You think you are being a responsible individual when it comes to protecting yourself from an unplanned pregnancy. You take your birth control pill every day religiously and make sure you never run out. However, even when you are taking the pill as you should, this may always be the most effective form of birth control on its own. In fact, as many as 49 percent of pregnancies in the United States happen unexpectedly or without planning. If you want to make sure your pregnancy-preventing is as effective as it should be, there are a few pitfalls of the common birth control pill that you should know about.

Birth control may be ineffective with some medications.

Birth control is metabolized in your liver in your body, which means other medications that are metabolized in the same way may have an effect on your birth control. If you are handed over a prescription for an illness by a doctor, make sure you mention that you are on birth control and ask if the medication will interfere. Everything from some antibiotics to anti-seizure medication can inhibit your birth control and you should be using a backup method just in case.

Birth control and stomach viruses do not mix.

Even if you take your pill a few hours before getting sick and vomiting, you could lose most of the important ingredients of your birth control pill if you are sick with a stomach virus. If you have a stomach virus or upset stomach, it is always best to use some other backup plan to prevent pregnancy, whether it is condoms or otherwise. One bout of vomiting and even diarrhea can prevent the birth control pill from being in your body long enough to break down and do its job effectively because your body will be trying to expel everything and anything in your stomach as quickly as possible.

Grapefruit can cause problems with birth control.

If you enjoy the refreshing taste of a good grapefruit, it is fine to have a small amount on occasion. However, if grapefruit is one of your favorite foods and you eat it several times a day or drink a lot of grapefruit juice, it can mess with the effectiveness of the pill. Grapefruit can block the natural breakdown of estrogen that occurs in your body, which can prevent hormone levels from staying regulated and allow you to get pregnant. 

For more information, consider contacting a professional like those at Mile High OB GYN.