Morning After Pill (Future Use)

The morning after pill is an emergency contraceptive, which is used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. As the name suggests, the morning after pill needs to be taken within a certain time frame of unprotected sex to be effective.

These pills contain chemicals that mimic female sex hormones. These chemicals stop or delay, the release of the egg to prevent sperm from reaching and fertilising it in the womb.

The morning after pill works in a very similar way to regular contraceptive pills. The difference between them is the concentration of hormones in each pill.

The morning after pill makes the body think it has already ovulated, which prevents eggs from being released from the ovaries. The pill also causes the mucus in the cervix to thicken, making it harder for sperm to cross the vagina into the womb and fertilise any eggs that might be there. Finally, the pill causes changes in the lining of the womb, so that any eggs that do become fertilised can’t implant into it and cause a pregnancy.

You should take the morning after pill as soon as possible after you’ve had unprotected sex.

You can take Ellaone up to 5 days (120h) after having unprotected sex, and Levonelle up to 3 days after (72h).

If you are not ovulating and you take EllaOne within the 120-hour window, your chance of not getting pregnant is 98-99%. For Levonelle, if you are not ovulating and take it within 72 hours then you have a 97-99% chance of not getting pregnant.

Levonelle is not recommended if you are close to ovulation. If this is the case EllaOne is a better choice of oral emergency contraceptive pill. However, neither type of emergency contraception will work after ovulation has begun.

Levonelle does not make the contraceptive pill any less effective. So just keep taking your pill as normal and use an alternative form of protection until your regular contraceptive pill protects you again (usually seven days from the point after you skipped a pill and restarted taking it).

EllaOne can make the contraceptive pill less effective. As a result, you must use some other form of contraception for 7 days after using EllaOne to ensure you are protected from pregnancy. These can include barrier methods like condoms or the contraceptive diaphragm.

You can get emergency contraception for future use through Superdrug Online Doctor.

You’ll need to first complete a short questionnaire about your health. After you’ve completed your order and paid for your prescription, one of our doctors will review your request and prescribe your emergency contraceptive if they think it is safe for you. If our doctors do not think the treatment we offer is suitable for you, you will get a full refund.

If you need the morning after pill urgently, you should be able to get the pill from most pharmacies in Ireland without a prescription. The pharmacist or physician there will require you to answer a few questions before giving you the pill.