Does The Morning After Pill Make the Contraceptive Pill Less Effective?

The first thing to know is that there are three types of emergency contraception: two types of morning after pill and the IUD (intrauterine device). The two types of morning after pill are levonorgestrel, which needs to be taken within three days, and ulipristal acetate (like ellaOne®) which needs to be taken within 5 days of unprotected sex – but both are more effective the sooner you take them. 

You can get all types of emergency contraception from sexual health clinics or your GP, and the morning after pill is available from pharmacies as well. You can also buy ellaOne® online for quick, discreet delivery.

ellaOne® helps prevent pregnancy by delaying ovulation. As sperm can live inside the body for up to five days, and taking the morning after pill can help prevent the egg from being released so that any sperm that has entered the body won’t have anything to fertilise. If you have already ovulated, ellaOne® will not be effective.

Try not to panic! These things happen, and we all make mistakes sometimes. Contraceptive failure refers to things like condoms breaking or forgetting to take the contraceptive pill. In these instances, you can seek out emergency contraception if you’re looking to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.

Yes! There is no evidence that taking the morning after pill multiple times throughout your life has any effect on your fertility. The morning after pill is for emergency use, and should not be used in place of regular contraceptive methods like contraceptive pills or condoms. The morning after pill will only help prevent a single incident of unprotected sex, so if you do have unprotected sex twice in the same cycle, you should speak to your pharmacist or GP about your options. You should not take two morning after pills in 24 hours.

If you’re looking for emergency contraception, you might be wondering how effective the morning after pill is. Whilst no contraceptive is 100% effective, taking emergency contraception can greatly reduce your risk of unplanned pregnancy. Clinical studies have found that ulipristal acetate is 2.5x more effective than levonorgestrel when taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex*, and can help prevent ovulation even when you are about to ovulate.

At ellaOne®, we always say ‘emergency contraception is for contraceptive emergencies’ but that really only refers to emergency contraceptive pills. If you were to opt for an IUD as a form of emergency contraception, that could then be your contraceptive method of choice for as long as it lasts.

We do not recommend using the morning after pill as a regular contraceptive. Again, if you have already ovulated then the morning after pill will not be effective – and it can be really tricky to determine when you’re going to ovulate or when you’re actually ovulating. 

Regular contraceptive pills work by delaying ovulation too, but you take these at the same time every day. 

With the morning after pill, you take it after you’ve had unprotected sex or experienced contraceptive failure, which means that there is a window in between having sex and taking the pill in which you could get pregnant if you ovulate. With regular contraception, this window may not exist as you are taking the medication every day to prevent ovulation. 

Whilst the morning after pill can effectively prevent pregnancy in an emergency situation, it does not protect you from pregnancy if you have repeated incidents of unprotected sex and it is not designed to be used in place of regular contraception

If we’re talking IUDs, then once this is fitted you no longer need to take the contraceptive pill as these are both methods of regular contraception. If you’re choosing to use the morning after pill, we recommend continuing to take your contraceptive pill as normal but as an extra precaution, using a barrier contraceptive (like condoms) until after your next period. The morning after pill may make regular hormonal contraceptives temporarily less effective as it will change your ovulation pattern this month. It’s best to do what you can to protect yourself from an unplanned pregnancy and continue as normal from the start of your next menstrual cycle. 

ellaOne® 30mg film-coated tablet contains ulipristal acetate and is indicated for emergency contraception within 120 hours (5 days) of unprotected sexual intercourse or contraceptive failure. Always read the label.

*Verify at ellaone.co.uk/verify