Many people have misconceptions about taking emergency contraceptive pills, believing they can definitely prevent pregnancy and often use this method regularly. However, emergency contraceptive pills are only suitable for emergency situations. The term “emergency” here refers to having unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy or due to contraceptive failure, such as condom leakage or breakage, forgetting to take regular contraceptive pills for 2 or more pills, or cases of rape, etc.
How to take emergency contraceptive pills?
The correct way to take emergency contraceptive pills is to take the first pill as soon as possible after unprotected sex, ideally within 72 hours, and take the second pill within 12 hours after the first pill. It is not recommended to take more than 4 pills or 2 boxes per month. You can take 2 pills at once, and the effectiveness and safety are not different from splitting the dose into 2 times, but it may cause nausea and vomiting more easily.
In Thailand, emergency contraceptive pills are sold in boxes, with 1 box containing 1 blister pack. Each blister pack contains 2 emergency contraceptive pills, each pill containing a high dose hormone, levonorgestrel, 750 micrograms per pill.
How do emergency contraceptive pills work?
Studies have found that emergency contraceptive pills can inhibit or delay ovulation. However, these pills cause hormonal changes that may make the uterine lining unsuitable for implantation of a fertilized egg and may affect the movement of the fertilized egg.
Taking the pill after pregnancy has occurred will not terminate the pregnancy or cause a miscarriage because emergency contraceptive pills are used only for a short period. Additionally, emergency contraceptive pills do not protect against sexually transmitted infections. The best method to prevent sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy is the use of condoms.
Side effects from using… emergency contraceptive pills
In some cases, using emergency contraceptive pills may cause nausea, vomiting, early or delayed menstruation, abdominal pain, breast tenderness, spotting or heavy bleeding between periods. If your period is more than 1 week late after taking the pill, you should check for pregnancy. If suspected, consult a doctor.
When used correctly after unprotected sex, emergency contraceptive pills have a pregnancy rate of about 2%. Those who do not take emergency contraceptive pills have about an 8% chance of becoming pregnant. In other words, emergency contraceptive pills can reduce the risk of pregnancy by only about 75%.
It can be said that emergency contraceptive pills are less effective than regular contraceptive methods. This is because the pregnancy rate among users depends on the timing of when the pill is taken and the timing of intercourse within the menstrual cycle. Therefore, frequent use of emergency contraceptive pills increases the risk of failure, which is why they should not be used as a regular contraceptive method.
