycle.

Regardless of the birth control pill you are taking, per FDA guidelines and standard GYN practice:

• If you start the pill in the first five days of menstrual bleeding, no backup method is needed.
• If you start the pill at any other time in your cycle, use a backup method of birth control, like condoms or abstinence from vaginal sex, for the first seven days of that first pack.
  

You can confirm this information by checking the FDA insert that came with your birth control pill, or by calling your prescriber or pharmacist.

For reasons of patient error, some health care providers recommend that new users, particularly teens, use a back up method for a month because of the increased possibility of missing a pill, not because the pills, when taken as directed, take that long to start to work.