The Morning After Pill

Side effects of the morning after pill can include:

• nausea
• tummy ache
• headache
• dizziness
• breast tenderness
• 'spotting' of blood

You can also have a copper IUD (intra-uterine device) fitted – this is effective as emergency contraception for up to 5 days after unprotected intercourse, and will then act as long term contraception.

The morning after pill is an emergency contraceptive. It is taken to prevent an unwanted pregnancy after unprotected intercourse and needs to be taken within a certain time frame.

Take the morning after pill as soon as possible after intercourse. You will take one single dose. Take the tablet with a drink of water and swallow it whole without chewing.

There are two different morning after pills, Levonelle and Ellaone. When you can take it depends on which brand you take.

Levonelle needs to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, whereas EllaOne can be taken until up to 120 hours after unprotected intercourse. The sooner after intercourse, you take the morning after pill, the better - this goes for both Levonelle and Ellaone.

Emergency contraception is contraception you can use after unprotected intercourse. There are two different methods of contraception which are suitable for emergency contraception.

The most commonly used emergency contraceptive is the morning after pill.

Alternatively, you can visit your doctor to have a coil fitted. Some intrauterine devices are suitable for emergency contraception if fitted within 120 hours after an episode of unprotected intercourse.

Levonelle is known as the morning after pill. It comes as a single tablet. You can take it within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse to protect against pregnancy. The sooner you take it, the more effective it is.

Levonelle is an emergency contraceptive pill, so you should try to limit its use to emergencies only. Don’t use it too regularly (for example, if you often forget to take your pill). If you do take Levonelle too frequently, it can make your period less regular and unreliable.

Use of emergency contraception does not protect against diseases, so you should still use condoms.

EllaOne is similar to Levonelle but it can be taken for up to five days (120h) after unprotected intercourse. Despite this long window period it should be taken as soon as possible after intercourse. The sooner you take it, the more likely it is to be effective. If you throw up or have severe diarrhoea within three hours of taking it you need to contact your doctor as you may need to take a second pill.

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, EllaOne will not 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 7 days after using EllaOne to ensure you are protected from pregnancy. These can include barrier methods like the diaphragm for example.