too late for morning after pill, what next?!

[turtles]

if you are too late for the morning after pill, what are the options? if it is an unplanned pregnancy and cannot continue with the pregnancy then do you just wait and wait and wait then poas then panic then wait some more then go and have a termination?

i don't feel i could go ahead with a termination after 5 or 6 weeks once a heartbeat can be seen on a scan but i would take a morning after pill if it was within 5days. is that wrong? i can't see how i could get to a clinic and back again after the first appointment to take a pill within 6 weeks given that it takes a couple of weeks to get a positive test result, say a week to get an initial appointment at a clinic then back the next week to take the pill. but with a contraception failure that isn't obvious (if you are that 1% who gets pregnant while on the pill) then by the time you realise and get a positive test result then you would already be 5 or 6 weeks pregnant.

i think you can get a coil fitted, not nice at all, would cause a very early miscarriage and i dont know if family planning would do it, but i have heard of it being done.

i think tbh you would have to take the pill that causes early miscarriage/abortion.

i think you just need to go to your gp asap and see what your options are.

they normally do a preg test before you get a coil fitted, but if its too early to get a positive then they would fit it i think?

oh yes, forgot about getting a coil fitted. yes, not the nicest option but better than waiting weeks to go through an abortion clinic.

my biggest issue is the waiting. if it is an unplanned pregnancy and you are prepared to take the morning after pill but have issues over the abortion pill at 6weeks earliest then it feels like you're a bit stuffed if you miss that 5day window. so while you're trying to do something as soon as possible, once you're passed the first 5 days you have to wait and wait and do nothing.

and if your gp is anything like mine and you don't get through to the receptionist at 2 very small windows of time during the day when appointments are released, then the clock is still ticking and it's another day down the line.

Turtles - this is waay too late for you, but just in case it happens again, did you know you can get emergency contraception from the chemist? You might have to pay but wouldn't have to wait.

Also, fitting a coil up to 5 days later is most likely to stop any potential fertilised egg from attaching to the uterus. It wouldn't be an established pregnancy at that point. Everyone's got different lines, and I know that's important to some women.

Ok, not waay to late. I was reading the date backwards & thought you posted in feb. :

There's also a new emergency pill that you can take up to 5 days later. Forget the name - possibly Ellaone?

thankyou. there seem to be a lot of options, and yet at the same time if you miss the 5day window it seems your only option is to wait and sit in an abortion clinic.

i know everyone has their own definition of when's too late to go down the abortion route. it's such a minefield, i really wanted to think about it and discuss it more but am too scared of the flaming other posters have got for going anywhere near this issue. and yet there are plenty of women who really need someone to talk to and to be able to work things though. it's hard to even find a gp who has the time to discuss it properly without raising an eyebrow and passing judgemental comments - 'why have you left it so long?!'.

You can get a copper coil fitted as emergency contraception up to 5 days after you would normally ovulate, not 5 days after you have sex, so up to day 19 in a standard 28 day cycle. So you may still have time if you're in the first half of your cycle. Not the loveliest procedure, but less uncomfortable than the effects of a medical termination (the one where you take the tablets). GPs tend not to be aware of / push this IME so it's worth contacting family planning clinic etc in your area to find out what they can do.

I guess I was trying to say that most people wouldn't consider emergency contraception an abortion.. there is not yet a pregnancy to end.

The main reason for services making you wait is that you may well not be pregnant!

that's interesting about the coil, never knew that. finding a gp who is trained and competent to fit it is half the battle though sometimes!

some women just know don't they that they have conceived, before they are able to take a test, and don't want the pregnancy to continue but then have to wait to go through the abortion process to have it all confirmed and discussed and signed off.

You don't really have 5 days to take the MAP, you need to take it as soon as possible, within 24 hours really for it to be effective enough.

Why wouldn't someone be able to get the MAP in time though, or have I misunderstood?

The coil fitted as emergency contraception is not regarded as being a method of abortion.

Im not sure that I'm understanding your point though? Surely its sensible to see if you are actually pregnant before having an abortion?

there is a MAP that can be taken 5 days after contraceptive failure. I know it's best to take it as soon as possible but as I said above, some contraceptive failures are not obvious and for various reasons there are plenty of women who don't realise they might be pregnant until it is too late for a MAP.

Waiting to take a test when you just know you are pregnant, then waiting to get an appointment at a clinic, then having to go back to take a pill takes weeks and weeks and weeks. that is my point. it feels like there must be something a woman in that situation can do between 5 days and 5 or 6 weeks but it doesn't sound like there is.

ime, you can't get a coil fitted if you suspect you might be pg, i've always been told it has to be done just after a period so they can be sure you are not pg.