Birth Control Pill Missed Dose & Period Delay: What to Do?

Question
I'm on my second month of using birth control and I've been a few hours late (anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours) for taking my pill. Does that increase my chance of being pregnant? Also, the first month that I was on it I started my period on the first day of the placebo but now it's almost to the 3rd day and I haven't started. I'm on tri sprintec so I have 7 days of placebos but I'm a little worried. Also can I get pregnant if I have unprotected sex only a few minutes after I have taken the pill? Thanks for your help!

Answer
Hi Meghan,
The closer you are to taking the pill at the same time each day, the better protection you have.  In practice women tend to have a failure rate of about 5% (5 pregnancies out of 100 women per year).  With perfect use the failure rate is less than 1%.  A lot of the failure is from missing the pill for a day or two.  I don't think 2 or 3 hours makes any difference.  It's unlikely that you're pregnant now, more likely that your period is just a little late, and sometimes on the pill your period won't come.  Once you're taking the pill regularly you are protected the whole month, including the 7 days without active pills.  It won't make a difference if you have sex before or after you take your pill.