The morning after pill: What it is, and what it isn’t

WHEN man plans, God laughs, and no matter how careful we may try to be, there are times when things just don’t go as intended.

Sex is no different, and whether you are in a committed relationship or not, mistakes happen. Broken condoms, a few missed oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), a wild night on the town, or God forbid, non-consensual sex can all lead to unwanted pregnancies.

With this said, all women should be armed with the information about emergency contraception to prevent pregnancies in these situations; however, it is important to understand that OCPs are not abortion pills.

According to obstetrician-gynaecologist (OBGYN) Dr Ryan Halsall, the hormone in the pill is a man-made version of the naturally occurring progesterone.

“Abortion pills are quite different and are still illegal. Now if you suspect you have taken the morning after pill while you could have been pregnant, don’t worry. There is no evidence that the medication will harm your unborn child, just understand that it won’t get rid of it,” Dr Halsall said.

While maintaining that the drug is not harmful, he cautioned that it should not be used as a regular contraception.

“Now there are no real long-term bad effects of the emergency contraceptive pill, but we don’t advise using it as regular contraception. The main reason is that it’s not as effective and far more expensive when compared to other methods. If you find yourself using emergency contraception pills more than once a month, then you should consider a formal contraceptive method or switching the one you’re using now,” Dr Halsall said.

To further understand how emergency contraception works he explained the two main methods below.

1. Hormonal pills

According to Dr Halsall, the first and most common method is the use of hormonal pills, for which several preparations are available to both women and even men over the counter.

“The main ingredient is levonorgestrel, an artificial hormone that can prevent pregnancy by delaying ovulation and preventing implantation of a fertilised egg. It involves two pills, the first of which should be taken within 72 hours or three days of the accident; however, some newer studies show it to be effective if taken up to four days after. There is a new drug on the market in the United States to soon reach our shores that is effective up to five days after unprotected sex,” he said.

2. Intrauterine devices

Dr Halsall said less commonly, intrauterine devices can be used to prevent pregnancy.

“They work by preventing implantation of the pregnancy in the womb. It has the advantages of being used up to five to seven days after unprotected sex, and offering long-term reversible contraception at the same time — five to 10 years. The main drawback is that you have to find your OBGYN or a trained family doctor or nurse to have it inserted,” he said.

Dr Halsall said if for some reason you can’t or don’t want to go to the nearest drugstore and pick up those pills, you can actually use the regular OCPs as emergency contraception.

“The amount of pills that you should take will depend on the brand of OCP that you have, and I would encourage you to ask your family doctor or gynaecologist to guide you with that dosage regimen,” he said.

With regards to side effects, he said nausea is the most common one and warned that if you should throw up within four hours of taking any dose, you need to repeat the process.

Postinor 2, one of the morning after pills on the local market.