MODEL RELEASED. Morning after pills in a woman's hands. These are emergency contraceptives, designed to be taken as soon after unprotected sex as possible. Morning after pills are oral contraceptives containing higher doses of the artificial versions of the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone than are found in standard birth control pills. Their ingestion prevents or delays ovulation and inhibits implantation of the potentially fertilised ovum in the uterus lining.