Nearly all women can use POPs safely and effectively, including women who:

• Are breastfeeding (starting as soon as 6 weeks after childbirth)
• Have or have not had children
• Are not married
• Are of any age, including adolescents and women over 40 years old
• Have just had an abortion, miscarriage, or ectopic pregnancy
• Smoke cigarettes, regardless of woman’s age or number of cigarettes smoked
• Have anemia now or had in the past
• Have varicose veins
• Are infected with HIV, whether or not on antiretroviral therapy (see Progestin-Only Pills for Women With HIV, p. 30)

Women can begin using POPs:

• Without a pelvic examination
• Without any blood tests or other routine laboratory tests
• Without cervical cancer screening
• Without a breast examination
• Even when a woman is not having monthly bleeding at the time, if it is reasonably certain she is not pregnant (see Pregnancy Checklist, p. 372)