Long-Term Pill Use: Will It Be Difficult to Conceive?
I've been on the pill for almost six years. Is it true that long-term oral-contraceptive use can make it difficult for me to conceive?
Question:Peg Plumbo CNM
Peg Plumbo has been a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) since 1976. She has assisted at over 1,000 births and currently teaches in the... Read more
No, this is absolutely not true. In fact, the opposite is true, especially with the low-dose (35 mcg. estrogen) pills we use today. Pill users have a reduced incidence of ectopic pregnancy, a condition that can impede fertility, as well as a reduced incidence of ovarian and uterine cancers. Additionally, pill users have increased iron levels in their blood.
We recommend using a different birth-contol method for three months before becoming pregnant because some women take six to eight weeks for their cycles to resume after discontinuing the pill; it's easier to date a pregnancy when the last menses was not a "pill period."
Remember, the appropriate hormone levels must occur for conception to take place. These same hormones -- and those produced by the developing ovum -- will successfully support a pregnancy as it was intended.
If you get pregnant during your first cycle off oral contraceptives, try not to worry. I hope you feel reassured and best of luck with the pregnancy.
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