"The Patch"

One of the most recent forms of birth control has been the birth control patch. This patch is a thin, beige square patch that sticks to your skin.
The way this works is very simple. The combination of the hormones progesterone and estrogen in the patch prevents ovulation (the release of an egg from the ovaries during a girl's monthly cycle). If an egg isn't released, a girl can't get pregnant because there's nothing for a guy's sperm to fertilize. The hormones in the patch also thicken the mucus produced in the cervix, making it difficult for sperm to enter and reach any eggs that may have been released. The hormones can also sometimes affect the lining of the uterus so that if the egg is fertilized it will have a hard time attaching to the wall of the uterus.
Like other birth control methods that use hormones, a girl uses the birth control patch based on her monthly menstrual cycle. She puts on the patch on the first day of her menstrual cycle. She will place the patch on her skin once a week for 3 weeks in a row. The patch should be applied to one of four areas: the abdomen, buttocks, upper arm, or upper torso. On the fourth week, no patch is worn, and a girl's period should start during this time.
There have been problems associated with the patch. One of them is blood clots. This is because estrogen, which appears in the pill as well, causes blood to coagulate in the veins. It seems though that the patch appears to cause more blood clots than the pill. According to epigee.org, this is the reason for this higher instance of blood clots "the birth control patch actually delivers higher amounts of estrogen directly to your bloodstream. The traditional pill is broken down in your intestinal tract before any hormones reach the bloodstream. By the time it is broken down, about 50% of the estrogen contained in the pill has been lost. However, because the patch delivers estrogen straight through the skin and into the bloodstream, users are actually receiving about 60% more estrogen with this form of birth control. As a result, their risks for blood clots increases."
So then comes the question, is it safe to use the patch? Even though the patch is FDA approved they recommend that women with concerns or risk factors for serious blood clots talk with their health care provider about contraceptive options.