9 birth control questions you've been too afraid to ask, answered by a gynecologist

The oral contraceptive pill may not be glamorous, but it gets the job done. Or, rather, it gets many jobs done. Taking the pill can help clear up your skin, regulate periods, ease menstrual cramps, and, the obvious, prevent unwanted pregnancy.

But like anything that has reached a certain level of popularity, misconceptions about the birth control pill abound. To help separate myth from fact, INSIDER talked toDr. Jessica Atrio, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist at Montefiore and Albert Einstein School of Medicine, to answer common questions about the birth control pill.  

Of course, not everyone who takes birth control identifies as a woman, but everyone who takes oral contraception can benefit from this information. 

1. Do birth control pills make you gain weight?

If you've ever considered going on the pill, chances are someone has warned you that doing so could make you gain weight.

But, as it turns out, this is more of a myth than anything else. Although some types of hormonal contraceptives have been associated with weight gain, taking combined hormonal contraceptive pills (the most common type of birth control pill) have not been associated with weight gain.

Still, it can't hurt to pay attention to how your body reacts to oral contraceptives, just as you would with any other type of medication.

"Every individual has unique side effects and experiences with a medication," Atrio told INSIDER. "There are a variety of pills with different formulations. If a woman is having unacceptable side effects from a certain pill, she may have a different experience with a different formulation or a different form of hormonal contraception, such as the progestin-only implants or intrauterine devices."

2. Does taking birth control pills make it harder to have kids later?

You might be worried that taking the pill now will make it more difficult to get pregnant in the future. 

But this isn't the case because the pill doesn't have any long-term effects after you quit. 

"No, the pill does not [make it harder to get pregnant later]. However, regardless of whether or not a woman has taken birth control at any point in her life, there is a gradual decline in fertility for all women and men as we age," Atrio told INSIDER. "Women who desire to become pregnant in their late 30s and 40s have more risk factors for infertility and pregnancy complications."

3. What's the difference between combination pills and mini-pills?

If you've done some research on birth control pills, you may have seen that there are two types a person can take — the combination pill and the mini-pill.

The combination pill is the more commonly prescribed of the two, and it contains the hormones progestin and estrogen. The mini pill contains only progestin.

"[The mini-pill] is a good option for women who need or want to avoid estrogen," Atrio told INSIDER. "The mini-pill may be associated with a more irregular bleeding profile for some women, however, the majority of women have much less blood loss when they take hormonal contraception."