What is the progestogen-only pill? How do you take it and are there any side effects? Watch my video to find out more!
Hi guys welcome back to my channel my name is hannah and i’m a sexual health nurse so today we’re going to be talking about the mini pill also known as the progesterone only pill so the progestin-only pill is used at preventing pregnancy and it’s used as a form of contraception so the progesterone only pill is over 99 accurate however with typical use it’s about
92 effective which means that typically over a year um eight out of a hundred women will get pregnant on this form of contraception it’s important to note the progesterone only pill prevents you against pregnancy but it doesn’t protect you against stis so sexually transmitted infections or diseases so it’s important to use condoms alongside that with um casual
Partners that you might not necessarily know um if they have an infection or to get yourself regularly checked or if you’re in a relationship and that’s a continuous relationship uh with the same person then you can both go and get yourselves checked the clinic and then you’ll be able to stop using condoms after that we love it when you come in with your partners
Um and get checked together um to make sure that you have nothing to pass on to each other the pill works by thinning the lining of the womb this obviously means that it’s not nice and squishy for an egg to be able to embed in it it also works by thickening the mucus around your cervix this acts as a physical barrier to sperm so it slows the sperm down as it’s
Coming into the uterus and with the aim that it would die before it reaches an egg so there are some side effects as with any medication um the main sort of side effects for a progesterone only pill would be some irregular bleeding some people find this really annoying so you might bleed here there and everywhere but other people completely stop bleeding your
Bleeds tend to be lighter and less painful it’s more about the inconvenience if you have any irregular bleeding some people also experience nausea headaches breast tenderness and a big one for a lot of people going on and this type of contraception is acne and skin changes so this is something to consider when considering this type of contraception in rare cases
People might develop cysts on their ovaries these actually tend to be harmless and go away on their own so it doesn’t tend to be something to worry about this is a really safe pill to be on breastfeeding and postpartum and if you did find yourself pregnant on this pill which is very unlikely but still possible there’s no evidence that it affects the fetus or the
Unborn child depending what way you see it so how do you take this type of pill this type of pill is taken daily you take one every day you do not have a break on this pill like you would on the combined pill if you choose you would take this pill every single day a missed pill would count as something 12 or more hours after the time you’d normally take it through
The newer brands of progesterone only pill for the older brands um it’s actually only a three hour window period this would be three hours from the time you’d normally take it so it’s important to check with your pharmacist or your doctor or sexual health clinic and what type of pill you’ve got whether you’ve got the newer versions or whether you’ve got the more
Traditional older versions of this contraception if you’ve got the newer traditional versions an example would be designed to roll um you would take it for example at eight o’clock in the morning if you haven’t taken this pill by eight o’clock at night this would count as a missed pill and you would need to use condoms for 48 hours and take 48 hours worth of
Pills for example one today one tomorrow and one the following day and when it’s been 48 hours since your first pill you’re then protected against pregnancy to start on this pill again it’s the same thing you need to build up 48 hours until you’re then protected against pregnancy so get those condoms from the sexual health clinic the gp um and use those in the
Meantime or just abstain if you do have a missed pill and you’ve had sex during that time then it’s important to get in contact with the pharmacist sexual health clinic gp to talk about emergency contraception because that is possible the progesterone only plays a really great pill to be on because there is no not many or i say can’t say no but there’s not many
Risks associated with it so people over the age of 35 who are smoking can go on this contraception people with high blood pressure people with migraines with aura all of those things you wouldn’t be able to do if you were taking a combined pill and you’d have to come up with this pill so it’s quite a safe pill to be on i kind of think that’s actually everything
You need to know about the progesterone only pill and so it’s considered traditionally the mini pill and you would take it every day without any breaks i will do a video in a few weeks um on the combined pill so that there’s a little bit more of a comparison between the two and but the main things to know is that you might get some irregular bleeding some skin
Changes and breast tenderness but it’s actually a really safe pill to take and you take it daily thanks so much for watching guys i really hope you enjoyed this video and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more videos by myself out every wednesday take care bye
Transcribed from video
Contraception- Progestogen-only Pill (mini pill) – Sexual Health Nurse Hannah By Sexual Health Nurse Hannah