List of All Oral Contraceptions

Oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, prevent any unwanted pregnancies. Regardless of the hormones used, oral contraceptives suppress ovulation and alter the cervical mucus and uterine lining. Besides preventing pregnancies, some oral contraceptives can clear acne and relieve premenstrual dysphoric disorder symptoms. When a woman chooses an oral contraceptive, she has three different options.

Progestin and Estrogen Oral Contraceptives: 21 or 28 Pills

Progestin and estrogen oral contraceptives, or combination birth control pills, are the most commonly used form of oral contraceptive, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The 21 or 28 pill packs of combination birth control pills have three weeks of hormone pills. In the 28 pill pack, the last week contains placebo pills; women who use the 21 pill pack do not take any pills during the last week. The 21 or 28 pill packs of progestin and estrogen oral contraceptives are available in three forms: monophasic, biphasic and triphasic pills. Monophasic combination pills have the same level of hormones throughout the month. Examples of monophasic combination pills are Ovral, Ovcon, Ogestrel, Nordette, Low-Ogestrel, Lo Ovral, Levora, Levlite, Apri, Alesse, Brevicon, Demulen, Desogen, Levlen, Loestrin, Yaz, Yasmin, Norinyl, Ortho-Cept, Ortho-Cyclen and Ortho-Novum. The second option is biphasic combination pills, which have two levels of hormones during the month; this includes Jenest-28, Mircette, Necon 10/11 and Ortho Novum 10/11. The last option is triphasic combination pills, like Estrostep, Estrostep Fe, Trivora, Ortho-Novum 7/7/7, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Tri-Levlen, Tri-Norinyl and Triphasil; these brands have pills with three different levels of hormones.

Progestin and Estrogen Oral Contraceptives: 91 Pills

Another type of progestin and estrogen oral contraceptive is the 91 pill pack, or the extended-cycle birth control pill. These types of oral contraceptives contain three weeks worth of birth control pills; however, two of the three months have continuous hormone pills, so the woman does not get her period during those months, according to the NIH. Lybrel, Seasonale and Seasonique are FDA-approved extended-cycle birth control pills.

Progestin-Only Oral Contraceptives

For women who cannot take estrogen-based medications, they can use progestin-only oral contraceptives. Nora-BE, Jolivette, Errin, Camila, Ovrette, Nor-QD and Micronor are the brand name options of progestin-only oral contraceptives.