REVEALED: Being over 11st could make the morning after pill less effective
Research has found emergency contraception might not work as well on larger women, but there are some alternatives
TAKING the morning after pill is never going to be anyone's favourite way to spend time.
Although it's awkward, at least you're taking steps to make sure you don't have an unplanned pregnancy.
Plus it's pretty much always effective isn't it? Well... maybe not so much.
According to a new study, the emergency pill doesn't work as well on women who weigh more than 11st 7lbs.
That might not sound so bad, apart from the fact that the average weight of UK ladies is 11st.
The study was published in Contraception Journal and the whole point of it was to find out whether the morning after pill is effective for obese women.
OK so it wasn't a massive study and only involved 10 women between the ages of 18 and 35.
After health checks half of them were deemed 'normal' weight and the other half obese.
They were each given a contraceptive that had levonorgestrel in it, that's the hormone which stops women from ovulation (a pretty essential part of getting pregnant).
Alison Edelman and Jeffrey Jensen at Oregon Heath and Science University oversaw the research, and the results were pretty staggering.
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The morning after pill failed FOUR TIMES MORE OFTEN in the obese women than in those who were an average weight.
It's not all bad news though, as the cunning doctors then tried something else.
"By doubling the dose, we doubled the level of levonorgestrel observed in the bloodstream," Alison told magazine.
"We were surprised and pleased to see that we were able to compensate for (the effect of obesity) by doubling the dose."
Don't start thinking doubling up on the pills is the way forward though, as not enough research has been done yet.
If you're over 11 stone and need emergency contraception it's best to talk to your doctor about the options.
There are different kids of morning after pill available and there has been some research that's suggested ones which are acetate-based work better on larger women.