Emergency Contraception

Hello! 

I am Dr. Indu Taneja, Head of the Department of Gynae and Obstetrics. Today I will talk about emergency contraception. Emergency contraception is when a contraception is taken after an unprotected sex act. This is very commonly used nowadays. People think that as a method of contraception but this should not be used as a normal method of contraception. This is only for emergency and should not be made as a routine. So there are various drugs which can be taken as emergency contraception. First, one is called pill 72. You must have all heard about this. This means a pill which is taken within 72 hours of the unprotected sex.

This is a progesterone pill. The dose is approximate 1.5 mg of progesterone. It is taken within 72 hours. Then the second drug which is more effective is - Ulipristal. 30 mg tablet which is now available in the India, can be taken till 5 days of the unprotected sex. This is more effective as compared to the progesterone pills. Then the third one is- combined pills which has both estrogen and progesterone. This can again be taken within 5 days of the unprotected sex. This is also equally very effective but the most effective is the Ulipristal. Then there is the contraceptive device IUCD. It is a kind of Copper-T. This can also be used till 5 days after the unprotected sex. This is quite effective. In any case fertilization has happened, this prevents pregnancy to grow inside the uterus. In case somebody has taken these pills and after that she wants to conceive then these medicines are safe, specially the progesterone pills. This is quite safe, even the combined pills are safe. So no side effect are reported in the baby after the emergency contraception. But please please do not use them as regular method of contraception because all these medicine can lead to irregular periods, delayed periods. So this can only be used once in a while not regular.

Thank You!