Missed a pill

Missed a pill

10 December, 2008

Question:

I'm on a birth control pill and I missed one day. I am wearing dark underwear, but I started staining. Can I ignore the staining or am I considered in Nidah? I went to the mikvah last Monday night.

Answer:

Stains found on colored underwear do not render you niddah. You should continue to wear colored underwear and avoid looking at toilet paper within 15 seconds after urination. Please see our article on stains for more details.

If the staining is heavy enough to be considered a flow (comparable to your lightest period) or was accompanied by a hargashah, then you are niddah. You need to wait the five-day minimum before beginning the shivah neki'im.

We also recommend abstaining from intercourse until the staining subsides. This is a recommendation, not a halachic requirement.

Note that skipping birth control pills can reduce their efficacy as contraception. We suggest that you ask your healthcare provider whether you need to use a backup method of contraception this cycle. Spermicide is a halachically acceptable method, if one is needed.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional.

For further questions or comments:

The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.

Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.