Can I get over the counter birth control pills?
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Over-the-counter birth control pills are an excellent way to protect your privacy.
Over-the-counter medicine (OTC medicine) is a medicine you can purchase and use without a doctor's prescription. The use of OTC medicine is discouraged throughout the world. Pharmacies in the UK will demand a physician's prescription before giving you the desired drugs. But what about contraceptives? Are they available over the counter, or do you need a similar prescription for them? If 'yes,' what is the rationale for over-the-counter access? Who will provide essential women's health services concerning the use of oral contraceptives?
To answer these questions, first, you must understand what contraceptives are and how they work.
Contraceptives are drugs that are used to avoid unplanned pregnancies. These drugs exert their influence by:
These birth control pills either have a combination of oestrogen and progesterone or oestrogen alone (minipills) or their synthetic analogues. These pills constitute the most favoured birth control method as, according to Statista, 29% of women in the UK prefer to use birth control pills for family planning. Oral contraceptives are globally used for birth control.
The answer is "yes." Since July 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has allowed progestogen-only minipills to be available over the counter throughout the country. This move was made to increase women's access to safe oral contraceptive pills and protect users' privacy.
Over-the-counter availability of these may be surprising for you. Similar was the case with British society. Various opinions exist, but the majority of people have supported the approach. The chief executive of the MHRA has defended the move with the following arguments:
Other arguments of the medical community in support of this move are:
Furthermore, the availability of a safe oral contraceptive pill will protect the patient's privacy and is likely to increase the reproductive freedom of all people of sexual age.
The medical community's decision to allow over-the-counter contraception was generally applauded. The responses of some important figures related to sexual and reproductive health care followings:
The next question is, with a variety of contraceptives available in the market, who would advise you to choose a brand? The MHRA has authorised local pharmacists to advise women on these issues. Therefore, you can go to your local pharmacy and choose any approved brand in consultation with the pharmacist. However, if you are already visiting sexual health clinics, you can also take their advice on this issue.
Moreover, the pills available over the counter are progesterone-only pills which usually do not have serious side effects as do the combined oral contraceptive pills.
Choosing the right OTC pill may be challenging for you. You should know the types and brands of OTC pills available. It would help if you also had full awareness of the possible side effects of a given contraceptive. However, with experience, you will be able to decide which contraceptive best suits you. Birth control pills fall into two main categories.
These pills contain both oestrogen and progesterone. Progesterone prevents conception, while oestrogen is included to regulate the bleeding—the WHO recommends using combined oral contraceptives to avoid emergency contraception. The over-the-counter availability status of these pills is, however, not clear.
Several brands are available in the market:
The active ingredients in these three pills are Ethinylestradiol and Levonorgestrel. Although they are effective for contraception, their popularity among women is limited due to various side effects, e.g., breast tenderness, nausea, headaches, and a slightly increased risk of breast cancer and blood clots. Moreover, these pills are also not recommended for women over 35 years or who have a smoking habit.
These brands are sold with a claimed efficacy of 99% when used regularly.
These pills contain progesterone only (POP) and are relatively safer. These are currently the only contraceptive pills available over the counter in the market. Two types of progesterone-only medications are sold on the market; progestogen-containing and progestin-containing. Both are synthetic analogues of progesterone.
The brands available are:
These brands are to be used within 3-12 hours of intercourse, and this time is less than a combined oral contraceptive.
Birth control through oral contraception has reduced the risk of unplanned and emergency contraception. However, the prescription requirement hindered young women's access to these pills. As a result, the progesterone-only pills were given over-the-counter access to increase their accessibility. However, these pills do not protect against sexually transmitted infections. These are also a good choice if you are a smoker or over 35 years of age.
These pills could be used with condoms for protection against sexually transmitted infections. However, according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, they have a failure rate of 7%, which is more than contraceptive injection (4%), female sterilisation (0.5%), and contraceptive implant (o.1%), but still better than 13% failure rate of female condoms.
So, if you are in danger of an unplanned pregnancy, visit your nearest pharmacy to see your options for birth control.
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