Of the reported 3.5 million UK women who use the pill, I’d wager a huge amount of cash (alright, £50) on half of them not being able to solidly answer most questions on the seven-day pill break. Or, most pill-related issues, for that matter.According to the CEO of leading sexual health charity Family Planning Association , I should probably wager a bit more money; “We used to have a helpline, and one of the biggest questions was about the pill,” Nakita Halil told me. "Missing a pill is such a common worry, and it’s worth mentioning that we’ve got a really clear chart on our site (and lots of contraceptive pill information .)"When it comes to the seven-day pill break, I just do it without thinking, until I realised the other week that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a break and became convinced I was going to die.I texted three female friends and received the following answers:“I don’t know but your body will really need a period, take a break from the pill! NOW!”“I think the seven-day break is fine to miss but I don’t know probably take it now just in case”and“Are you going to Becca’s later?” (She hadn’t registered my text)Deciding never to speak to my friends (one of whom just bought a house) about contraceptive health again, I then turned to a professional who a) knows what she’s talking about and b) doesn’t speak in the same language as that effing pamphlet that comes with my Yasmin. It might as well be directions to the nearest petting zoo for all the help it provides during a 3am ‘I haven’t bled in a year’ panic.“By the time you’ve taken seven pills, your ovaries have basically gone to sleep and stopped producing eggs,” explains Dr. Helen Webberley, the dedicated GP for Oxford Online Pharmacy and an expert in sexual health. Thank god. “If you stop taking the pill for more than seven days, the ovaries start to wake up again. There’s no harm in keeping them asleep, or rather, missing your break.”Nakita agrees: “It’s absolutely fine for you to miss the break, it won’t harm you at all.”And you can miss it more than once, too! It turns out that, when the combined pill was created, the manufacturers wanted to closely mimic women’s menstrual cycles to make us all feel a bit more normal. So the suggested pattern of 21 days on, seven days off, is just that: a suggestion. Patterns are crucial in helping your brain remember to take the pill (as is a daily alarm on your phone), but you can settle into whatever pattern you like.