When the ‘morning after’ pill became available without a prescription, many wellness experts were concerned that there would be a rise in the number of women who engaged in unsafe sex. However, a new study, published in the British Medical Journal Online First, has found that over-the-counter emergency contraception has not affected female sexual health at all, and women are just as likely to indulge in unsafe sex as they were before the pill was more readily available.
In this country, the emergency contraception pill has been available without a prescription since 2001, and British researchers, led by Dr Cicely Marston, have discovered that in the last 12 years, nothing has changed. According to their findings, women are using the pill at roughly the same rate now as in the past when a prescription was needed.
Using data from an annual multipurpose survey, the team examined how the morning after pill had affected the sexual wellbeing of 7,600 women aged 16 to 49 over a period of three years. The participants were asked which contraceptives they used, and how often they had unprotected sex.
According to the study’s authors, ‘Making emergency hormonal contraception available over the counter does not seem to have led to an increase in its use, to an increase in unprotected sex, or to a decrease in the use of more reliable methods of contraception.’ Over the years of the study, the number of women using emergency contraception was 8.4%, 7.9% and 7.2%, which indicates a minimal change and, if anything, a decrease.
The authors noted that the only significant change was in where women obtained their emergency contraception. Since it became available from a pharmacy, more women chose this option over getting their morning after pill from their doctors. The authors wrote, ‘The sharp rise in the proportion of women buying emergency hormonal contraception over the counter indicates that many women prefer this way of obtaining it.’ The easy access at the pharmacy has likely prevented pregnancies, they added.
If you have unprotected sex, you can reduce your risk of pregnancy if you take emergency hormonal contraception within 72 hours. If taken within 24 hours, the hence-named morning after pill is considered to be 95% effective, working either by preventing you from ovulating, preventing your egg from being fertilised or stopping a fertilised egg from being implanted in your uterus. However, emergency contraception is aptly named, because it should only be used for emergencies.
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