Late pills questions

[kert96]

Hello there,
I was hoping you could help me clear some doubts about the intake time of the pill.
I'm on my second pack ever of combined BCP. I'm very strict with the hour I take them (normally around 9 pm, sometimes 9:30 pm top). The thing is, last Friday I went to a party and forgot to take the pill, so I took it the next day (Saturday, around 7 am). This same day (Saturday) I had sex with my partner without a condom. He did not ejaculated inside, though.
I've read in some articles that a window of 12hrs after your normal "intake hour" is still considered as an "on time" pill, in others they say is not safe depending on which week of the pack you are on (I should mention that I was on the last week of active pills)... Anyway, I would appreciate if someone could spare this doubt... should I worry for this "late pill"? Does a pill work just for 24hrs period and is that the reason we just take it at the same hour every day?
Thanks

[Sam W]

Hi kert96,

You do indeed have a 12 hour "grace period" before your pill is even considered late. Since you took your pill within that 12 hour period, you can assume the effectiveness did not decrease. The reason it's recommended that you take the pill at the same time everyday is that doing so reduces the odds of you forgetting a pill on any given day. You can read more about that here: Combined Oral Contraceptives (The Pill)