Towards the rational prescribing of oral contraceptives (UPDATED JANUARY 2012)

Oral contraceptives, generally known as ‘the Pill’, revolutionised contraceptive choices for women with the introduction of the first combined oral contraceptive (COC) 50 years ago, followed by the first progestogen-only pill (POP) a decade later.

This supplement was originally published in 2011 and has since been updated and peer-reviewed in January 2012.