What
is the Morning After Pill?
The
Morning After Pill (MAP), brand name Plan
B, can be taken up to 120
hours after sex to
prevent
pregnancy. Just like birth control pills, MAP works by preventing
ovulation
or making it difficult for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterine
wall.
MAP is 75-80% effective in preventing pregnancy. Women can
actually use
their birth control pills to make their own MAP’s (check
www.not2late.org
for more information).
MAP
is also called Emergency Contraception (EC), or Post-Coital
Contraception.
It
is NOT the same as RU-486, the “French Abortion Pill.” If
you’re
already pregnant, MAP willnot work.
Is
the Morning After Pill safe?
MAP
is safer than the use of long-term hormonal birth control, like
Depo-Provera
and birth control pills.There are possibilities
for
the same serious side effects as with the pill, but these side effects
are rare with daily birth-control-pill use, and even more rare with MAP
use.
Doesn’t
MAP make you sick?
While
some women experience nausea and vomiting, most women experience NO
SIDE
EFFECTS. Taking MAP with food and using an over-the-counter anti-nausea
medication lessens nausea, or prevents it entirely.
Is MAP available
anywhere without
a prescription?
MAP
is currently available over-the-counter in more than 47 countries,
including
France, Kenya, Norway, Guinea, Finland, and Canada. England
recently began to distribute MAP free in school clinics to students 16
and under. France also gives MAP out for free to
people
16 and under.
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