Even with the best of intentions, accidents and mistakes happen. Maybe you got caught up in the moment or your preferred method of birth control failed. Whatever the reason, if you’ve had unprotected sex you can take the morning after pill to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

What Does the Morning After Pill Do?
Each month, your reproductive organs prepare themselves for you to become pregnant. Part of this is a process called ovulation, where the ovaries release eggs to be fertilised by sperm. The morning after pill works by delaying ovulation, thereby preventing fertilisation and pregnancy.

Side Effects of the Morning After Pill
You shouldn’t have any long-term impacts to your fertility and menstruation when using emergency contraception, but your cycle may be affected in the short-term after taking it.

If you experience any side effects, they should be mild and temporary. Reported symptoms include:

• Cramps
• Stomach pain
• Nausea
• Tiredness
• Breast tenderness
• Dizziness
• Acne

How Often Can I Take the Morning After Pill?
Emergency contraception should not be used as a form of birth control. Instead, like the name suggests, it should only be used in an emergency situation where your normal birth control fails or you forgot to use any. There are no serious health complications caused by taking the morning after pill on a regular basis, however it’s not advised.

There has not been enough research into the impacts of long-term and continued use of emergency contraception. What research has been done suggests that it could lose its efficacy when used on a regular basis. Plus, you’ll keep exposing yourself to higher levels of hormones as well as the potential side effects of the morning after pill.

The Morning After Pill vs Condoms
There’s a reason condoms are one of the most popular and effective forms of birth control throughout the world. When used correctly, they can be up to 98% effective against unwanted pregnancies. They also protect against many types of sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). However, 98% means that in a year 2 out of every 100 women using condoms correctly may become pregnant. This is usually due to the condom slipping off the penis. Occasionally, condoms may split or break during use.

When a condom slips off or breaks, the morning after pill is the choice for many women to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Like condoms, for emergency contraception to be effective it needs to be taken correctly and as soon as possible. The efficacy of the morning after pill will start to decrease the longer you wait to take it.

Types of Morning After Pill
There are two main types of morning after pills available for use in the UK, levonorgestrel and ellaOne.

• Levonorgestrel, also known as Levonelle, has a synthetic form of progesterone in it to delay ovulation. It needs to be taken within 3 days (72 hours) of unprotected sex.
• ellaOne contains ulipristal acetate, which temporarily stops progesterone from working normally and will delay the release of an egg. ellaOne needs to be taken within 5 days (120 hours) of unprotected sex.

Morning after pill treatment can be bought online from Pharmacy Planet with swift and discreet delivery. To prevent an unwanted pregnancy, visit us to buy levonorgestrel tablets and the ellaOne pill online in the UK.