This Major Contraceptive Pill Myth Has Just Been Debunked

As with any medication, the pill comes with a whole host of possible side effects, but you can now thankfully rule one of those risks out.

Yep, it’s a warning you’ve probably heard hundreds of times, but the rumour that if you don’t quit your contraceptive pill as soon as you become pregnant the hormones may cause harm to your unborn baby has been officially labelled a myth.

While it had been previously thought that the chemicals inside your pill could lead to birth defects, research has now found that there are no common links between the two.

In fact, researchers at the Harvard School Of Public Health discovered similar birth defects rates – around 25 out of every 1,000 births – among women who’d never used the pill and women who’d continue to take their contraception before they realised they were pregnant.

While this doesn’t definitively mean that the pill doesn’t cause birth defects, it does mean that currently science is unable to make a link between the two.

So if you took a pill or two after realising you had a little ‘un on the way, it may help to offer you just that extra little bit of reassurance.

• contraception
• Contraceptive Pill
• health
• Wellbeing
• Women's Health