Morning after pill free over Christmas holidays

During the Christmas holidays, the closure of family planning clinics, pharmacies and GP surgeries may make it difficult for women requiring the morning after pill, putting them at risk of unintended pregnancy.

For this reason, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) will be prescribing emergency hormonal contraception (the ‘morning after pill’) for women to keep at home in advance of need, free of charge *from clinics in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cardiff, Coventry, Leeds, London, Luton, Peterborough and Swindon from *December 1st.

Emergency hormonal contraception or the ‘morning after pill’, is 90% more effective at preventing pregnancy if taken in the first 12 hours after unprotected sex. During the Christmas period this often becomes extremely hard for women to access, within the 72-hour window of efficacy.

As emergency contraception over-the-counter also costs around £26 from a high street pharmacy, it is often financially out of the reach of some women. BPAS will prescribe emergency contraception free of charge in advance for women to take away and keep at home in case of need, so they can have it by them during the most effective time- within the first 12 hours.

During a consultation with a healthcare professional about their regular contraceptive method, women will receive a BPAS holiday pack, containing:

• condoms to protect against STIs
• one dose of the emergency hormonal contraceptive (‘morning-after’) pill
• a leaflet explaining what their options are in case the pill doesn’t work
• a leaflet giving information on BPAS on-line sexual health services which are available 24/7

Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) says:

"Sex isn’t always planned or prepared for. It’s easy to get carried away, which is why we advise women to back up their birth control by keeping the morning after pill at home. You don’t wait until you get a headache to buy your pain relief, why wait until you’ve risked pregnancy to get the morning after pill? The BPAS holiday pack is our Christmas gift to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies in the New Year."

This article was published on Sun 30 November 2008