Dear Sexpert Poet

D. Elyse, Emergency Contraception, Plan B, Question and Answer, Sexpert Poet, Features - By on Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 02:25

Dear Sexpert Poet,

I recently had sex with my girlfriend, but in the heat of the moment, we didn’t use a condom. We decided to use Plan B, the morning after pill the following day as neither of us was ready for the type of responsibility a pregnancy would bring on us. How does Plan B actually work?

-Plan B Poet

Dear Plan B Poet,

As a self-proclaimed sexpert (I am really just a fellow student, with too much time on their hands that enjoys healthy amounts of research), I would like to offer my personal stamp of approval at your decision.

“Plan B One-Step” is currently the most popular brand of emergency contraception, preventing pregnancy 89 percent of the time when taken within three days of the unprotected encounter.

Plan B is made up of levonorgestrel (a second generation synthetic progestogen), the same chemical compound found in many typical birth control pills, but at a larger dose. This prevents the woman’s ovaries from releasing an egg, according to http://planbonestep.com/description-plan-b.aspx. And after all, no egg means no pregnancy.

Unlike typical birth control, however, Plan B is only made up of this progestogen copycat while most birth control pills are made up of a mix between progestin and estrogen.

The morning after pill is by no means a suitable substitution for sustainable birth control as it is more expensive, less effective and does not prevent against sexually transmitted diseases. It is also important to note that Plan B is not the same as the abortion pill, which actually causes a miscarriage after an egg has been fertilized.

Sincerely,
Sexpert Poet