Family Planning Plus

If you started the ring on the first day of your menstrual period (your first day of bleeding), the method begins working immediately and a back-up method (like condoms) is not needed for the first week of use. Also, if you started the ring immediately after using a different method of birth control (like the pill, the patch, or depo) and there was no gap in time between the two methods, the ring would have begun to work immediately and you would have been protected when the sex occurred. However, if you started the ring at any other time, you should have used a back-up method during the first week and you would not have been protected the day that the sex occurred. Continue to use the ring as directed. If you are more than a week late for your period, take a pregnancy test. If it is negative, repeat the test two weeks later if you still haven’t gotten your period. Do not stop using the ring unless you test positive for pregnancy. Please keep in mind that any hormonal birth control method (including the ring) can cause changes to your menstrual period. Hopefully, that is all that you are experiencing right now. If you have further questions about the ring, please contact the medical provider who prescribed the ring for you. We have just added the ring to our list of supplies so if you are interested in receiving the ring from us, please call us for an appointment.