If you are not planning to get pregnant, some kind of contraceptive precaution should always be taken before or during sex. But, sometimes real life situations do happen in emergency when one is either not ready / forgotten/ignorant or lazy to use these precautions. The resultant anxiety starts taking a toll on you from the next morning after. Here are a few things that every sensible woman should keep in mind:
1) Unwanted pregnancy: Please keep a track of your last period date i.e. the day you started to bleed in the last month and calculate a projected date when your periods will start in this month. One can roughly divide a 28 day cycle in 4 quarters. Then calculate in which quarter the unprotected sex happened. If it happened in the first and the last quarter, then your chances to conceive are extremely rare but theoretically a pregnancy can result from even a single sexual contact at any time of the period.
2) Emergency contraception: If a pregnancy is a total no-no, you must consult a doctor to give you emergency contraception. This tablet needs to be taken as early as possible and within 72 hours of unprotected contact. The sooner it is taken the better are the results but its effectiveness is not 100% and failures resulting in pregnancy happen many a times. So do not rely on emergency pills except in real emergencies….
There is another way to protect your -self which is considered more effective by doctors. Intrauterine devices (Copper-T or multiload) can be inserted in your uterus up-to 5 days after an unprotected intercourse and removed as soon as your periods come. You could keep it for longer if you wish to use it as your regular contraceptive. This is more effective in avoiding pregnancy as compared to the pill and you could discuss this option with your gynaecologist.
3) Sexually transmitted infections: If it has been a one night stand or you are not very sure of your partner’s sexuality, you must visit your gynaecologist to get yourself tested. Usually sexually transmitted infections cause pain in your lower tummy, foul smelling or itchy vaginal discharge, difficulty in urination and painful sex. If you think you have developed a STD (sexually transmitted disease), treatment should be taken quickly to avoid permanent damage.
4) Urinary infections: Difficulty in passing urine/ burning sensation and passing it drop by drop could be a sign of urinary infection which happens commonly in sensitive women after oral or vaginal sex. If you have any problems like this a simple urine routine test should be done to detect infections and treatment taken soon to avoid bad effect on your kidney.
5) Delay in Periods: Sometimes after unprotected intercourse, the periods are delayed. This can happen due to many reasons. The commonest reason is a delay associated with the use of emergency pills(I-Pill/unwanted 72 etc. available in Indian markets)) of up to one week. Stress, hormonal imbalance and failure of emergency pills causing a pregnancy are others. Whatever be the reason, one should not take a chance and at least do a home pregnancy test once every three days till periods resume. If the home test shows a positive pregnancy, you should contact your gynaecologist for further help.