Wait, You Can Use the Copper IUD for Emergency Birth Control?
In this video, ob-gyn Kecia Gaither, MD, discusses how the copper IUD may be used emergency birth control.
If you always forgot to take your daily birth control pill, the longer-term pregnancy-prevention method known as the IUD may have been your saving grace. But the non-hormonal copper IUD has another unexpected superpower: It’s 99.9 percent effective at preventing pregnancy if inserted within five days of unprotected sex.
The IUD, which stands for intrauterine device, is a tiny, T-shaped device that sits in the uterus to prevent pregnancy, according to Kecia Gaither, MD, director of perinatal services at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center. Learn more about IUDs for birth control. Interested to know more about IUDs? Check out these commonly believed IUD myths.
- Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, MS, MBA, FACOGDr. Gaither, an ob-gyn and maternal fetal medicine specialist, is director of perinatal services at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, a member of NYC Health + Hospitals System in Bronx, New York.
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