Switching to Hormonal Birth Control? Here's What You Need to Know

Weighing pros and cons is the best way to start any new medication, and advice one Hartford HealthCare specialist gives patients seeking birth control.

“I always counsel patients on the risks and benefits of all medications they consider starting,” says Sarah Lindsay, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist who practices in Hartford and West Hartford.

Recent news that all hormone contraceptive medications, including the popular combined formula of progesterone and estrogen, may be associated with an increase in breast cancer doesn’t change her approach, nor, she says, should it prompt women to automatically change their method of birth control.

Here's her advice.