Do you watch the tv present “ER”? Throughout an episode in 1997, Nurse Hathaway (Carol) supplied the choice of emergency contraception tablets to a younger lady who had simply been pressured to have intercourse towards her will. It is attainable that between 5 and 6 million folks discovered about emergency contraception that day.
In response to the Kaiser Household Basis, nearly 3 million unintended pregnancies occur every year in america. You’ll be able to think about why — a condom tears, a diaphragm slips out of place, a girl misses two contraception tablets in a row. Or, a pair has gotten “swept away” within the momentum of lovemaking and has uncared for to make use of contraception. Maybe a rape has occurred. With out remedy, eight in 100 ladies who’ve had one act of unprotected intercourse through the second or third week of their cycle are prone to change into pregnant. With emergency contraception, solely two ladies in 100 could be in the identical state of affairs.
What Is Emergency Contraception?
There are two forms of emergency contraception tablets (ECPs). One is a mixture of estrogen and progestin, and the opposite is a progestin-only tablet. Relying on when they’re taken through the menstrual cycle, ECPs can inhibit or delay ovulation; inhibit transport of the egg or sperm; or alter the liner of the uterus to forestall implantation of a fertilized egg.
An alternative choice, which is definitely the simplest, is a copper IUD. This must be inserted by a medical skilled inside 5 days of unprotected intercourse. It might probably forestall the implantation of a fertilized egg.
How Does It Work?
ECPs, generally referred to as the morning after tablet, have to be taken inside 72 hours of the unprotected intercourse. The tablets are simpler the sooner a girl takes them throughout the 72-hour time interval.
Capsules are taken in two doses, with the second dose taken 12 hours after the primary. Every dose is one, two, 4 or 5 tablets, relying on the model. You want a prescription to get ECPs, though some medical suppliers are actually writing prescriptions upfront.
L evonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol (Preven) is packaged particularly for emergency-contraceptive use. It comprises each hormones, estrogen and progestin, and reduces the possibility of being pregnant by 75 p.c. About 50 p.c of girls who take this really feel nauseous and one other 20 p.c vomit.
Levonorgestrel ( Plan B ) is progestin-only and has been in the marketplace since July of 1999. It is simpler than Preven and has fewer unwanted side effects related to it.
The copper IUD prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted within the uterus. About 80% of girls hold the IUD inserted as contraception for as much as 10 years.
Why Have not You Heard about ECPs?
Though the Meals and Drug Administration declared ECPs to be secure and efficient in 1997, solely 10 p.c of well being professionals focus on emergency contraception on a routine foundation with their sufferers, in response to a survey that very same yr by the Kaiser Household Basis.
Forty-one p.c of People are nonetheless unaware of the existence of ECPs. In truth, solely 11 p.c of girls aged 18 to 44 have each heard of ECPs and know that the tablets must be taken inside 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.
Do not forget that all of us make errors. Unintended being pregnant crosses all boundaries — age, race, ethnicity, social class. Specialists estimate that as many as 1.7 million of the over 3 million unintended pregnancies that occur every year in america might probably be prevented by means of ECPs. This consists of as many as 800,000 pregnancies that now lead to abortions. Would not you somewhat hold a provide available, simply in case? Ask your physician about emergency contraception at your subsequent go to.
