Morning after pill is also referred to as the emergency contraception pill (i-pill in India). It is the contraceptive method of choice for women who have just had unprotected sex and do not want to entertain the idea of getting pregnant because of it. The pills are believed to work up to 5 days from the time you have done the act. Morning after pill is generally considered safe and is available at many drug stores as an over the counter product and at the moment in India a prescription is not required to buy these pills.
1) Morning after pills are what women should look for if they got into an unplanned sexual encounter and they don’t follow or use any contraception method at all. Getting drunk or being carried away by all that passion is the most common reason why couples proceed with unprotected sex without thinking twice. Morning after pill is also recommended if your partner had certain accidents during the intercourse like the condom slipping off or bursting, diaphragm or IUD getting out of place, or he withdrew too late.
2) This pill works by keeping the ovaries from releasing an egg. If a woman won’t ovulate, she won’t get pregnant no matter how many sperms there could be inside her body. Morning after pill functions in almost the same way as the two other oral contraceptive tablets. The only difference is that this one works much faster than the others would because of higher dose of hormone contained within.
3) The effectiveness of these pills is never 100% and is time dependent. The sooner the woman takes it after intercourse, the better. If taken within 72 hours, the risk of getting pregnant is reduced by 89%. However, that percentage of success goes down with the passing time. Women can only use this method for up to 120 hours after the unprotected intercourse to be effective. This goes to show that the use of the regular oral contraceptive proves to be the more effective way of deterring pregnancy.
4) The use of morning after pills is generally safe. However, certain side effects may show up, just like with any other medications. Examples are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, breast tenderness, and irregular bleeding. The frequent use of morning after pills may also lead to irregular or delayed menstrual period.
5) As a last note, morning after pill is recommended only during those accidental days. It should not be used as a regular contraception because of other better and more effective methods being available. Please check with your doctor if you wish to know more about them.