Emergency Contraception

Emergency contraceptive pills are available directly from Clonee Pharmacy without a prescription to women over 16 years of age, subject to meeting certain criteria. The emergency contraceptive pill is free if you are aged 17 to 30.
Emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) is a safe and effective method for preventing pregnancy when regular contraception has failed or if no contraception was used.
EHC, also known as the morning after pill, can be effective up to five days (120 hours) after unprotected sex but is more effective the sooner you use it.
Our staff have been trained to treat requests for emergency contraception professionally and confidentially. The pharmacist will need to ask a few simple questions before giving you the medication. This will help the pharmacist ensure that EHC is suitable for you to use.
You will be supplied with the medication, along with advice from the pharmacist on how it should be taken. Your pharmacist will also offer you advice on the options available for longterm methods of contraception.
If for any reason it is not suitable, the Pharmacist will direct you to another source of help and support.

Some of the reasons it may not be suitable to supply emergency contraception include:

• Too much time has passed for the medicine to be effective
• You are taking other medicines that interact with emergency contraception
• You have an existing medical condition that means it is not safe to take emergency contraception
• Your last period was irregular in some way