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Emergency Birth Control Emergency birth control is just what it says it is, birth control for emergency situations. This form of birth control is a back up method to be utilized when your regular method fails. If you use a condom and it breaks, get ill and vomit your pill, or worst of all, you are raped. These are the times when you may want to use emergency birth control. Emergency Birth Control is not 100% effective. EBC should never be used as a regular form of birth control in place of condoms, the pill, diaphragm or cervical cap. EBC is not an abortion or the French abortion pill RU-486. Emergency Birth Control comes in two forms, hormonal pills or an IUD. The pills are just like regular birth control pills but the dose is much higher. The IUD is the Copper T and must be inserted by a physician. Both forms of EBC work in the same way by preventing pregnancy from occurring. First, if the ovum has not been released yet, it prevents it from developing further. Second, if the ovum has been released, EBC makes the lining of the uterus unable to support it if fertilization has already taken place. EBC also makes it very difficult for sperm to reach the ovum.
Emergency Birth Control pills should be taken within 72 hours, and the IUD should be inserted within 5 days of sexual contact. The sooner you take the pills, the better the chance of it working in preventing pregnancy. Before you are given any form of EBC, a pregnancy test should be done to confirm that you are not already pregnant. Emergency Birth Control will not cause a woman to lose a pregnancy and is not an abortion. (If you are already pregnant, there is no reason to use EBC.) You will be instructed to take a series of pills 12 hours apart. Usually you will take your first dose at the clinic or doctor’s office, and the second dose at home. You will also be instructed to return in 3 weeks for a second pregnancy test if your period has not arrived by that time. The EBC pills are not as effective at preventing pregnancy as using a regular reliable form of birth control would be. However, in about 75% to 85% of cases, emergency birth control does help to prevent a pregnancy. The IUD when used as EBC is about 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. This is also the IUD’s usual rate of effectiveness as a regular reliable form of birth control. There are side effects to EBC, as there can be with any medications that you take. The EBC pills have side effects similar to regular birth control pills. This includes nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, dizziness, irregular bleeding, and headache. The EBC IUD’s possible side effects include uterine cramping, general pain, and possible infection from insertion. Emergency Birth Control has been around for 25 years.
It is a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy when your regular
method of birth control fails. Emergency Birth Control should be used
wisely and with the supervision of a health care professional.
Published
at Suite101.com's Birth Control Topic
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