Is it bad to delay your period with birth control?
Sarah Martinez
Updated on May 01, 2026
Hereof, can you delay period with birth control pills?
It's possible to delay or prevent your period with extended or continuous use of any combined estrogen-progestin birth control pill. Your doctor can recommend the best pill schedule for you, but generally, you skip the inactive pills in your pill pack and start right away on a new pack.
Beside above, is it okay to skip the placebo pills and start a new pack? Yup, it's totally fine to skip the non-hormonal pills (aka placebo pills or reminder pills) in your pill pack. The non-hormonal pills are just there to help you remember to take your pill every day and start your next pack on time.
Considering this, how long can you delay your period with birth control?
If you take the active pills continuously, you won't get a period until you stop them. If you stop taking active pills, you may experience a “withdrawal†bleed, which is similar to your period. Dabney recommends that you allow this to happen once every three to four months.
Will starting birth control a week before your period delay it?
Most brands of the combined contraceptive pill can be used to delay your period if you have already been taking it for several weeks. You should not use the contraceptive pill to delay your period by simply starting to take the pill shortly before your period is due.