Emergency contraception
Emergency contraception
Background
B.C. type Hormonal (progestin or others)
or intra-uterine
First use
1970s
Failure rates (per use)
Perfect
use
ECP: see article text
IUD: under 1%
Typical
use
?%
Usage
User
reminders
Pregnancy test required if no
period seen after 3 weeks
Clinic
review
Recommended to consider need
screen STDs or consider ongo-
ing routine contraceptive
options
Advantages and Disadvantages
STD
protection
No
Periods
ECP may disrupt next menstru-
al period by couple days. IUDs
may make menstruation heavier
and more painful
Benefits
IUDs may be subsequently left
in place for ongoing
contraception
Risks
As per methods
Medical notes
Combined estrogrogen/progestin pills of
Yuzpe regimen now superseded by better
tolerated and more effective progestin-only
pill.
ECP licensed for use within 3 days of un-
protected intercourse and IUDs within 5
days.
Emergency contraception (EC), or emer-
gency postcoital contraception, refers to
contraceptive measures that, if taken after
sex, may prevent pregnancy.
Forms of EC include:
• Emergency contraceptive pills
(ECPs)—sometimes simply referred to as
emergency contraceptives (ECs) or the
""—are drugs that act both to prevent
ovulation or fertilization and possibly post-
fertilization implantation of a blastocyst
(embryo). ECPs are distinct from medical
abortion methods that act after
implantation.[1]
• Intrauterine devices (IUDs)—usually used
as a primary contraception method, but
sometimes used as emergency
contraception.
As its name implies, EC is intended for occa-
sional use, when primary means of contra-
ception fail. Since EC methods act before im-
plantation, they are medically and legally
considered forms of contraception. Some sci-
entists believe that EC may possibly act after
fertilization (see Mechanism of action), a pos-
sibility that leads some to consider EC an
abortifacient.
Emergency contracept-
ive pills (ECPs)
Emergency contraceptive pills (sometimes
referred to as emergency hormonal contra-
ception (EHC) in the U.K.) may co