Can someone reassure me re birth control and what it does.

[smurfgirl]

I had a chemical pregnancy last month, and I told my friend and she said that it never implanted because I am on birth control. I am on the patch which has the same hormones as the pill.

The nurse said that there was nothing I could have done to cause or prevent this but now I am worried that being on BC caused it and its my fault. I don't particuarly want to be pregnant but I don't like the idea of BC 'stopping' a pregnany from happened if its going to, does that make sense?

Hi Smurfgirl,

As far as I am aware, birth control methods like the pill are supposed to stop you ovulating. The way they do this is by feeding your body artificial hormones which means your body doesn't produce the real hormones it needs to ovulate.

Other methods such as the coil do work by stopping a fertilised egg from implanting, but I don't think that is the case for any hormone based ones.

HTH.

The type of hormonal contraception which contains both a progestogen and an oestrogen does stop you ovulating. But those with just a progestogen (e.g. the mini pill) do not always stop you ovulating (although they usually do). IIRC this type of hormonal contraception also works by making your cervical mucous thicker so sperm cannot get through. So either way it should not have been caused by a fertilised egg not impanting due to the form of contraception you are using.

HTH.

Makes perfect sense - exactly the reason I feel unable to use the coil.

The combined pill stops ovulation, the mini pill can stop ovulation but doesn't all the time so it mainly works because it creates a mucus 'plug' at your cervix to stop sperm getting in. No pill is 100% effective and just occasionally an egg can be released and meet up with a sperm.

If you've had a chemical pregnancy it's most likely there was a problem with the embryo anyway - nothing to do with the type of birth control you're using.

Hope this helps, sorry you've had to go through this.