- Have you just taken Plan
B, or Postinor, or Levonell, or one of the other emergency
contraceptive pills? And are you wondering what will
happen to your next period? In that case, I will explain
exactly what can happen and what you should expect. This video will tell you when
to expect your next period after taking the emergency
contraception pill. (bright upbeat music) Hello, I'm, Dr. Sylvia, a General Practitioner
with Ask Away Health and a health educator. On, this channel I share
health information videos that teach you all about your body and help you live well. Please take a few seconds
to like this video, and make sure you've
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information that you love to hear, and don't forget to
turn on the notification so that you know every time
we publish a new video, once a week. One of the most common questions after you've taken the
emergency contraceptive pill is when should I my next period?
(bell dings) Although of course the only
other more common question is how can I tell if the pill has worked? And if you're interested in
the answer to that question make sure you check out my video here, and don't forget to have a look at the rest of all my contraception videos in this playlist and
I will share the links to both in the description box below. But today we are looking at how the emergency birth
control pill affects your period. The most popular options
for the modern emergency birth control pills are
the ones that contain the human made or synthetic
progesterone levonorgestrel. And this you can find in pills like Take Action, Plan B, Ipill, Postinor, Postionor 2, levonell and so on. Essentially these are
pills that you can take as soon as possible after
unprotected sexual intercourse to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. If you take them within 72 hours of having unprotected sexual intercourse, you can reduce your risk
of falling pregnant. This reduction can be as much as 95% if you take the pill on the first day, the pills effectiveness reduces to 88% if you wait for the next day although that is still better
than doing nothing at all. How do these pills work primarily
by delaying of ovulation. That is the release of
an egg from the ovary. Therefore they're most effective if you take that in the first
part of your menstrual cycle, that is before ovulation. However, please don't let this stop you from taking the pill anytime in your cycle after you've had unprotected
sexual intercourse because taking it is
better than doing nothing. You know, I said that
the primary way it works is by delay ovulation. Well, some studies suggest
that to a very little extent, they may be able to prevent implantation or prevent the sperm from moving
ahead to fertilize the egg if ovulation has already happened. So there may be a tiny chance
if you need to use the pill after protected sexual intercourse at any time of your menstrual
cycle, please take it. The other emergency birth control pill that we have is known as Ella or Ella 1 which also contains a human
made progesterone type known as Ulipristal acetate. That is more if effective in preventing unplanned
pregnancy than levonorgestrel. Ella also delays ovulation
but in this case, you have up to five days after unprotected sexual intercourse to get its full benefits. Please make sure you go and
check out my video on Ella to learn more about this
contraceptive method. So now let's look at how these
pills an effect the period, but the first fact to establish is what is your menstrual cycle? Many ladies use apps or diaries to monitor their menstrual cycles. And they're simply
keeping track of the time between one menstrual blood
flow or period to the next one and all the events that happen in between. So, if you count from the
first day of one period, when you start bleeding, all the way to the first
day of the next period when you start bleeding,
that is one menstrual cycle. You may have a 28 day menstrual cycle, which is the average length from one period to the next in most women. However, many women
can have cycles lengths that are a little bit longer, for example up to 35 days in between periods, or some can have cycle
lengths that are shorter for example, 21 days in between periods. For most women, your cycle will continue along that same monthly frequency,
unless you fall pregnant, use hormonal birth control, or have a medical condition
that can affect your period. Fact number two, your cycle is
often divided into two parts. For example, suppose
you have a 28 day cycle, in that case the first
14 days cover the time from when you have your
first bleed in that cycle through to your fertile
window and ovulation. Then the second half
starts just after ovulation continuing for another 14 days, right up to when the period
for the next cycle begins. Fortunately, when it comes to how these emergency birth control pills can affect our period, we do have some studies
that give us some indication looking at timing, period,
duration, the flow, and experiencing bleeding that
is not related to the period. So, let's start by looking at timing. If you ask yourself, should
I expect a period immediately after using the emergency
birth control pill? Here's your answer. After using the pill,
your period may come early or it may come around
the usual scheduled time, according to some studies, if you take the pill early in the cycle, so that is before ovulation, it may mean that your period will come a little bit
earlier than scheduled. On the other hand, taking it
later in the cycle may mean that your period comes a
little bit later than expected. However, it's really important to say that with all this research the findings are not conclusive and not all women will
experience these same changes to their periods after using the pill. Next, what about the effect of the emergency birth control pill on the duration of the period? After taking the pill, your next period may
last longer than usual. And it is thought that
this will be the case. Especially if you take
the pill after ovulation that is in the later part of your cycle, but you may also experience
absolutely no change to the duration of your bleed and it's the same as usual after taking the emergency
birth control pill. What about the flow? Yes, the emergency birth control pill can affect how heavy or how
light your period can be after you've taken it. Some women experience heavier
flows or lighter flows, while some women in studies
report absolutely no changes to their bleeding flow. A study suggested that one
out of every three women who took plan B found
that their next period after taking the pill
was heavier than usual. And what about non-period bleeding? This refers to any type of
bleeding that is not as a result of your scheduled period, or
your period that is delayed, or your period that is earlier but is as a result of taking the pill. For example, within the first seven days or so after taking the
emergency control pill, it is not unusual to experience bleeding that is unrelated to the period. We're not entirely sure why
this type of bleeding happens. Still, it may be related to a side effect of the hormone progesterone. And ladies who use other forms
of hormonal contraception like the Depo shot, the
implant, or mini pill, also report a similar effect which is known as break-through bleeding. So, these are some of the
effects that have been gathered from studies on the impact of the emergency birth control
pill on women's periods. Please don't forget that
these effects are temporary. In most women after taking the pill things return to normal
within the second cycle. I hope you found this video helpful, give it a thumbs up if you did, let me know in the
comment section as well, and if you have any unusual
emergency contraception bleeding experiences, please share with me I would really love to hear back from you. Next time we're going to
be talking about IUDs, Intrauterine Device these or coils, and how they can fall out of the womb. What does it feel like? What causes it? And which woman is more likely
to experience this event? If you would like to know
more about that subject make sure you've subscribed
to my channel and click the notification bell.
(bell dings) So that know when our next videos go Live. While you're waiting, make sure you check out these two videos and I'll see you again soon. (bright upbeat music)
