Mums saying NO to morning after pill shame

[Miranda5678]

Has anyone heard of the MyMorningAfter campaign? For the first time a morning after pill is being advertised on mainstream TV and in the cinema. They are getting women to share their experiences of emergency contraception and being made to feel ashamed by it – like this one by a mum who already had one child and was NOT ready for another www.mymorningafter.co.uk/i-took-the-morning-after-pill-when-i-was-36

What do people think? Personally I think it's amazing that such a movement is happening – getting the morning after pill always felt such an isolating ordeal for me. Interested to hear peoples thoughts

She's obviously not very bright either considering preventing a baby is much cheaper for the NHS

I think it was more about making me feel like a silly little girl than making any sense. I look back and like to think I wouldn't accept being treated like that ever again. I think I actually apologised!

I got it from a GP years ago. I got a proper telling off and she also said "no sex for six weeks". Which was utter bollocks.

I've always had great experiences getting the morning after pill apart from the price. It's always been about £30!

Actually one time when I was 18 and went to get the MAP with my then BF we did have an awkward conversation about cycles and fertility. The pharmacist explained she wouldn't waste our money by selling us the morning after pill as I can possibly get pregnant on the tail end of my period.

Does the success rate come into it? I mean, if you have already ovulated it's useless. It's impossible to tell when we have ovulated and most likely dont track when. So if it becomes 'oh its only a tenner/fiver if i pop to the chemist in the morning' it increases risk of pregnancy and sti's. And the morning after pill would be slammed for being misleading. I say this and I have taken it before.

My sister was refused it some years ago as the GP was Catholic and disagreed with it
she had to walk miles across town in the snow having no money for bus fare and not wanting our parents to know.
I went to another GP in the practice and got it with no issues or judgement.

I've recently started watching on demand tv with adverts and I saw the Ad for MAP and was surprised that they were advertising it

I took it twice within a week BUUUUT I had already bloody ovulated so it was a pointless and expensive (£20-30 each) exercise. Had an awkward pharmacist chat to me (with DP) in a side room the first time and really didn't relish going back to him when there was another accident, thankfully it was someone else the second time.

I don't have regular periods but I wish that I was told just how ineffective it could be.

They don't make you swallow it on the spot as a punishment, its to stop people getting it for others or selling it on. Same with methadone, which also has a street value.

It's pretty obvious why the map is particularly susceptible to people asking on behalf of others. It's a potent medicine, they can't just hand it over no questions asked.

I took it about 14 years ago. I went to a local pharmacist, a woman, who had a booth for customers to talk in. I wasn't made to feel irresponsible and wasn't judged. It cost £20+. But at the time, I thought, 20 quid or 1000s on an unwanted child, bargain.

Omg, don't forget the shaming of young women getting pregnancy tests! I bought one for a cousin once, I was about 17? But the lady serving was so awful, and from that day fourth treated me like a criminal!? She would follow me round the store, as being a young slut was also likely to be a thief too

'oh its only a tenner/fiver if i pop to the chemist in the morning

The only time I've heard this has been from men who think it's an excuse to not wear a condom. I've never heard anything similar from women who by and large don't enjoy playing Russian roulette with their health and are aware that if anything goes wrong they will literally be left holding the baby.

It does make me think that the reason men put in absurd blocks is because they know what they'd be like if they were responsible for contraception and hold women to the same low standards.

These responses have been amazing!! I think we should all share our stories – who knows, we could make a real difference! I've just submitted mine here www.mymorningafter.co.uk/mymorningafterstories

Probably won't come to anything, but I'm just so glad that this issue is being talked about. My younger self would have felt very reassured by it

They don't make you swallow it on the spot as a punishment, its to stop people getting it for others or selling it on. Same with methadone, which also has a street value.

So the MAP is comparable with addictive street drugs like methodone? And this whole swallow it in front of me ethos is applied with lots of drugs, that compare with the MAP? Men frequently have to step into the booth to swallow their Viagra etc?

It's pretty obvious why the map is particularly susceptible to people asking on behalf of others. It's a potent medicine, they can't just hand it over no questions asked.

There are no restrictions for the medical eligibility of who can use ECPs.
Any woman or girl of reproductive age may need emergency contraception to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. There are no absolute medical contraindications to the use of emergency contraception. There are no age limits for the use of emergency contraception.
An advance supply of ECPs may be given to a woman to ensure that she will have them available when needed and can take as soon as possible after unprotected intercourse.
Side effects from the use of ECPs are similar to those of oral contraceptive pills, such as nausea and vomiting, slight irregular vaginal bleeding, and fatigue. Side effects are not common, they are mild, and will normally resolve without further medications.

From the WHO key facts page about emergency contraception

In 2000, the head of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that “every woman store [a packet of the ECP] in her medicine cabinet”.

We need to stop treating this safe, necessary and important drug as if it's crack cocaine, creating humiliating and discriminatory practices of supervised administration, invasive and inappropriate questioning, and shocking pricing structures.
It's entirely about shaming women and utterly inconsistent with the protocol for other drugs.

Oh. When I read the OP, I didn't realise that 'campaign' and 'movement' referred to an advertising campaign until I clicked on your latest link, OP.
I appreciate the thread, though. It's been interesting to read other women's experiences over being prescribed the MAP in general.

Completely ignoring the PGD element of this and it's someone's professional reg at risk.

What's invasive or inappropriate about the questions? Have you read the pharmacy guidelines which include rational for each question? They PROTECT women and allow pharmacists to appropriately prescribe.

If people want to buy it that's fine, it's all on them. If they want it for free then a healthcare professional needs to ascertain that it's suitable. That's the only way PGDs remain legal. Otherwise say goodbye to them and goodbye to being able to be given it.

You're also mixing up EC with MAP. Emergency contraception includes the coil.

MAP does have exclusion criteria which pharmacists need to assess for.

I found the campaign through viewing the advert – I just thought it was quite amazing to see an advert for emergency contraception! You're right, it has been really interesting to talk about. It might be an advertising campaign but at least it's sparked this conversation

There is such a variation across the country with regard to the the services offered to women via pharmacies, depending on what has been commissioned by your local authority. So in some areas anyone can get it free, whilst in other areas only if you are under 25, and in others you might have to pay.

Also, there are two different MAPs, one can be taken up to 5 days later, and is more effective than the other if some time has passed. Again, whether you can get this drug (ellaOne) depends on your local authority - some only commission pharmacies to give the cheaper drug, others commission both, and others will give anyone the bog standard drug, but only ellaOne to under 25s. It really is a 'postcode lottery'.

I'd also suggest local SH clinics as an option to get the MAP, or have the copper coil fitted which is the most effective emergency contraception.

*EC as a whole, which MAP (which is being discussed here) is just one type

12 years ago I went to a large London boots for MAP and they had run out! Had to wait until after work to find another.
That pharmacist gave me Levonelle which didn't work (i'm happy to say DD now 11 😄).
They don't really know how effective Levonelle is tbh but I wish this was made clearer to women at point of sale.
Refusing to sell it on religious grounds is horrific.

This area is covered by UK Department of Health.

Sexual health charities have put together a Just Say Non campaign website here: www.justsaynon.org.uk/

Relates to this:
www.bpas.org/about-our-charity/press-office/press-releases/emergency-contraception-needs-urgent-review/

(the whole thing on this link is absolutely eye opening but I pasted some of it below)

Emergency Contraception needs urgent review
29 November 2016

Emergency contraception must be reclassified and made available to buy straight from the shop shelf, bpas urges

Women in the UK pay up to £30 for the most basic form of emergency contraception (EC), up to 5 times more than in other European countries
One reason for the high price is the mandatory yet unnecessary and embarrassing consultation women must endure before being sold EC, which is kept firmly behind the counter
As sexual health services providing free EC face cuts, more women will have no choice but to purchase EC to avoid unplanned pregnancy
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) believes EC should be reclassified as a General Sales List drug to enable it to be sold straight off the shelf without consultation, at a price women can afford
#justsaynon campaign launched today highlights the outrageously high price of EC in the UK compared to France and calls on women to reject what is the ultimate sexist surcharge
It is now 15 years since the progestogen-only emergency contraceptive Levonelle One Step (now also sold as Boots Emergency Contraceptive and Consilient) was first made available to women to buy from behind the counter in pharmacies after a consultation with a pharmacist. The price was deliberately inflated and a mandatory consultation introduced, apparently to prevent women from using it as a regular method of contraception. Since its introduction, the use of EC in the UK has barely changed and remains low,[1] despite the fact that most women rely on user-dependent methods such as condoms and daily pills and should feel able to use EC when these methods fail or are forgotten.

Research has found that around one third of British women have had unprotected sex in the last 12 months, and the majority (67%) did not use EC.[2] bpas regularly sees women experiencing unplanned pregnancy who were deterred from seeking EC because of the obstacles to access, including the price. bpas is calling for EC to be reclassified as a General Sales List medication so it can be placed on pharmacy selves for women to buy without consultation.

MorrisZapp

The MAP is not really “potent” medicine in the sense it is higher dose birth control, the effective incredient is a progestin (mimics porgesterone) found in many combined oral birth control pills, in the Mirena IUD, and implant birth control. Indeed if you have a birth control pill pack using it as an ingredient in some cases it can be taken in certain doses as MAP.

Levonorgestrel is a hormonal medication which is used in a number of birth control methods. In pill form, sold under the brand name Plan B among others, it is useful within 120 hours as emergency birth control. It becomes less effective the longer after sex and only works before pregnancy has occurred

Are you thinking of Mifepristone/Misoprostal? That is the drug used for a medical abortion; not the same thing at all.

*mimics progesterone

So the MAP is comparable with addictive street drugs like methodone? And this whole swallow it in front of me ethos is applied with lots of drugs, that compare with the MAP? Men frequently have to step into the booth to swallow their Viagra etc?

I would guess that unlike Viagra it could be abused by someone who is obtaining it for someone who is abused/trafficked/very underage.

It's impossible to square that risk with the decision to either make pregnancy an even bigger risk for anyone in the situation you suggest, or with the ObGyn recommendation that it should be as ubiquitous as paracetamol in every bathroom cabinet.

Heck, for that matter, paracetamol is significantly more dangerous, and the consequences of not having emergency contraception easily available are significantly worse than not having paracetamol.

It's an interesting subject. See, buying it off the shelf sounds good but the client consultation can also be really important. Pharmacists have to undertake training (online and face to face in our area) to ensure that the consultation results in the appropriate drug being prescribed, any safeguarding concerns are addressed and clients can be signposted to other services eg STI testing or a SH clinic for the copper coil instead. If it's over the counter, I could easily see a scenario where people buy Levonelle, but actually need a coil or ellaOne to have the best chance of preventing pregnancy. Unless you have an algorithm on the wall in the pharmacy for people to work through, how would clients know which they need?