Emergency contraception II What is emergency contraception

Topics covered: what is emergency contraception, emergency contraception, methods of emergency contraception etc. 

Emergency contraception

Emergency contraception is the method of preventing pregnancy when there is emergency due to some negligence during sexual contact or some violence activities done for female. Emergency contraception should not be practiced for daily uses because in it, a large amount of pills are taken in once and other things also, which directly influences our body and may cause abnormal functioning in the body. The emergency contraception should be practiced in accordance with the consent of doctor/medical personnel and in some certain conditions: 

It is used for averting an unwanted pregnancy when sexual intercourse takes place without using contraceptive devices. Unwanted pregnancy creates various health hazards in the case of an unsafe abortion. Sometimes, it leads to a women's death if the abortion is unscientific and hazardous. Besides, there are several social and psychological problems in her life. Emergency contraception is used to prevent such circumstances. But it should be used only in an emergency case. Emergency contraception should not be used  for general contraception. It may cause     infertility or other health hazards. Emergency contraception are used in the following conditions :

• Sexual contact without any contraceptives.
• In the failure of contraceptives like tearing of condom, slipping of diaphragm etc.
• Unwanted expulsion of IUD itself.
• Rape and coercion.
• Missed pills intake for more than two days.

Precautions while using emergency contraceptive devices:

• Pregnant women should not use it.
• Women should have a health check up before use.
• If women have swelling, stroke, breast cancer, etc. she should not use it.

Methods of Emergency Contraception

There are mainly two methods of emergency contraception which are mentioned below: 

a) Hormonal use

i. Combined Oral Contraceptives (COC) 

Contraceptive hormonal pills are used in this method. These pills contain estrogen and progesterone hormones. Females take four tablets of pills as a single dose within 72 hours of unsafe sexual intercourse. Again, the next dose of four pills should be taken after 12 hours of the first dose. Due to the effects of unnaturally increased hormonal level in her body, the intra-uterine environment becomes unfavorable for conception.

Some side effects of COC

About 50% females feel nausea for 24 hours after intake. Some women may vomit. If she vomits within  2 hours , she should take the next dose. Anti-vomiting medicine should be taken  before the next dose to prevent undue loss of hormonal pills.

ii. Progestin Pill

These pills contain the progestin hormone, so these tablets are called progestin pills. This types of pills are available in FPAN clinics and other health service centers. A progestin pill should be taken within 72 hours of unsafe sexual intercourse, and the second pill should be taken after 12  hours of the first pill. It is 98 % effective. A few women feel nausea and vomiting as its side effects.

b) Use of IUD

It is also one of the major uses emergency contraception methods which requires small help of medical personnel. If there is unsafe sexual intercourse and  the women does not want to become pregnant, she should take IUD within 5 days of unsafe sex As it is kept inside the womb, it disturbs the environment of conception, and the fertilized egg dies. It can be removed after the first menstruation if it is used for emergency contraceptive. This is available in family planning clinics. It is 99% effective.

It should  be noted that emergency contraceptive methods should be used after proper physical check-up by a certified medical personnel.