I'm thinking of going on the Pill, but I'm terrified because I've heard you have to have lots of vaginal and breast examinations. Help.

In the early years of the oral contraceptive, doctors used to carry out these examinations on every woman who went on it. This was mainly because nobody really knew what the side-effects of the Pill might be. But these days it's not necessary to have any examinations - apart from a regular blood pressure check.