Why don't you ovulate during placebo week?

[JCf316]

One thing I've never understood about BCPs are placebo weeks. Why is it that if I miss a single pill during the active weeks I risk ovulating, but yet I can go an entire week without hormones and there's no risk? I'm not really concerned, I'd just like to understand why this is how it is.

[Mo]

We get this question a lot, so we have a helpful article to explain it! How do birth control pills really work, even during the placebo period?

[JCf316]

So why can't you miss pills in the middle of the pill pack?

[Heather]

Because those are the active pills with the hormones that make the pill work, and for the pill to work, all the active pills for each cycle have to be taken and in order.