Scarleteen

Hey Scarleteen,
I've had a question about typical vs. perfect use of birth control pills that, despite doing online research, I still haven't totally understood.
As I understand, perfect use is when you take the pill as directed every time and typical use accounts for missed pills. My questions is where do late pills come into play? I am assuming it would fall under typical use if the pill is taken no more than 12 hours late, but I haven't read any sources that have outright said so.
Any clarifications/explanations would be great!

Hi suchening,

I think it'll be helpful to take a look at this article for an explanation of what "typical" vs. "perfect" use really mean: Have a Little Faith in BC This is a big reason why we do encourage people who take birth control pills to back up with condoms as well if they are sexually active; if there's any drop in effectiveness when it comes to your pill, the condom's protection can easily make up for that.

In terms of late pills: a pill that is technically late can impact the effectiveness of your birth control. Keep in mind, though, that "late" doesn't mean "an hour later than you usually take the pill;" for most birth control pills, a pill is not considered "late" until it's more than 12 hours late. The information that comes in your pill packet will probably have more information about what counts as "late" for your particular pill.