What is the real odds that birth control will fail?

[Angeldelight123]

Hi there,

Straight to the point, i am a very perfect user of the pill, I don't take any other meds, I have never missed a pill and have never taken one late and I have never vomited or had diarrhoea after taking a pill.

So, is the failure rate of the pill even worth worrying over?

I do kind of struggle to convince myself the pill is protecting me, since it is tiny and I can't physically see it working in my body.

I am guessing I'm not the only one feeling this way, I mean it's natural to have some concern isn't it? Especially when you're trusting a tiny little pill to stop you from getting pregnant.

Can someone please advise me?
Is the pill REALLY good at it's job that it's not worth the fuss? How can I trust it more?

[Sam W]

Hi Angeldelight,

You can find out what the perfect use and typical use rates of the pill are (and what actually constitutes perfect or typical use) here: Combined Oral Contraceptives (The Pill)

As far as what you need to to help you trust the pill more, that's really something only you can answer, because you have the best sense of what's causing you to worry. Once you've identified that, you can figure out what next steps to take.

[Angeldelight123]

Okay so, I read that the failure rate is 0.3% in perfect use (being that it's 99.7% effective)

I take my pill perfectly, so is there any reason to be concerned over that 0.3% failure rate at all? Or is it worth not fussing over?

[Eddie C]

As Sam mentioned earlier, this is something that only you can answer. The level of safety a person needs to feel comfortable varies widely, even to the same person from time to time. For some people that efficiency rate will be okay, for others it is just not enough so they either add another method to the equation or change their activities.