The Pill is 91% effective. It doesn’t protect you from STDs. Use a condom with your pill to help stop pregnancy and STDs.
Birth control pills (oral contraceptives) are a type of birth control that contains hormonal preparations and are used to prevent pregnancy. Birth control may contain combinations of the hormones estrogen and progestin or progestin alone. Combinations of these hormones prevent pregnancy by stopping the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) from the pituitary gland in the brain. LH and FSH are key to the development of an egg and in the preparation of the lining of the uterus for implantation of the embryo.
Condoms are a type of birth control that in addition to preventing pregnancy also prevent the spread of STDs. There are two types of condoms, the male condom and the female condom. The male condom, or “rubber,” is a thin covering made of latex, plastic, or animal membrane that is rolled over an erect penis. The covering prevents semen, the fluid that contains sperm, from entering a woman’s vagina. Latex condoms are the most effective condom at preventing STDs, while condoms made of animal membranes (lambskin) do not decrease the spread of many sexually transmitted diseases.