Plan B For Accidental Pregnancy
There are simply times when something happens at the spur of the moment – you meet someone and get busy with the person.
Sometimes this happens between total strangers. It's what happens the morning after that makes the difference.
Some people wake up from a one-night stand finding themselves heavy with baby
The inability to use, failure of, or the inaccesibility to any form of primary contraceptive product during unprotected sexual intercourse is one of the most common causes of unwanted pregnancies in the country today.
But its a good thing we have emergency contraceptive pills available in the market to help us prevent unwanted pregnancies from happening.
Marketed under the brand name Plan B, emergency contraceptives are designed to intercept conception before it even begins.
Emergency birth control pills are not to be confused with the popular abortion drug RU-486. Plan B works to prevent ovulation, if a woman has not yet released an egg.
It also works by preventing fertilization
If fertilization had already taken place, using emergency contraceptive pills will help minimize the chances of post-coital implantation of the embryo into the uterus.
Using Plan B will not terminate an existing pregnancy, as opposed to RU-486 which can terminate a 49-days old embryo.
This is particularly useful because women will not be able to tell when exactly their body will start ovulating.
With the knowledge that sperm can live inside the body for three days at hand, there is a constant scare that if a couple has sex unprotected three days before the woman ovulates, there is a high possibility that the woman might get pregnant.
In context, Plan B is a mini-pill of sorts, but with higher concentrations of levenogestrel
Levenogestrel is one of the different progestins found in your typical birth control pill. The FDA approves of this drug and deems it to be safe to be used by women 18 years old and above.
Plan B is a two-dose system that needs to be take within three days of the unprotected sex. It is best that the emergency contraceptive pill be taken as soon as possible to increase efficacy.
The second pill is taken 12 hours after the first dose. This emergency contraceptive pill is not 100% effective, clinical trials show that Plan B is 89% effective in preventing pregnancy.
Its efficiency rate lowers when you use it past the 72-hour mark
It is important for women to know that emergency contraceptive pills are not meant to be used as a primary birth control means.
It is only a back-up plan for those instances where you simply don't have any means to get your commonly used birth control method.
It is also important to note that Plan B, like any other birth control pill, will only protect its users from unwanted pregnancies and not from sexually transmitted diseases.
Plan B is available to women 18 years old and above without a prescription, provided that they show a proof of age.
Teenagers 17 and below who need to use Plan B need to present a valid prescription note before they can buy the emergency birth control pill.
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