A latest study has suggested that conceiving while taking birth control pills doesn't apparently increase the risk of birth defects. Researchers discovered similar rates of birth defects in women who had never taken birth control pills and the ones who took them before pregnancy or before realizing that they were pregnant.

Lead researcher Brittany Charlton said that women who conceive either soon after they stop taking oral contraceptives, or even while taking them, must know that this exposure is unlikely to cause birth defects.

An instructor in the department of epidemiology at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Charlton, said that this must reassure women and their doctors. But, she warned that that the study can't prove that birth defects are not caused by birth control pills, and can just suggest that there appears to be no relation.

According to Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, the study findings weren’t surprising. She said, “It's something we have known for a while. Still, many women in the United States are on birth control pills, so it's reassuring to know that they don't cause any birth defects, and women don't have to worry about it during pregnancy”.

Oral contraceptives are very effective at preventing pregnancy, but nearly 9% of women conceive the first year of using them. Charlton said that this generally happens because of missing a dose or use of other medications like antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs, antibiotics, or some HIV drugs, making the contraceptive less effective.

There are a number of cases, wherein women stop taking ‘the pill’ when they want to become pregnant and conceive within some months.

In background notes, the study authors explained that whether the hormones in birth control pills could have an effect on fetal development when used around conception time hasn't been studied in detail.