<s>[INST] Hello i have been on ovaranette contraceptive pill and recently just asked to change. The doctor has given me Loestrin 30 to take, however she told me to not have a 7 day break and to take the new loestrin 30 straight away. I forgot about this and had my 7 day break and then started taking my new Loestrin 30 as i would have taken my old pill. Will this be effective? How long do i have to used alternative contraceptive for or will i be protected straight away? The leaflet in the box says to have taken it on the first day of your period but i didn t. [/INST] Hello and welcome to HCM,     I am Dr Nilajkumar a consultant gynecologist and I will be helping you in your queries. Both pills contain estrogen and progesterone combination and are fixed dose pills. So not taking the 7 days break does not hold true in this case as both are almost similar except for the type of progesterone. So a back up method is not needed. However if you just do not want to take any chances, a backup method like condom must be used for the first 7 days after starting the new pack.Hope this was helpful. Feel free to ask any further queries and I will be happy to help.Thanks for using HCM.Have a good day.Dr Nilajkumar Bagde          Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecology </s>