While many women remain unaware of its availability, the "morning after pill," a form of oral contraception used after sexual intercourse, has been available at the College for approximately 10 years.
If administered within 72 hours of unprotected sex, the pill prevents pregnancy from occurring. The pill has a 4 percent failure rate and does not prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
The "morning after pill," technically called Ovral, is administered by Health Services through Dick's House.
The pill is a hormonal treatment containing a series of very high doses of synthetic estrogens and progesterones that prevent a fertilized egg from implanting itself in the uterus.
One dose of Ovral consists of two pills, each containing 50 micrograms of estrogen. Treatment consists of two doses taken 12 hours apart, for a total of 200 micrograms.
Dick's House administered 94 treatments of the morning after pill during the last fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 1993 to June 30, 1994, according to Janet Sundnas, manager of the College's Women's Health Program.
During the same period, there were 24 positive pregnancy tests at Dick's House, 15 of which were undergraduate, unplanned pregnancies and nine of which were planned graduate student or spouse pregnancies.
Sundnas said some of the unplanned pregnancies could have been avoided if more women knew about the availability of the morning after pill.
Although Sundnas said Dick's House distributed more "morning after pills" last year than ever before, she added that she "wouldn't care if it doubled."
"My goal is to help women avoid an unintentional pregnancy," Sundnas said. "There are no lectures here."
Both the number of pills distributed on campus and the number of pregnancies has increased steadily in recent years.
Dick's House distributed 51 treatments of the pill during the 1989 fiscal year, 66 during 1990 and 85 during 1991, Sundnas said.
She also said Dick's House reported 20 positive pregnancy tests in 1989, 32 in 1990 and 41 in 1991. Statistics were not available for 1992 or 1993.
Exposure to unprotected sexual intercourse is the only criteria for receiving the morning after pill, Sundnas said.
Although there is no limit as to how many times a woman can take the morning after pill, Sundnas said no student has received more than two treatments.
"After the second time, most women realized that their method [of birth control] isn't working," Sundnas said.
Sundnas stressed that the morning after pill is a form of oral contraception and is different from RU486, commonly known as the "French abortion pill." RU486 has not yet been approved for use in this country.
"You must have a positive pregnancy test to take RU486," Sundnas said. "It makes the uterus expel its contents. Morning after pills just fool with your hormonal level to a point that it doesn't make it optimal hormonally for implantation to occur."
Ovral "is a great regime for those women who have been assaulted or had possible contact but are not certain -- were drunk or blacked-out," Sundnas said.
"My biggest goal is to educate women on this campus that this method is available," Sundnas said.
The morning after pill costs $3.75 and is administered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment.
On weekends and after hours, students can walk in and obtain the pills through the resident staff at Dick's House, Sundnas said.
Nausea is the only side-effect, Sundnas said, adding that last year two women reported vomiting after taking the pill.
Sundnas said that sometimes women will experience bleeding that seems like a period but is really "implantation bleeding" that occurs when hormone levels are increased to such a point that implantation is prevented.
Students must sign a consent form and have their blood pressure taken before Dick's House will administer the pill. Although counseling is not required, Sundnas said she likes women to return approximately two weeks later for a follow-up exam.
The follow-up consists of a pregnancy test and discussion of concerns and questions about contraception methods.
"We usually discuss [sexually transmitted diseases] and HIV issues as well," Sundnas said.
According to Sundnas, students are often uncomfortable discussing and requesting the "morning after pill" from the Dick's House appointment office. It is possible to either blitz Sundnas or make what is called a "personal appointment slot" in which the appointment desk does not inquire about the specifics of why the student needs the appointment.
