Is Marvelon effective?

Marvelon is an effective form of oral contraception for preventing pregnancy. Similar to other estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives (COCs), Marvelon is 97 percent effective at preventing pregnancy when taken as directed. To be taken as directed, you should take the pills in your Marvelon pack at the same time each day. 

If you have the 21-day pack, you can take a one-week break between packs or jump into your next pack if you want to skip your period. If you have a 28-day pack, you can take the seven inactive reminder pills before your next pack or skip them and begin a new one. The 97 percent effectiveness rate of this contraceptive means that if 100 women take Marvelon correctly while being sexually active, only three will get pregnant yearly. 

This makes Marvelon a very effective method of birth control. If no birth control is used, somewhere between 60 to 85 women out of 100 will become pregnant in a year. Using condoms, between 2 and 12 women out of 100 will become pregnant in a year. A combination estrogen-progestin oral contraceptive like Marvelon, provided it contains at least 20 micrograms of estrogen, will only result in up to 3 women becoming pregnant, making it an efficient choice.