Click and Collect (Free)

If your order is approved by 5pm Monday-Friday, you should be able to pick it up the same day from selected pharmacies - provided they have your treatment in stock.We suggest you ring your chosen pharmacy before you go to collect your treatment, just to make sure they have it in stock and ready.

How long after sex can you take the morning after pill?

You must take levonorgestrel within 72 hours (3 days) of having unprotected sex. You must take ellaOne within 120 hours (5 days) of having unprotected sexBoth pills will be most effective if you take them as soon as possible after having unprotected sex. You can take levonorgestrel or ellaOne more than once during your menstrual cycle. If you find yourself taking emergency contraception more than once in the same cycle, speak to your doctor or a pharmacist. They can recommend another form of contraception.

How to take the morning after pill

You can take the morning after pill more than once in a menstrual cycle. However, you shouldn’t use it as a regular contraceptive.If you vomit within 3 hours of taking the morning after pill, you should always let your doctor know. It’s likely they’ll recommend taking another tablet.When should the morning after pill be taken?You should take emergency contraception as soon as possible after you’ve had unprotected sex.

Where can I buy the morning after pill?

You can request and buy emergency contraception online. Whether you need a prescription depends on the type of pill you ask for. And you might not need to pay. You can get the morning after pill for free from:Sexual health clinics (find your nearest one)Most GP surgeries or calling 111Some pharmacies (ask ahead if they offer free morning after pills)No matter where you ask for a morning after pill, you’ll be asked a series of questions before you can get it.We can prescribe the morning after pill safely and easily after a confidential online consultation.

The morning after pill warnings

Bear in mind that taking emergency contraception will not protect you against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).Remember that the morning after pill is not 100% effective. In a small number of cases, some women become pregnant after taking it. While it’s highly effective when needed, you shouldn’t use the morning after pill as a regular contraceptive. If you take the morning after pill and have unprotected sex afterwards, you won’t be protected from future pregnancies.

Alternative emergency contraception

The most effective form of emergency contraception is an intrauterine device (IUD) known as the copper coil. It can be fitted by a trained medical professional up to 5 days after you’ve had unprotected sex. You can then keep it in place for a number of years as your routine contraception.If you’re thinking about getting a coil, we recommend still taking the morning after pill in case there’s any delay with the fitting.

Morning After Pill - Emergency Contraception

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Same-day collection from your local pharmacy

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Click & collect from over 700 Well Pharmacies

Emergency contraception

We can prescribe a morning after pill online that’s effective for up to five days. With convenient collection from over 700 pharmacies nationwide.

What is the morning after pill?

You take the morning after pill when you’ve had unprotected sex and want to prevent pregnancy. This could be because you forgot to use protection, such as a condom, or your regular contraception has failed.

How does emergency contraception work?

Our clinicians can approve two types of morning after pill, levonorgestrel (also comes as the branded tablet Levonelle) and ellaOne. Both work by stopping or delaying the release of an egg.

Levonorgestrel is a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone. It works primarily by preventing the release of an egg (ovulation). Levonorgestrel also prevents sperm from fertilising an egg that you may have already released.

ellaOne contains ulipristal acetate, which changes the way your body responds to the hormone progesterone. It’s thought that Ulipristal works mainly to prevent or delay ovulation, depending on which stage you're at in the menstrual cycle.

How effective is the morning after pill?

The sooner you take levonorgestrel or ellaOne after sex, the more effective it’ll be. Both treatments will only be effective if taken before ovulation.

Ovulation is triggered when your LH levels rise (luteinising hormone). Once the LH levels start to surge, levonorgestrel won’t be effective.

For levonorgestrel, studies have shown that women taking this morning after pill within 72 hours of unprotected sex have a pregnancy rate of 0.6-2.6%.

ellaOne has been shown to be the most effective morning after pill, with only 1-2% of women who took ellaOne within 5 days of unprotected sex becoming pregnant.

What are the potential side effects of the morning after pill?

As with all medications, taking ellaOne and levonorgestrel may come with some side effects. The most common ones are listed below.

Around 1 in 10 women who take ellaOne may experience:

Changes in mood
Tiredness
Headache
Feeling sick (nausea) or vomiting
Dizziness
Period pains
Pelvic or back pain
Breast tenderness
Stomach pain (abdominal)

Around 1 in 10 women who take levonorgestrel may experience:

Tiredness
Headache
Nausea (feeling sick)
Stomach pain (abdominal)
Irregular bleeding

Neither medication should affect your fertility in the long term.

More about emergency contraception

Collection information

Emergency contraception information

ellaOne
Levonorgestrel

Morning after pill FAQs

References

https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-guideline-emergency-contraception.pdf