Your health.(ask our experts: HEALTH, MONEY & RELATIONSHIPS)(birth control pills)

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Q: Are birth control pills that promise fewer periods SAFE FOR MY BODY?

A: Nearly half of all women experience at least one unintended pregnancy, making contraception a major women's health issue. Of birth control options, oral contraceptives, or the "pill," are quite popular and available in dozens of brands.

The pill suppresses the ovaries to keep them from releasing eggs. Most oral contraceptives administer 21 days of the hormones estrogen and progestin, followed by 7 days of placebo, causing withdrawal bleeding. Other hormonal contraceptive methods, such as the patch and the vaginal ring, also use this 21/7-day schedule. …