Emergency Contraception
Alternate Names : Birth Control - Emergency, Morning-After Pill, Postcoital Contraception
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Effectiveness
Oral emergency contraception medications prevent about 75-89% of pregnancies that occur after unprotected sexual intercourse, and they work best if taken as soon as possible after intercourse. Emergency contraception by IUD insertion is even more effective.
Not every woman who has unprotected intercourse will get pregnant. The risk of pregnancy depends on many factors, especially the time in the menstrual cycle that intercourse occurs. For instance, if 100 women have unprotected intercourse once in the middle 2 weeks of their menstrual cycles, about 8 will become pregnant. If they all use emergency contraception within 72 hours of intercourse, only 1 to 2 will become pregnant.
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