Emergency Contraception**If you need emergency contraception please call the office as soon as possible; we will call in a prescription for for Plan B to your pharmacy.
If you want a prescription called in for future use, we will do that also.
Emergency contraception, the morning-after pill, is used to prevent pregnancy after sexual intercourse not adequately protected by a regular method of contraception.The most commonly used approach consists of taken two doses of pills taken 12 hours apart, although it has recently been shown that the 2 pills can be taken together with equal effectiveness. The risk of pregnancy is reduced to about 1% if taken within 12 hours after intercourse, but the pills can be taken up to 5 days after intercourse, although this would be of course less effective. The incidence of nausea is about 22% and of vomiting about 8%.
This type of contraception has no known medical contraindication. If inadvertendly taken in early pregnancy it will not harm you or the fetus. This type of emergency contraception is available over the counter in many countries. Efforts to make it available in this country also have encountered some delays.
For more information please go to the Emergency Contraception Website Planned Parenthood offices around the state will also provide a prescription -- in Brattleboro call 257-0534. There is also a good list of how to use various brands of birth control pills in an emergency.
For other birthcontrol information you might want to visit www.birthcontrol.com, a Canadian site where you can also buy the popular Today Sponge, no longer available in the US.
** 4/17/06 The governor of VT just signed the availability of Plan B over the counter into law. Pharmacists are required to complete an emergency contraception education and training program first however - so it's not likely that all pharmacies are going to participate. Recipients are required to complete an informed consent form. Will keep you updated on further developments. H.B.
