--- title: Birth Control: How to Know if Your Pill is a Risk for Blood Clots description: See which brands contain ingredients that may be more harmful than not. canonical: https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-28T00:42:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:40:23.880Z article:section: Health og:title: How to Know If Your Birth Control Pill Is a Risk for Blood Clots og:description: See which brands contain ingredients that may be more harmful than not og:url: https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b89acac69ee4c3/6987788606f2c181f13333e7/birth-control-pills-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Birth Control Pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Know If Your Birth Control Pill Is a Risk for Blood Clots twitter:description: See which brands contain ingredients that may be more harmful than not twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b89acac69ee4c3/6987788606f2c181f13333e7/birth-control-pills-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Know If Your Birth Control Pill Is a Risk for Blood Clots > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=33710f01-f9dc-4e18-a46e-1d461028a10c&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 28, 2015 12:42 AM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 28, 2015 12:42 AM UTC It’s been known for quite some time that the Pill may increase a woman’s risk for blood clots, but the risk is thought to be low. As TIME [reported](http://time.com/3897046/oral-contraceptives-blood-clots/) on Tuesday, the study showed that women on the Pill had around a three times higher risk of blood clots compared to women who weren’t using the oral contraceptives. The risk appeared to be greater for women taking newer versions of the hormone progestogen, including drospirenone, desogestrel, gestodene and cyproterone. Older versions of the hormone, including levonorgestrel and norethisterone, had better results. You can read more [here](http://time.com/3897046/oral-contraceptives-blood-clots/) about why these versions may have a higher risk. So, how do you know if your birth control pills contain ingredients that might be more harmful than not? Drospirenone and desogestrel are both approved for use in the U.S., and can be used in combination with other ingredients. We broke down which birth control brands contain them, according to approval data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Gestodene and cyproterone are currently not approved for use in contraceptives in the states. There may also be other brands of the contraceptives that contain these ingredients available in other countries. **Drospirenone** Angeliq Beyaz Loryna Nikki Safyral Syeda Yaela Yasmin Yaz **Desogestrel** Cyclessa Desogen Emoquette Enskyce Kariva Kimidess Mircette Ortho-Cept Pimtrea Velivet Viorele _Read next:_ [_Why the Best Form of Birth Control Is the One No One Uses_](http://time.com/the-best-form-of-birth-control-is-the-one-no-one-is-using/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/"},"headline":"How to Know If Your Birth Control Pill Is a Risk for Blood Clots","datePublished":"2015-05-28T00:42:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:40:23.880Z","description":"See which brands contain ingredients that may be more harmful than not","url":"https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/","keywords":["Research","Hormones","Birth Control","birth control pill"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b89acac69ee4c3/6987788606f2c181f13333e7/birth-control-pills-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b89acac69ee4c3/6987788606f2c181f13333e7/birth-control-pills-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Birth Control Pills","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Birth Control Pills","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3898339/birth-control-blood-clot-risks/","name":"How to Know If Your Birth Control Pill Is a Risk for Blood Clots"}}]}] ```