Can I start my birth control on a Tuesday?

Can I start my birth control on a Tuesday? If so, how do I take it?

Yes! You can start your birth control method any day of the week. What you need to do depends on where you are in your cycle when you start the birth control. If you start within five days of getting your period, you’re protected from pregnancy right away. If you start any other time in your cycle, the birth control takes a week to start working, so you need to use a condom or avoid having sex for that first week. So, if you start on Tuesday, your birth control will start being effective by the following Tuesday at the latest, depending on when you got your last period.

The pill is a really effective method of birth control, as long as you take it every day. Missing pills can make it not work as well, so it’s a good idea to have some kind of reminder for yourself , like keeping the pills near your toothbrush, or setting an alarm on your phone.

Even though the pill, patch, and ring are really effective at preventing pregnancy (when taken correctly), and you only need a condom that first week to prevent pregnancy, you should still use a condom all of the time anyway. They’re the only way to prevent STDs, and they add extra pregnancy prevention, too.

-Emily at Planned Parenthood

Tags: birth control, the pill, the ring, the patch, starting the pill