Morning after pill can you get pregnant

Some reasons emergency contraceptive pills can fail include ovulation timing, BMI and drug interactions. There are two types of commonly used emergency contraception: emergency contraceptive pills and the copper IUD 1. The effectiveness of the morning-after pill can be hard to study, because it can be difficult to know if people are ovulating, when they had sex and what day they are on in their cycle 2,3.

In the United States, the progestin-only emergency contraception pill can be purchased in pharmacies by anyone of any age without a prescription 1. You can take it for up to five days after intercourse. If you take it between three and five days, the rate of effectiveness is reduced 1. It works by delaying the release of the egg from the ovary ovulation , preventing the sperm from fertilizing it 5.

Antiprogestin emergency contraception pills are the most effective form of emergency contraceptive pill 1 and available only by prescription. This pill should be taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex 6 , but you can take it up to five days later 1.

This emergency contraception pill changes the way progesterone works in your body 1. It works by preventing or slowing ovulation 1. When ovulation is postponed or halted, there is no egg for sperm to fertilize, and pregnancy is prevented. A person who takes emergency contraception can still get pregnant. Here are the three primary reasons why this happens. Emergency birth control is all about timing. It's recommended that you take the pill as soon as you can—if you wait too long, you might miss the window during which the pill can be effective.

If you have unprotected sex again after you take the pill in the same cycle, it could also fail 7. Nov 9, , am EST. Nov 8, , pm EST. Edit Story. Apr 8, , am EDT. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. Alice Broster. Bipolar disorder: The symptoms - and how to help a friend or family member with the condition. Dating when you have borderline personality disorder: 'I get obsessed really quickly'.

Natasha Preskey 31 October Share this:. Copy this link. How does the morning-after pill work? BBC Three. The 'gold standard' option. Most Popular. Every question you ever had about female ejaculation, answered. How to masturbate. These can indicate a miscarriage or that the fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube ectopic pregnancy.

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