The Morning-After Pill

The morning-after pill isn’t a single drug. There are two drugs that are used as emergency contraception:

1. Plan B One-Step ^®

• It’s a drug intended to be taken as soon as possible within the first 72 hours after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure (for instance, if a condom tears) to prevent pregnancy.
• It contains a high dose of a progesterone (levonorgestrel) that is found in many kinds of birth control pills.
• At the dosage found in Plan B One-Step, levonorgestrel may work on rare occasion to prevent an embryo from implanting in the uterus (see below). ¹
• It is often referred to by the brand name that started it all—Plan B ^® .
• It’s also available in generic forms.

2. ella ^®

• This drug is supposed to be taken as soon as possible within 5 days of unprotected sex or contraceptive failure.
• ella is the trade name of the drug ulipristal acetate.
• It is chemically related to mifepristone (RU-486), the “abortion pill,” and works by a similar mechanism of action. ²

You should know . . . It is not possible for a woman to get pregnant about 26 days a month. Many of the days when women take the morning-after pill, it is impossible to get pregnant anyway. This fact makes “effectiveness” statistics for emergency contraception look much better than they really are. ³

Yes.You may experience several short-term side effects when taking Plan B One-Step.

These include:

• nausea and vomiting
• irregular and unpredictable menstrual periods
• cramping and abdominal pain—which might also be the sign of an “ectopic pregnancy” (see next question)
• fatigue
• headache
• dizziness
• breast tenderness ⁵

Possible side effects for ella include:

• headache
• nausea and vomiting
• irregular bleeding or spotting
• cramping and abdominal pain—which might also be the sign of an ectopic pregnancy (see next question)
• fatigue
• dizziness

You should know . . . ella can function as “emergency contraception” when taken up to 5 days after unprotected sex because it’s on about the 5th day after ovulation and fertilization of the egg that the new baby begins to implant in the lining of the womb—but can’t because the uterine lining function is disabled by ella. The hormone progesterone is blocked by ella so the proteins needed to begin and maintain pregnancy are not produced. This is not a true contraceptive action (that is, it doesn’t prevent sperm and egg from joining in fertilization) but an abortifacient one. The same applies to Plan B if it prevents an embryo from implanting by irritating the lining of the uterus.

• This is a potentially life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus—most often in the fallopian tubes.
• The morning-after pill won’t end an ectopic pregnancy.
• If you have severe abdominal pain three to five weeks after using the morning-after pill, or if you miss your next menstrual period, you should see your health-care professional to rule out a pregnancy (either ectopic or within the uterus).
• An embryo growing in a fallopian tube will require emergency care. ⁷

You should know . . . The cramping and abdominal pain that may result from the use of a morning-after pill can mask the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy, which requires emergency care.

You should know . . . After the sperm penetrates and fertilizes the egg, 46 human chromosomes come together in a one-of-a-kind genetic design that determines a person’s eye and hair color, gender, skin tone, [ ] height and even the intricate swirl of the fingerprints.

You should know . . . The morning-after pill can’t guarantee that you won’t get pregnant, nor does it protect you from HIV/AIDS or other sexually-transmitted infections or diseases.