Experience and acceptability of emergency hormonal contraception

Objective: The study was designed to evaluate the experience and acceptability of emergency hormonal contraception service for inner-city women in Planned Parenthood clinics.Methods: In 1995, emergency hormonal contraception was introduced as a new service in three clinics of New York City's Planned Parenthood that served low-income women. Shortly after inception of this service, the agency undertook a survey to investigate patient experience and acceptability of the service. The survey addressed side effects and patients attitudes about emergency hormonal contraception. It also addressed suggestions for improving the service.The indication for the use of this method was unprotected intercourse within the previous 72 hours of first dosage of certain birth control pills. We used Lo/Ovral (norgestrel 0.3 mg + ethinyl estradiol 30 µg) 4 tablets given stat and second dose 12 hours later.Results: There were 118 patients who responded to the survey. The average patient age was 25 years. Approximately half of the women were white and half were other. The majority were nulliparous, and 42% had one or more abortions in the past. Side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and fatigue and their prevalence were noted. Two women reported method failure. Both patients elected abortion. The vast majority (92%) stated that they would use the method again. Patients also made several recommendations for enhancing the service.Conclusion: As a result of this survey, Planned Parenthood of New York City completely revised its emergency hormonal contraception protocols in order to increase patient satisfaction while maintaining high medical standards to ensure lower method failure and drug side effects in more than 1,000 patients so far.