'Morning-after pills fail to reduce pregnancies'

It was believed that keeping morning-after pills would be more convenient for women to take as it would not require them to find a pharmacy at short notice. But a review of 11 trials involving 7,695 women from India, China, Sweden and the US found that providing the tablets in advance does not reduce the pregnancy rate, the “Telegraph” reported.

Lead researcher Chelsea Polis of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said: “Our review suggests that some women may not use emergency contraception when needed, even if they have it in advance. Like condoms, emergency contraception will not work if it is not used.”

The review found women who already have the tablets take them sooner after unprotected sex but this did not affect the pregnancy rate. Emergency contraceptive pills work up to 72 hours after unprotected sex and is more effective the sooner the first dose is taken.