Pregnancy 'not prevented by EC use'
Updated on 18 April 2007
Advance access to emergency contraception does not prevent unintended pregnancy at a population level, a new review has found.
Women who receive an advance supply of the "morning after pill" have an equal chance of becoming pregnant as women who do not have early access to the pills, The Cochrane Library review concludes. The review is based on eight studies of more than 6,000 women in the United States, India and China.
It found that emergency contraception (EC) use was higher among women given an advance supply of the birth control pills, but that increase in use did not translate to a drop in pregnancy rate.
However a spokeswoman for Marie Stopes International, an organisation providing sexual and reproductive health information, disputed the findings.
She said: "We wouldn't agree with that at all. If someone has an accident and is prepared, the quicker they take emergency contraception, the more effective it is. So I don't really know how the review came to that conclusion."
The emergency contraceptive pill contains progestogen, a hormone which is similar to the natural progesterone women produce in their ovaries, and it should be taken within three days (72 hours) of having unprotected sex.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service points out the difficulty women can face to access the 'morning after pill' within the 72-hour time-frame, especially at weekends or during public holidays. It urges women to keep the pill ready at home in case they risk pregnancy.
Although her new review disputes the effectiveness of this, Polis said the findings should not prevent easier access to emergency contraception.
She said: "Women deserve the chance to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and EC is a safe, effective way to do that."
The study also found that the presence of EC does not lead to an increase in promiscuity, which some critics of its had feared.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
