 Using contraceptives for the first time can be daunting and stressful. Before you decided to take contraceptives ask yourself "Am I really ready for sex?" Ask yourself these few questions with a simple YES or NO answer and they will help you to be really sure:
• Are you ready to have sex?
• Is someone putting the hard word on you to have sex, especially your boyfriend?
• Do you want to have sex before marriage or before living with some one?
• Are you ready to be single parent, if you get pregnant?
• Are you absolutely certain that your intended sex partner doesn’t have a sexually transmitted disease?
• Are you sure that you do not have any STDs?
• If this relationship with this person does not last, will you be glad that you had sex with this person?
Any 'no's in there? Or maybe you have doubts about continuing to be sexually active? Or you decided to take contraceptives? What do you need to know to help you to make that final decision?
OK so you are thinking of using a low dose birth pill for the first time. First of all, let assume that you know that a low dose of birth control pill contains synthetic hormones that prevent you from becoming pregnant 99% of the time. The other 'action' that occurs each month as a result of taking a low dose birth control pill is that the mucous around your cervix is thickened by the progestin ingredient in the pill. The last way in which the low dose of birth control pill has an influence is to thin the lining of your uterus which makes it difficult for a fertilized egg to implant and grow there should it get that far.
Did you know that if you do not use any contraceptive method at all , you have an 80-90% chance of getting pregnant? And are you sure you know about every way in which you can become pregnant? Did you know that you can get pregnant the first time you have intercourse. Also you can get pregnant if you are on your ‘period’, and it doesn’t matter either at the end or during the following week. You can get pregnant regardless of the position in which you have sex. And even if you sex partner pulls out of your vagina before he comes-tiny drops of semen can 'leak' out of the penis prior to full ejaculation and those little swimmers have only one mission in mind- to get to your egg and you’ll get pregnant.
Very important to use 'back up' such as condoms, diaphragm, or foam during the first month of pill taking. You can choose which day to start your low dose birth control pill taking regime:
• on the day your period begins OR
• on the first Sunday after your period begins. This will result in your period almost always beginning on a Tuesday or Wednesday every 4 weeks OR
• on the fifth day after your period begins OR
• you can start your low dose pill today if there is absolutely no chance that you could be pregnant. Use a backup method of contraception until your first period.
| 
