What are Emergency Contraceptive Pills?
Emergency contraceptive pills are an important back up for women who have had unprotected sex. This is a method that is used soon after unprotected sex and is often referred to as 'the morning after pill’ or 'the day after pill.’ While there are many types of birth control pills that can be used for emergency contraception, there is only one type of pill packaged especially for emergency contraception in the United States. This emergency contraceptive pill contains a hormone called progestin. The brand name is Plan B® (a registered trade mark of Women’s Capital Corporation, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.).
Reasons a woman may need emergency contraception may include:
— the condom broke while she was having sex
— she started her new pack of birth control pills several days late
— she and her partner got carried away and forgot to use a method of birth control
— she was forced to have sex
Fortunately, there is now something you can do to reduce your risk of pregnancy whenever you have had unprotected sex.
How does it Work?
Plan B® and other emergency contraceptive pills likely work in one of three ways. How they work to prevent pregnancy depends on where you are in your menstrual cycle when you take the pills. They may work by preventing ovulation — releasing an egg from the ovary. Or they may work by preventing fertilization — preventing the egg and sperm from joining and fertilizing the egg. Or they may work by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterus (called 'implantation”), although the most recent research casts doubt that PlanB® has any affect on implantation.
Are there Side Effects?
Some women do experience side effects. About 25% will experience nausea, and a much smaller percentage may experience vomiting. Other types of birth control pills also used for emergency contraception also have these side effects — about half of women using combined hormonal birth control pills for emergency contraception will experience nausea, and about 20% will experience vomiting.
When do I take them?
The sooner you take the pills after unprotected sex the more effective they are in preventing pregnancy. Plan B® reduces your risk of becoming pregnant after unprotected sex by up to 89%. They are most effective when the first dose is taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. However, if taken within 5 days (120 hours) after unprotected sex, there will still be some reduction in your risk of pregnancy. Because it can be time consuming to call your doctor, get a prescription, and get to the pharmacy to pick up emergency contraceptive pills, it is recommended that you get them in advance and have them on hand just in case you need them. Then you can take them right away when you need them and get the greatest protection from unintended pregnancy.
Emergency contraceptive pills are not as effective as a contraceptive method used before or during sex (like daily birth control pills or condoms), so you don’t want to stop taking an effective method of contraception and only use emergency contraception. If you do, you are greatly increasing your chances of getting pregnant.
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