Women often have questions about whether hormonal contraceptives are safe after age 35

Women often have questions about whether hormonal contraceptives are safe after age 35.

Older women often use combination estrogen and progestin contraceptives for birth control...to regulate menses...or reduce perimenopausal symptoms.

But some oral contraceptives can increase the risk of blood clots...and this risk increases further with age. In fact, the annual risk of having a blood clot with combo pills quadruples with age...to 100 per 100,000 women over age 39.