What the Doctor Says...  If you've read all the info on the Morning After Pill and the facts about going to the Doctors, if your contraception failed, you might want to hear what an actual Doctor has to say about this. Well I popped down to see local GP, Andrew, and he told me the real facts about going to see a Doctor in this emergency sitation. Read on...it will make you really relieved if it happens to you.
What will happen during your doctor’s appointment? -
" I’m a GP and my duty is to care for you. If a situation like this arises you must phone the doctor’s surgery and make an urgent appointment to see your GP. The best way to do this is get yourself to a private phone. The  telephone number will be in the phone book under your doctor’s name or under the surgery’s name. Or even pop down to the surgery to make an appointment. Ask the receptionist for an appointment such that you are seen as soon as possible, and certainly within 72 hours after the unprotected sex." -
"You must not, and do not have to, tell the receptionist the reason you need to see the doctor, this is between you and your doctor only. Some practices might put you through to a nurse if you request an urgent appointment, the nurse will be able to help you just the same as your doctor." -
"The reason why a nurse may help instead of a doctor is because the surgery is busy. This does not mean that you are not important, nurses are to there to help take on extra patients in order for the whole surgery to run as smoothly as possible." …So you heard it straight from a doctor…you have no reason what so ever to tell the receptionist why you need to see your doctor. So if you do live in a small community and you know the receptionist, you should have no worries of them finding out your problem, as it is completely confidential between you and your doctor or a nurse. So that’s another important fact to note and another reason why you should have no worries what so ever when needing to see your GP, and for whatever reason. What happens once you’ve made that very important appointment? - "Once you have an appointment with you’re doctor you’ll need to chat to check if you need the Morning After Pill (MAP). You must see your GP within 72 hours after the unprotected sex happened. If it happened at the weekend, then Monday would be okay. You can see a pharmacist at your local chemist and buy ‘MAP’ but the cost is £20, the cost from your GP is nil."
- "You are probably worried your parents will find out and will be mad at you, this won’t happen unless you tell them. Once again, everything you tell your GP is totally 100% confidential. We don’t mind how young or old you are, our primary concern is what’s best for you."
…So if you missed that a first time there was your second reassurance. Nobody will find out your predicament unless you tell them. Your doctor will not, and can not, say a thing to anybody, as it is all completely confidential. Even if they were best friends with your parents they still wouldn’t murmur a word!… What will he ask you or ask you to do?  "When I see a girl in this situation I won’t need to examine them other than to check their blood pressure. I’ll probably want to know that next time they will take extra precautions e.g. use a condom." - "Something I try to remember and tell girls in this situation is that lots of women have used the Morning After Pill and been in the exact same place you are in now. You may feel that you’re the only one in the world who’s been there but believe me, I can tell you you’re not."
- "Don’t be too hard on yourself, I try to tell my patients that to make a mistake is to be human. You may feel guilty, stupid, worried, embarrassed, scared or even petrified but you’ll get over this. The whole consultation shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and lots of girls bring a close friend along or even their boyfriends."
…So everything you say is confidential, you can bring a mate along so you don’t have to be on your own, the doctor has dealt with this situation hundreds of times before and all they are concerned about is helping you. What are we worrying about girls? If we’re faced with a similar problem and head down to our GPs we’ll get nothing else but help, support, and hopefully the problem resolved! Andrew’s advice on taking the Morning After Pill (MAP)…  "It’s very easy to take the ‘MAP’, ideally the 2 doses are taken 12 hours apart exactly. I recommend each dose is taken with a meal as this reduces the chance of feeling sick e.g. breakfast at 7.00am and dinner at 7.00pm. If you are at home and you want to keep it a secret from your family, pop upstairs straight after eating to take the tablet." - "You might have a slight vaginal bleeding in the next day or so as the hormones in the ‘MAP’ stop you from becoming pregnant (this is not a period or a miscarriage). Your next period should be on time but if it is late it could be due to worry or maybe your periods are irregular anyway."
- "If your period is more than a week or two late I recommend you buy a pregnancy testing kit at the chemist e.g. Clear Blue. These are much more accurate and sensitive at detecting early pregnancies than the urine pregnancy checks your GP routinely does."
- "I have been a GP for a number of years and have never known the MAP to fail so try not to worry. However, do try to learn from your mistake. If you do get pregnant make a routine appointment to see your GP to discuss your options. Again, they will be sympathetic."
…So there you have it! With thanks to Andrew, hopefully his information has put all of our minds at rest when needing to take an urgent visit to the doctors. Read:
Links: Brook Advisory Centres
Website: www.brook.org.uk
Tel: 0800 0185 023 Family Planning Association
Website: www.fpa.org.uk
Tel: 0171 837 4044 Remember!!! - Having sex under the age of 16 in the UK is illegal
- Vick
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