sex once a week or more often, as compared with 56% of the older women.4 In addition, adolescents practicing serial monogamy may use oral contraceptives effectively during a relationship and then discontinue use when it ends; when a new relationship begins, they may be unprepared and use no method.5 Adolescents may also experience more frequent condom breakage or slippage and higher rates of mi...

Patients 1000 women between 16 and 45 years of age seeking emergency contraception within 72 hours after an episode of unprotected sexual intercourse who had regular menstrual cycles (21–35 d), were certain about the dates of their last menstrual period, and were willing to abstain from further acts of unprotected intercourse during the menstrual cycle. Exclusion criteria were use of oral contr...

new method has arrived, we know more about how to optimise treatment, and new distribution channels are opening up. Combined with the political will, these advances should significantly reduce the burden of unwanted pregnancies. One of the important new ingredients is the WHO trial demonstrating the superior efficacy of levonorgestrel used on its own; the pregnancy rate with levonorgestrel alon...

new method has arrived, we know more about how to optimise treatment, and new distribution channels are opening up. Combined with the political will, these advances should significantly reduce the burden of unwanted pregnancies. One of the important new ingredients is the WHO trial demonstrating the superior efficacy of levonorgestrel used on its own; the pregnancy rate with levonorgestrel alon...

References 1 McCann M, Potter L. Progestin-only oral contraception: a comprehensive review. Contraception 1994; 50(6): S44–S49. 2 Fabunmi L, Perks N. Caesarean section scar ectopic pregnancy following postcoital contraception. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2002: 28: 155–156. 3 WHO Task Force on Postovulatory Methods of Fertility Regulation. Randomised controlled trial of levonorgestrel versus ...

Emergency post-coital contraception (EC) is an effective method of preventing pregnancy when used appropriately. EC has been available since the 1970s, and its availability and use have become widespread. Options for EC are broad and include the copper intrauterine device (IUD) and emergency contraceptive pills such as levonorgestrel, ulipristal acetate, combined oral contraceptive pills (Yuzpe...

Over 30 years of clinical use of emergency contraception has confirmed that such methods substantially reduce the chances of pregnancy, do not entail onerous service provision requirements, and are acceptable to women. The major obstacle to the more widespread use of postcoital methods is a lack of awareness on the part of both potential acceptors and service providers of this important option...

Emergency contraception decreases the risk of unintended pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse or after suspected failure of routine contraception (e.g., a condom breaking). Oral methods include combined contraceptive pills (i.e., Yuzpe method), single- or split-dose levonorgestrel, and ulipristal. The Yuzpe method and levonorgestrel are U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved for u...