Here’s what you need to know about the morning-after pill

After a Twitter user asked about the guarantee of a morning-after pill after 72 hours last month, the internet saw many more confessions regarding morning-after pills.

Parents started calling their children ‘my morning-after pill’, with some saying: “my morning-after pill is five years old”

So, how does the morning-after pill work?

The purpose of a morning-after pill is to act as an emergency contraceptive for women who do not want to fall pregnant. It is used to prevent pregnancy in cases where a woman had unprotected sex, or their primary contraceptive, e.g a condom, failed to work.

Also Read: This baby was born holding her mother’s contraceptive device

According to Mayo Clinic, “morning-after pills do not end a pregnancy that has been implanted. They work primarily by delaying or preventing ovulation.” Implantation occurs when the sperm attaches itself to the uterus after conception.

Mayo Clinic states that there are two forms of morning-after pills:

-Levonorgestrel (Plan B One-Step, Aftera, others)
-Ulipristal acetate (Ella)

When to take it?

If you’re using levonorgestrel, it is important to use it within the first 72 hours of intercourse. Ella, however, can be used within 120 hours.

According to Planned Parenthood, women can take emergency contraception five days after unprotected intercourse. They are, however, less effective after 72 hours of intercourse. Their efficacy may drop to 75% when taken more than 72 hours after the fact.

Why does it not work in some cases?

Ovulation has already taken place

If the woman is already ovulating, the pregnancy might happen quicker than usual. Usually, a sperm will live inside a woman’s body waiting for ovulation (release of an egg) to take place. Sperm can remain in a woman’s body for five days, waiting for an egg to fertilise.

If ovulation has not taken place, then the emergency contraceptive may prevent that. If not, then the pill will not be effective in preventing pregnancy.

The woman is overweight

According to Mayo Clinic, “If you’re overweight or obese, there’s some indication that the morning-after pill won’t be as effective in preventing pregnancy as it is for women who aren’t overweight.”

Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Yale Medical School told news site SELF: “being obese or overweight doesn’t render emergency contraception ineffective, just less effective,” as the pill is not distributed effectively in the body.

Throwing up

Throwing up after taking a morning-after pill calls for a check-in with your GP. It would be worth it to find out if you need to take another one, as chances that you threw it up are high. Nerves, coupled with the hormones in the pill, can make people nervous.

This is particularly the case if you threw up an hour after taking the pill.

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