Emergency Contraception Pills ("Morning After Pills")
There are two types of emergency contraceptive pills ("morning after pills"), both of which contain the same kinds of hormones found in many daily birth control pills. You can safely use emergency contraception even if you've been told you shouldn't use "the pill" every day.
The first type of emergency contraceptive pill contains a hormone called progestin (learn more about these emergency contraceptive pills). This is the only type of pill available specifically for emergency contraception in the United States (the brand name is Plan B). In other countries, you can find several progestin-only emergency contraceptives and daily birth control pills. Plan B and other progestin-only pills are the most effective emergency contraceptive pills, reducing your risk of getting pregnant by 89% (What does that mean?). You are also less likely to have side effects if you use these pills for emergency contraception.
The second type of emergency contraceptive pill uses both progestin and a hormone called estrogen (learn more about these "combined" emergency contraceptive pills). Many brands of the daily pill can be used for emergency contraception in the United States (find out which ones here). (A specific combined morning after pill is no longer available in the United States because the company that made the one approved here called Preven has stopped selling it). In many other countries, you can find both combined emergency contraceptive pills and daily pills. These pills cut your chances of getting pregnant by 75% (What does that mean?), and you are more likely to experience side effects like nausea and vomiting.
Remember:
- Some people call emergency contraceptive pills "morning after pills," but you don't have to wait until the morning after. You can take the pills right away or use them up to five days after sex if you did not use birth control, you think your birth control failed, or you were forced to have sex. (Wondering if you really could get pregnant? Find out here.) Also, the sooner you take emergency contraceptive pills, the better they work.
- You can use pills labeled for emergency contraception or certain brands of daily birth control pills to prevent pregnancy after sex. (Find out which ones here).
For a more detailed academic review of the medical and social science
literature about emergency contraception, click
here 
.