What is emergency contraception?
Emergency contraception is used to prevent pregnancy. You can use it if you were sexually assaulted (raped) or you had unprotected sex. Or you can use it if you think your birth control didn't work. For example, you may use it if a condom breaks.
If you had sex without birth control, you could get pregnant. This is true even if you have not started your periods yet or are close to menopause.
If you use emergency contraception right away, it might prevent an unplanned pregnancy. It can also keep you from worrying while you wait for your next period.
Emergency contraception pills do not work as well as other types of birth control. If it is important to you to prevent pregnancy, talk to your doctor about the best kind of regular birth control for you.
How well does it work?
If you are overweight or obese, emergency contraceptive pills may not work as well to prevent a pregnancy. Talk with your doctor about methods of emergency contraception that aren't affected by weight, such as the copper IUD.
This information focuses on using progestin-only pills that are packaged specially for use as emergency contraception. These are often called "morning-after pills." There are other methods of emergency contraception. But they are not covered in this information.
Where can you learn more?
Go to https://www.healthwise.net/patientEd
Enter Q711 in the search box to learn more about "Learning About Emergency Contraception Pills".