Factsheet

Emergency Contraception

Date   11 February 2008

WHAT IS THE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE PILL?

The emergency contraceptive pill or ECP (sometimes wrongly called the 'morning after pill') is a special dose of oral contraceptive hormones. You take it to reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex, ie if you did not use contraception at all, or perhaps you used a condom but it broke during sex.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The emergency pill can work in two ways:

1. It can delay ovulation (the release of an egg from a woman's ovaries).
2. If ovulation has already taken place, it may stop a fertilised egg from implanting in the womb. There is less evidence to support this effect.

You should keep on using other contraception, eg the Pill or condoms, for the rest of the cycle until you next period in case you ovulate AFTER taking the Emergency Pill. Otherwise you could still become pregnant.

HOW DO YOU TAKE IT AND ARE THERE ANY SIDE EFFECTS?

Remember that all types of emergency contraception are more effective the sooner they are started after unprotected sex. If you have unprotected sex and you don't want to get pregnant, you need to take the first dose of emergency pills within 120 hours (five days). There are two types of emergency pills that can be used. You can safely use either of these methods more than once in a menstrual cycle.

1. Since July 2002 pre-packaged emergency pills have been available in Australia. The pack, called Postinor-2, Levonelle-2 or NorLevo, has two single tablets. Each tablet contains progestogen, which is one of the hormones found in oral contraceptive pills. The manufacturer recommends that you take one of these tablets as soon as possible after unprotected sex and one exactly 12 hours later. So, for example, if you take the first one at 11am, you take the second one at 11pm.
   
   Recent studies suggest that this kind of emergency contraception works just as well if you take both pills at once - and this may be useful if the second dose is due at an inconvenient time. You can discuss this with your health practitioner. This method prevents seven out of eight expected pregnancies and side effects are not common. You might have some bleeding a few days after using this method.
   
   The ECP costs about $20-$30 from a pharmacy and, since January 2004 in Australia, it is available over the counter without a doctor's prescription. The pharmacist may want to ask you a few questions to ensure that it is safe for you to take this medication.
   
   
2. The oldest kind of emergency contraception contains both the hormones that are in the combined contraceptive pill. Take four of these pills (Microgynon 30, Levlen Ed, Nordette or Monofeme) as soon as possible after unprotected sex, and four more 12 hours later. This kind of emergency contraception is less effective and has more side effects (such as nausea and vomiting) than the other methods above. It should probably only be used when there is nothing else available. It prevents three out of four expected pregnancies.
   
   NB If vomiting occurs less than two hours after you take a dose of emergency contraception you should take another dose. If vomiting occurs MORE than two hours after either dose, it is thought that the emergency contraception will remain effective, so there is no need to take another dose.

WHEN TO EXPECT YOUR PERIOD

Most women have a period at about the expected time.

FOLLOW UP

If your period is more than a week late, or if you have any other concerns, contact your health practitioner or Healthline for advice.

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For further information

Contact the Healthline on 1300 658 886.