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Health

04th Oct 2018

4 in 10 young people don’t take the morning after pill when they’ve had unprotected sex!

Louise Carroll

Brought to you by ellaOne.

It’s pretty shocking. 

So, it seems a lot of young Irish people are risking the chance of unplanned pregnancy by only taking the morning after pill on some occassions after unprotected sex, but not on others. Almost 40 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds who have taken the morning after pill once, said there were other occasions when they also could have taken the morning after pill, but didn’t.

This number was a result of our research with the morning after pill ellaOne, and it seems to us to be too high for comfort.

To find out what people thought, we hit Cork city. Those in the video below were asked what advise they would give to a friend if their friend had unprotected sex.

ALL of them said that the first thing to advise would be to take the morning after pill. But of course, our research off camera showed a different result. If four in ten 18 to 24-year-olds have had unprotected sex and chosen NOT to take the necessary precaution against unplanned pregnancy every time, that’s a worrying find.

Is it the thought of having to talk to a pharmacist that’s the issue?  Is there still a bit of a taboo surrounding it? Or is it just a lack of understanding.

Some may not be aware of how the morning after pill works. One woman in our video above said;

“Some people believe if you take it once, you might become infertile or something.”

Okay, let’s just stop right there. The morning after pill does NO SUCH THING. It works by delaying the egg release (ovulation), meaning that the sperm that’s waiting in the fallopian tubes won’t be able to meet an egg and fertilise it. This is similar to regular contraceptive pills, which mostly work by preventing egg release. If you’re already pregnant, emergency contraception won’t interrupt your pregnancy.

So, if there is some fear surrounding the morning after pill, due to a lack of understanding, it begs the question – how is the morning after pill being discussed in schools, if at all? Be sure to tune into this week’s Girls With Goals with our host Niamh Maher to find out a whole lot more on the topic, and hear what our panellists have to say.

Brought to you by ellaOne.

ellaOne is an emergency contraceptive pill that’s available from pharmacies without a prescription. No other morning after pill is more effective at preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex. ellaOne consists of one tablet which should be taken as soon as possible, but no later than 5 days (120 hours) after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure. Each tablet of ellaOne contains 30mg ulipristal acetate. Always read the label.