What is the i-pill?

It is technically called "progesterone only contraception pill" i-Pill being it's nice, catchy name quite appropriate for the young internet savvy generation. Perhaps the fact that you can take it yourself (without medical prescription), makes the naming even more apt.

I-Pill needs to be taken within 72 hours of having sex the sooner you take it the better.

The I-Pill is said to be quite successful around 98% to 99% all over, it is nowhere in the same league as the combined OC pill. But that has got a lot to do with the fact that it is dealing with an isolated act of intercourse. So the odds are loaded in favour of it working. But that has got more to do with statistics and probability and not pharmacology.

Progesterone only contraceptive pill or more popularly called the post-coital contraceptive pill, has been in the market for more than twenty years. Unlike the combined oral contraceptive pills i-pill doesn't contain estrogen but only high dosage of progesterone. It acts by making the endometrial lining unfavorable for implantation of embryo. I-Pill doesn't stop ovulation and thus is not as effective as the combined OC pill.

It is not a good idea to use the i-pill as a regular form of contraception -remember it is an emergency contraception.

Unless of course you are the sort of person who gets off a plane using a parachute every time.

The only other "post coital contraception" is the coil (Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device). More details about it are discussed in the write up related to the IUCD.