They benefit from the effectiveness, safety, and convenience of the pill. Still, many women do not use the pill as successfully as possible.
Programs can help women use OCs effectively.
When taken properly, the pill is a highly effective contraceptive. In part because some women have trouble taking the pill correctly, pregnancy rates are usually much higher than if the pill were used perfectly. For combined OCs the perfect-use pregnancy rate is estimated at only 0.1 per 100 women in the first 12 months of use. In actual use pregnancy rates range from 1.7 to 10.5 pregnancies per 100 women in the first 12 months in 21 surveyed countries. Better pill use would make a big difference.