Emergency contraception: the two windows

There are two windows and they are different. The emergency pill most widely available in India is licensed up to seventy-two hours after unprotected sex, and it works better the sooner it is taken — effectiveness falls across the window, so the same tablet on the first morning is not doing the same job as one on the third evening. A copper IUD fitted within five days is the most effective form of emergency contraception there is, and it can then stay in place as ongoing contraception. Most people have never heard of that option; the practical constraint is that it needs a clinician to fit it. There is more than one kind of emergency pill, with different windows and different interactions, so ask the pharmacist or the clinician rather than assuming. Emergency contraception does not end an existing pregnancy and it is not an abortion. Take a pregnancy test if your period is more than a week late or much lighter than usual. And in India these pills are available over the counter and free at government facilities. This is a written short explanation from AskHer's editorial team, not a recording — there is no video of it yet. It was written from the full explanation linked on this page and the sources listed there, and it has not been signed off by a clinician registered in India. It is general education, not advice about your own situation.