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21st September 2014
05:00pm BST

Will it affect my fertility?
Taking the pill will not lead to infertility. However for some women, after stopping the pill, it can take 6-12 months for them to become pregnant. It's important to remember that not taking the pill as prescribed, or missing a dosage, can increase the risk of pregnancy mid-cycle.
Will it give me a blood clot?
There has been a lot in the media recently about certain “killer pills” causing blood clots. What are the facts? Well, the risk of a young woman getting a blood clot is pretty low, with 5 in 10,000 women likely to develop a blood clot.
If you put all these 10,000 women on the pill, about 10 of these women will get a blood clot. And if those 10,000 women all got pregnant, 29 of them will get blood clots. So, although the risk of getting a clot increases slightly when taking the pill, it is still a lot less than the risk of getting a blood clot during pregnancy… Confusing we know!
Other risk factors for getting a blood clot include smoking, being overweight, and being older than 35. Some brands of pill are seen to be safer than others at preventing blood clots, so if you are worried about this, or if you are a smoker or overweight, chat to your doctor about which pill would be the safest choice for you.
Why do I have to see the doctor for check-ups?
It is important to have regular (at least annual) check-ups while taking the pill to monitor the side effects such as high blood pressure. The doctor may also check your Body Mass Index to ensure it is safe to prescribe the pill to you and they may talk to you about smoking. If you are a smoker over 35 years of age, the pill may not be the safest option for you and the doctor may chat to you about changing to a different form of contraception.
But, but, I don’t like taking tablets….*wails*
That’s ok! The pill also comes as a patch and a ring that is inserted vaginally.
What is the Mini-Pill?
This is the progesterone only pill - there is no oestrogen in this pill. There are two of these on the market in Ireland at the moment. As they contain no oestrogen, they are a safer option for smokers, women who suffer from migraine, or women where there is a family history of blood clots.