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While it is true that the “morning
after pill” (emergency contraception) consists of the same
hormones present in oral contraceptives, the ratios and
dosages are very different. If you’ve ever skipped a day on
birth control and then doubled up the next day, then perhaps
you’ve experienced the nausea, cramping and even vomiting
associated with taking more than a daily dose of contraceptive
at a time. Now just imagine these symptoms ten, fifteen times
worse. And that’s the thing, you don’t know how many pills
of your particular prescription you will need to take in order
to get the necessary dose of hormones in the right ratios. You
will most certainly feel very sick and potentially put
yourself at risk for more serious internal difficulty. Not
only that, if you vomit after taking your estimated dose of
hormones, how will you know you didn’t vomit up the hormone
dose that will prevent pregnancy?
It’s not worth it to go through all
this physical duress as well as emotional trouble, when the
“morning after pill” is available through Barnard Health
Services and other free clinics in the area. Health Services
prescribes “Plan B” which has few side effects. These
services are confidential and affordable. More importantly,
you will definitely not experience the above symptoms nearly
as much with “Plan B” because it has been specifically
engineered for emergency contraceptive purposes. If you need
emergency contraception call Student Health Services at
x4-2091 between 8:30am and 5pm. If you need emergency
contraception on a weekend call the Clinician-On-Call at
666-5838. Remember emergency contraception can wait until the “morning
after” if a birth control method failure occurs
during the night. There is a 72 hour window in which to take
“the morning after pill.” However, the sooner the better
so don’t wait too long... call the morning after!
You can also call 1-800-NOT-TOO-LATE from anywhere
in the country for emergency contraception.
If you want to know more about “the morning after pill”
please come by the Well-Woman office in 119 Reid or call us at
x4-3063.
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