The Birth Control Patch is a square patch that sticks on the skin. Women need a new patch each week for three weeks. The fourth week no patch is used. It contains the same hormone-like drugs as contained in the birth control pill. The patch works to prevent pregnancy by releasing estrogen and progestin through the skin and into the bloodstream over a period of seven days. 

Risks and side effects are greater than the pill. Women who want to use the pill but do not want to take a pill every day may want to consider this method; however, since the Ortha Evra Patch exposes a woman to greater amounts of estrogen-like drugs, she may want to reconsider this method. Although a woman can remove the patch at any time, the patch exposes a woman to a greater risk of blood clots. This drug is not a barrier method of birth control and does not have the protection against STDs like condoms, the diaphragm or the cervical cap.

 

If you are using the birth control patch, you may want to discontinue its use, and contact your health provider if you experience the following:

For more information on the history of the patch and development of women experiencing blood clots and how it differs from the pill, please read WHS HEALTH ALERT: The birth control patch and strokes.