How to Go About Getting the Day After Pill

The day after pill, also called the morning after pill, is a type of emergency contraception. If you've had unprotected sex or had your regular birth control fail, you can use the day after pill to prevent pregnancy. To have the best chance of preventing pregnancy, you need to take the day after pill within 72 hours of unprotected sex. It is available without a prescription to those who are 17 or older. Younger people need a prescription.

Things You'll Need

• Government-issued ID

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Instructions

Get the Pill If You're 17 or older

• 1

  Call your local pharmacist and ask whether it stocks Plan B One-Step or Next Choice. Both are brands of day after pills that are available without a prescription.

• 2

  Visit the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for the pill. You won't find it on the shelves with the over-the-counter medications.

• 3

  Show valid ID to prove that you are 17 or older. You need a government-issued form of ID to purchase it without a prescription, but it doesn't have to include a photograph.

• 4

  Visit a health care center or ask your doctor or gynecologist for the day after pill if you can't find it at a nearby pharmacy.

• 5

  Contact the Emergency Contraception Hotline (1-888-NOT-2-LATE) if you have trouble finding a pharmacy from which to buy the pill. The Reproductive Health Technologies Project and Bridging the Gap Foundation, Inc. run the hotline, and the help obtained via this line is both free and confidential.

Get the Pill If You're Under 17

• 6

  Contact your gynecologist for the day after pill if you are under 17. This may be your most logical source, as your gynecologist should be familiar with your medical history, and she may be willing to provide a prescription.

• 7

  Call your primary care physician or your family doctor for the day after pill. Some general care doctors are willing to prescribe this medication.

• 8

  Visit or call a women's health center, reproductive health center, or birth control clinic. Organizations like these are likely to be familiar with the day after pill.

• 9

  Go a county health clinic. A doctor at such a clinic may be able to prescribe the pill you need.

• 10

  Call your local pharmacy to find out whether it stocks the day after pill. If it doesn't, call others close to you or contact the Emergency Contraception Hotline (1-888-NOT-2-LATE).

• 11

  Take your prescription to a pharmacy and purchase the pill.