We’re not talking about black market or street drugs being obtained in order to prevent a pregnancy. There is one prescription available in the United States that woman in many states can gain access to by simply asking their pharmacist. The embarrassment and ridicule usually associated with a visit to your Obstetrics office for this type of treatment can be readily avoided by having the information you need at hand and being able to make an informed decision all on your own in private.

Emergency contraceptives are usually taken in two separate doses, although they may be taken both at the same time. There are guidelines for the amount of time after having unprotected sex that one must take the emergency contraceptives, however, the effectiveness of the pills will most likely be the same with a window of an hour or two on either side. Knowing that emergency contraceptives are most effect if you take them as soon as possible after having unprotected sex or missing a dose of your daily birth control method, it is important that you have this information now, when there is limited risk of time working against you than having to dig through the internet in desperate search.

Plan B is the only type of prescription medication that is available in the United States to be considered an emergency contraceptives option approved for this purpose. This prescription comes in the form of a pill and does not require a doctor’s prescription. One can simply walk up to the counter of a pharmacy, in most states, and ask for it by name. Unlike daily birth control pills, which contained a combination of progestin and estrogen, the Plan B emergency contraceptives contain only progestin. This allows the pregnancy to be prevented. Someone who might want to obtain such a drug would be someone whose life is not suited for pregnancy, someone who was forced to have sex, someone to who intercourse was engaged in without their knowledge (the date rape drug) or someone who was molested.

There are side effects associated with this type of drug and, as with all drugs, side effects should be monitored and reported if unusual. If after taking the emergency contraceptives you throw up, usually within an hour, an extra dose might need to be taken. If you miss taking your dose exactly on time, this is no big deal. The effectiveness of the drug is not lessened if still taken within and hour or two.

Some people think that this type of emergency contraceptive is different than “the morning after pill” or the “day after pill”. Also the abortion pill “RU486” is considered to be a different method of contraceptive. This is not true. All these drugs accomplish the same task…they eliminate an unwanted pregnancy. If you desire to not get pregnant, the best solution is to not have sex, period. There are many misconceptions about how a pregnancy can and cannot occur. Keeping yourself informed and educated about your body and reproductive health issues can help to sort out that confusion and give you the real facts. It’s worth the time taken to look into. After all, a child is a child from day one, and if you don’t want one, then don’t do what it takes to get one.