ABSTRACT
There are two basic varieties of Emergency contraception (EC) after unprotected sexual intercourse: Copper ions, inserted as a copper intrauterine device (IUD) and Hormonal methods, taken by mouth. Among the hormonal options, past methods included estrogens alone in very high doses and the combined oral emergency contraceptive using levonorgestrel (LNG) 500 and pro-thrombotic steroid ethinylestradiol (EE) 100 μg repeated in 12 hours. Women deserve the option, so good contraceptive services should be able to provide it well. This requires some pre-planning, ideally offering emergency Cu-IUDs on site, perhaps by having an optional “emergency slot” at the start of morning IUD insertion sessions. The apparent effectiveness of LNG-EC with treatment up to 72 hours after a single sexual exposure is around 98% – but this represents prevention of only 70%–75% of the expected pregnancies because most women who present would not actually have conceived.
