if you miss 2 birth control pills during week 2 and have sex on those days can you get pregnant?

Hi, Anon,

After you missed your pills, did you follow the instructions in your patient information packet? When you miss one pill, you are supposed to take two pills the next day. When you miss two pills, you are supposed to take two pills two days in a row. Did you do that? Is there still time for you to do that?

Week two is most likely when you are ovulating, so chances of becoming pregnant are higher if you miss two doses during that week. But if you can take the doses like I said above, you are still protected.

Hi, Anon, and thank you for your question.

So are you still one pill behind? Or are you saying you took the extra pill after the unprotected sex?

It might be worth a call to the nurse at your doctor's office. Usually the advice is to take two pills as soon as you realize you've missed a dose. From what I'm reading, it seems like you missed a pill, then had sex, then took a pill -- does that mean that there WAS a 24-hour period in which you took two?

Hi, thanks for your question! I just want to make sure that you have the patient information pamphlet (instruction sheet) that comes with your pill pack, so that you can have that as a reference. The instructions can be confusing, but still keep a copy!

If you miss a pill during Week 3 on a Tuesday, then what you need to do is:
Tuesday: oops! missed pill
Wednesday: take Wednesday's pill as scheduled, as well as Tuesday's missed pill
Thursday: resume taking one pill per day
Friday: oops! missed pill
Saturday: take Saturday's pill as scheduled, as well as Friday's missed pill
Sunday: resume taking one pill per day

* It is important any time you miss a pill that you use back-up protection (condom) for the next 7 days, as you are not fully protected (up to the 99%) from the pill during that time.

This is called "doubling-up" when taking two pills in one day, to "make up" for the previous missed pill(s). It is important to know: you don't have to take both pills at the same time, as it can cause nausea. You can take one pill with breakfast and one in the evening, for instance.

From my understanding of your question, you did not double-up on Wednesday or Saturday, is this correct? Since you are starting Week 4 either today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday), which is your "inactive pills", you can just throw away this current pill pack, and start the next pill pack on your regular/usual start-date (are you a "Monday starter" or a "Sunday starter"? PLEASE KNOW: you will not be protected from the pill, and will need to use protection during this entire time, as well as during the first 7 days of your next pill pack! This means 14 days of using a back-up method (condom).

Let me know if I mis-read your question, or if you do not start your "inactive pills" or Week 4 today or tomorrow (Sunday or Monday), as we can come up with another solution.

Yes, unfortunately, there is a chance of pregnancy any time you miss pills and have unprotected sex.

The more pills you miss, the higher your chance of pregnancy. It is important to follow your prescription exactly, including how to "make up" for missed pills. Women commonly miss pills, and is the reason there are very detailed instructions on what to do if you miss 1, 2, 3 or more pills in-a-row. What you need to know is, when birth control pills are used consistently (every day) and correctly, they are 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. When pills are not used perfectly (called "typical use"), the effectiveness rate drops down to 92% or much lower.

Also, it is important to "double-up" on pills once you've missed them (let me know if you would like me to explain how, as it is confusing the first few times). When you miss 3 or more pills in-a-row, most prescriptions say to throw that pack away and start a new one on specified day. ANYTIME you miss ANY pills, it is crucial to use back-up method (condom) for the next 7 days.

There is a chance of pregnancy when you miss pills, as women do not actually ovulate while using hormonal contraception. When you have your "period", it is actually "withdrawal bleeding" from the inactive pills (your body is "withdrawing" from not taking hormone-containing pills for the 7 days). This is probably confusing, and I'm not sure why doctors don't tell women these things! :-)
The pills works in a few ways:
1. Preventing ovulation (release of an egg)
2. Thickening cervical mucus (in case of an egg being released, this makes it difficult for sperm to get inside the cervix)
3. Altering uterine lining (so that in case an egg is released and there is a very motivated sperm, the uterine lining does not make a good habitat for a fertilized egg, thus preventing implantation).

So, if this makes sense...you don't actually ovulate when you are on the pill. When you are off the pill, say when you miss 3 pills in-a-row and do not double-up, then your body thinks you are off the pill...there are not more synthetic hormones from the pill entering your body. So, your body starts its natural process of producing and releasing hormones to begin your cycle, including signaling the maturation and release of an egg from your ovary (ovulation). This is why back-up protection is so crucial, as you do not know when you ovulate after abruptly stopping birth control, and sperm can live inside a woman's body for up to 5 days "waiting" for an egg...it allows enough time for a possible pregnancy to occur.

Lastly, there is also a fourth line of defense if you are ever in this situation again of missing pills, not making up the missed pills, then having unprotected sex without a backup method...and that is using emergency contraception (Plan B). But, if you do miss pills again, please use a condom or choose not to have intercourse and be creative with sexual intimacy in other ways!