We all get busy and sometimes remembering to take the pill is at the back of our minds - until it's 4am and that light goes off! "What do I do now?"

Panicking about missing a pill all depends on which one you forget to take. The "active" pills may not be as effective in preventing pregnancy if you miss the first few or last few pills in a pack. If you miss the "reminder" pills there's no need to worry because this is when you get your period - although, for peace of mind, don't be afraid to use a back-up method like a condom.

What to do if you miss your "active" birth control pills

• Take the pill as soon as you remember then take the next pill at your usual time. Unfortunately this means you may have to take 2 pills in 1 day and you may experience nausea.
• If you miss 2 active pills in a row in Week 1 or Week 2 take 2 pills on the day you remember and 2 pills the next day. Then follow through with 1 pill a day until the pack is finished. Pregnancy may not be prevented if you have sex during the 7 days after you restart your birth control pills. Use a condom or another method of non-hormonal birth control as a back-up for those 7 days.
• If you miss 2 active pills (in a row) in Week 3 there's two things you can do and those depend on when you started your pack. If you started on Day 1 of your period throw out the rest of the pack and start a fresh one that same day. If you started your pill pack on a Sunday keep taking 1 pill every day until Sunday. On Sunday, throw out the rest of the pack and start a new pack of pills that same day. You may not get your period this month. Here again the risk of pregnancy is high so use a condom or spermicide for the first 7 days after you start taking the new pill pack.
• If you miss 3 or more active pills in a row (during the first 3 weeks) and you started taking the pill on Day 1 of your period throw out the rest of your pack and start with a fresh one that same day. If you started your pill pack on a Sunday keep taking 1 pill every day until Sunday. On Sunday, throw out the rest of the pack and start a new pack of pills that same day. You may not get your period this month. Here again the risk of pregnancy is high so use a condom or spermicide for the first 7 days after you start taking the new pill pack.
• If you forget to take any of the reminder pills in Week 4 just throw out the pills you missed. Keep taking 1 pill each day until the pack is finished.

Birth Control Buzz is a service company that provides birth control prices, birth control types (prescription required), health administrative services, and birth control statistics predominantly to US patients seeking to purchase birth control on-line.

About the Author

For more information on types of birth control call 1-866-868-8850 or visit http://www.birthcontrolbuzz.com/.