Is the pill and a condom enough?

[Angeldelight123]

Hello again Scarleteen!

Basically, I'm very happy taking the pill as my birth control of choice (combined pill) and I always take it when I'm supposed to, never missed one etc and my boyfriend wears condoms any time we have sex with no problems so far.
So my question is, is taking the pill and using a condom enough to protect ourselves? Or is there anything else we can add to make it more safe apart from not have sex? (Lets be real we don't wanna give up sex lol)
I have many friends who just rely on the pill as their sole method of contraception, but I could never do that! Two methods are always better in my opinion and I want to make sure me and my boyfriend are being as safe as we can be.

[Sam W]

Hi Angeldelight,

You can read about the effectiveness of combining those two methods here: The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control With a Second Method
Basically, if that level of protection feels high enough for you both, then you're all set. If not, then you could try adding in another method (like withdrawal)

[Angeldelight123]

Thank you for the reply Sam!

This question was to really just look for a second opinion, since my friends all have different opinions, most of them don't bother with condoms and just use withdrawal along with the pill but I would rather use condoms along with the pill to be doubly safe, so that's why I'd like to know if it's enough to make the chance of pregnancy very unlikely and I can relax knowing this double method won't fail me.
I hope this makes sense

[Sam W]

It does! We recommend combining the pill and a condom because it offers a high level of protection against both pregnancy and STIs. With this kind of sex we can never say it's 100% without risk, but that combination makes the risk incredibly, incredibly low.

[Angeldelight123]

Thank you so much again Sam!

So, is the risk so incredibly unlikely using this combination that it isn't anything to worry/think about? Again, just looking for a second opinion

[Mo]

Well, what counts as something to worry about does vary from person to person, so we can't really tell you what's going to make you feel most confident about your level of pregnancy protection. We do indeed suggest using condoms and the birth control pill together, as you're already doing, because it's a combination we think will be a good level of protection for many people. And many people use those two methods and feel really positive about that choice, and don't worry much, or even at all, about pregnancy.

But what is going to be best for you will depend on how it makes you feel. I think the link Sam posted upthread, about the effectiveness rates of using two methods of birth control at once, is a good resource here to show just how effective your current plan is. We can give you that information, about how well-protected from pregnancy you are when using particular methods, but we can't tell you if any one method is going to feel right for you, just because you're the only one who can determine that. Does that make sense?