What to do after unprotected intercourse? – Dr. Apoorva P Reddy

There are 2 things to be considered after an unprotected intercourse or a condom breakage. the first one is to make sure that you do not get pregnant post the act and the second and the major thing is to avoid acquiring any kind of infections after this act. What are the emergency contraceptive pill available in order to avoid a pregnancy? But the most commonly use is the one we use as the emergency contraceptive pill. It sends a high dose of progesterone that acts at 3 levels in avoiding pregnancy; it can avoid the egg acts by avoiding the release of thee egg or ovulation. It can avoid pregnancy by avoiding the fertilization that is the reaction of the egg and the sperm. It can act by preventing the attachment of the embryo inside the uterus. The pill is effective only if it is taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, but it is best effective when it is taken as soon as possible. Newer anti progestin such as mefipistone or ulipristal acetate can be used as long as for 5 days after unprotected intercourse but they are not available in India for this purpose as an over the counter drug. If you are looking at a long term contraception, you have to use a copper T or an intrauterine contraceptive device which can be used as long as for 5 days of unprotected intercourse. This will not only help in preventing the pregnancy in the current act, but also serve as a log term contraceptive. Avoiding acquiring any kind of infections is not as simple as avoiding pregnancy and the symptoms of acquiring this infection can come as early as 10 days and sometimes as late as even 10 years. So it would be ideal to visit your doctor along with your partner and get couple of investigations done to evaluate the future risk of developing any kind of infections and how to deal with them as and when they occur.