I’m going out of the country on Saturday for a family reunion. I’ll be gone for 3 weeks & don’t want to bring my birth control pills because I don’t want my family to know, and I won’t be sexually active. When I come back, could I start taking a new pack on the first Sunday i come back?
You can start taking a new pack of birth control whenever you return — whether or not it’s a Sunday. Birth control pills can be started on any day of the week, at any point throughout the month. But it’s important to remember that the protection from the pills you’re taking now won’t last beyond a day or two once you stop taking them — you will not be protected from pregnancy for those three weeks, or until the new pills take effect (which can be up to seven days). Learn more about birth control pills.
If this is an ongoing issue, it might be worth thinking about other forms of birth control like the ring, the shot, or the IUD which don’t require carrying something around with you or taking a pill every day.
Tags: birth control, the pill, family, vacation