How safe is it to use birth control pills?
Like with all medicines, there are some risks to taking contraception or birth control pills. These are rare and the benefits of taking the pill outweigh the risks.
There are 2 types of contraceptive pill:
the progestogen only pill, sometimes called the minipill
Taking the combined pill can increase your chance of developing a blood clot. In rare cases, this can lead to a deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot in the lung, a stroke, or a heart attack.
Although this is very rare, in some groups of people the risk of this becomes higher. So some people will be advised to try a different type of contraception. For example, if you're over 35 and you smoke, or you get migraines.
Research suggests a connection between taking the combined pill and a small increase in the chance of developing some types of cancer. This includes breast cancer, cervical cancer and a rare form of liver cancer. The pill will reduce the chance of developing other types of cancer, like womb cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer.
Taking the progestogen only pill increases the risk of getting ovarian cysts. But these cysts are not dangerous and often disappear on their own, although some people will find them painful.
Some research has suggested a link between taking the progestogen only pill and breast cancer. There's not enough evidence to show a clear link. It's thought that any increase in risk is only seen among those who have a family history of breast cancer.
