Morning after pill – high street store now offers contraception for 'HALF' the price

The high street retailer is the first to launch a generic emergency contraceptive pill.

At £13.49, it will be available at ‘half’ the price of most branded options, according to Superdrug.

More commonly known as the ‘morning after pill’, it’s used when contraception has failed.

This could be because no contraception was used, a condom has split or a pill has been missed.

The sooner you take it, the more effective it will be at preventing pregnancy.

You can currently get it free from a GP surgery that provides contraception, a contraception clinic, a sexual health clinic, some genitourinary medicine clinics, some young people’s clinics, most pharmacies, some NHS walk-in centres and some accident and emergency departments.

There are two kinds – Levonelle which has to be taken within 72 hours of sex, and ellaOne which has to be taken within 120 hours of sex.

Both work by preventing or delaying ovulation, according to the NHS.

However, sometimes it is not convenient or possible to get it soon enough for free, meaning that buying it from a high street retailer is preferable.

Superdrug’s new ‘morning after pill’ will be available at 200 Superdrug pharmacies and on Superdrug Online Doctor, and also on Superdrug.com in the autumn.

‎Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “We are delighted Superdrug has taken this trailblazing step, and look forward to other major retailers following its lead.

“We know the high cost of emergency contraception can be a major barrier to women accessing it when their regular method fails. 

“Superdrug has illustrated that where appropriate it’s perfectly possible to sell this safe and effective medication to women at a significantly more affordable price than is currently on offer. There is frankly now no excuse for others not to do the same. 

“We will keep campaigning on this issue until all retailers do the right thing and offer women a fairly priced product, as Superdrug is doing today.”

The product they are launching will contain levonorgestrel 1.5mg, a hormone commonly used in ordinary contraceptive pills.

It can be taken by women within 72 hours of unprotected sex or if a usual contraceptive method has failed.