Is the pill safe? An honest look
Hormones, clots, cancer and smoking, in honest proportion, after sixty years of evidence.
Wondering what this means for you? We can help. Talk to a doctor about contraception.
The combined pill is one of the most studied and most used medicines in history. Hundreds of millions of women have taken it over more than sixty years. That does not make it right for everyone, but it does mean we know it very well.
The worry about hormones
It is natural to feel uneasy about taking hormones every day. Two things are worth holding in mind. Your body already makes these hormones; the pill works with them, at low doses. And when the pill was invented, the doses were several times higher than they are now, and even then the serious harms turned out to be limited to the specific ones that decades of careful research have since identified. Modern pills are far gentler.
The real risks, in proportion
The combined pill slightly raises the risk of a blood clot. That is real, but the increase is small, and pregnancy itself carries a higher clot risk than the pill does. On cancer, the honest picture is balanced: a small, temporary rise in breast and cervical cancer risk while you take it, which fades after you stop, set against a reduced risk of ovarian, womb and bowel cancer that can last for years. It is not the cancer threat it is sometimes feared to be.
Smoking and age
Two things change the picture sharply. Smoking and the combined pill together raise the risk of clots and heart problems, and over the age of 35 that combination is enough that we will not prescribe it. Age on its own is less of a barrier than people think: a healthy non-smoker with no other risk factors can usually take the combined pill up to around fifty. It is the risk factors that gather with age, not the birthday itself.
The benefits people forget
The pill is not only about preventing pregnancy. It usually makes periods lighter, more regular and less painful, often improves skin, can ease premenstrual symptoms, and lowers the lifetime risk of ovarian and womb cancer. And it does not harm your future fertility: that returns quickly after you stop.
We weigh all of this with you, honestly, and help you decide.
Wondering what this means for you? We can help. Talk to a doctor about contraception.
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Explore everything about contraception
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Choosing a pill: combined or progestogen-only
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Patch, ring or pill: choosing
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Switching or restarting the pill
Contraception after pregnancy and breastfeeding
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The seven-day rule explained
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Skipping your period
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Missed a pill? Where it falls matters
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Combined pills: who they suit
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Progestogen-only pills and the 24-hour window
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The contraceptive patch (Evra)
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The vaginal ring (NuvaRing)
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The diaphragm, a hormone-free option
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The contraceptive injection
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Emergency contraception: levonorgestrel vs ulipristal
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Condoms, honestly
The pill and blood-clot risk, in proportion
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Migraine and the pill
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