Norinyl and Pregnancy

Women who are pregnant should not intentionally use Norinyl. Pregnancy problems could occur (such as miscarriages or birth defects) if birth control pills are taken during this time. If you are taking Norinyl and pregnancy occurs, stop using the oral contraceptive immediately and talk to your healthcare provider.

 

An Overview of Norinyl and Pregnancy

Norinyl® is a birth control pill, known medically as an oral contraceptive. If you are pregnant, you should not intentionally take Norinyl (or any other birth control pills, for that matter). While it is probably unlikely to cause serious problems if you do so, there is no good reason to take Norinyl during pregnancy.
 

Norinyl and Pregnancy Category X

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a pregnancy category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category X is given to medications that should not be used during pregnancy, usually due to serious problems that could occur (such as birth defects or miscarriages).
 
Although it is "common knowledge" that taking birth control pills during early pregnancy is very dangerous, the truth is that doing so is not likely to cause any serious problems (even though Norinyl is a pregnancy Category X medication). Many studies have shown that there is no increased risk of birth defects when birth control pills are accidentally taken during early pregnancy. However, there is no good reason to take Norinyl during pregnancy. It will not prevent (or cause) a miscarriage and serves no medical purpose for a pregnant woman.
 
Most women do not take birth control pills during pregnancy on purpose. Typically, it is done unknowingly, before a woman realizes she is pregnant. Keep in mind that if you take Norinyl correctly (without missing any pills), the risk of pregnancy is quite low. If you miss your period while taking Norinyl, you may want to consider making sure you are not pregnant (an over-the-counter pregnancy test should be sufficient), especially if you have missed any of the pills. If you miss two periods in a row, you should definitely make sure you are not pregnant.
 
(Norinyl and Pregnancy Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;