If you aren’t ready to start a family, you and your spouse should be careful about contraception. But mistakes can happen, regardless of how careful you are. Emergency contraception is safe, effective, and available without a prescription.
Plan B is up to 89 percent effective in preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex. This FDA approved emergency contraception is not an “abortion pill” — it is a hormone (a form of progestin) that delays ovulation and effects the way the egg and sperm move through a woman’s reproductive system. In other words, the hormone makes it less likely that the two will meet and result in a pregnancy. Plan B does not work on women who are already pregnant, and does not pose a risk to the baby if it is taken.
How does it work? You take two pills. The first one should be taken as soon as possible; the second pill is taken twelve hours after the first. Plan B works best when used within 72 hours of unprotected sex, but can be effective up to five days.
What are the possible side effects of Plan B?
- Headache
- Nausea
- Abdominal pain
- Fatigue
- Irregular bleeding
- Changes in your next menstrual cycle
- Breast tenderness
Plan B can be used more than once a month, but is not recommended as a regular method of contraception. The pills can be expensive — between twenty-five and forty-five dollars without a prescription — and they are less effective than other contraception methods. Emergency contraception does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases.
Across the United States, women and men over the age of 18 can get Plan B from a pharmacist without a prescription; women under 17 do need a prescription to get the pills. This availability is only a recent change — although Plan B has been around (and approved) since 1999, it was not available over the counter until less than a year ago.