Dr Girl/Dr Kate Q&A

As always, the lovely Dr Kate is in the house ready and waiting to answer all your medical concerns. This month she discusses the problem of over-produced prostaglandins and the dreaded period pain!

Dr Kate specialises in women's reproductive health and is a representative of MSIA - Marie Stopes International Australia. As the resident doctor at FEMAIL, she is here to advise and answer all your medical queries.

MSIA is part of the http://www.mariestopes.org.au Marie Stopes International partnership which works in 39 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Collectively they are a movement advocating for reproductive rights and providing services that improve and save peoples lives, making a real difference. Marie Stopes in Australia, plays a pivotal role in facilitating this within the Asia Pacific region.

So if you have a question or a concern - go to:

Dear Doctor



Dear Terrified Chick,

Unfortunately no contraceptive method is 100%, so these things do happen. What you can do is the following: Firstly you can take the morning after pill. The morning after pill can be taken up to 72 hours after you've had unprotected sex, and reduces the risk of getting pregnant.

Then what you'll need to do is wait for your next period, or do a home pregnancy test. To be sure you are not pregnant you need to check that your pregnancy test is negative 7 days after your next period is expected to start. If you are pregnant you'll need to see your doctor about the options you can take.

You may want to see your doctor to check for sexually transmitted diseases. STD's could also be transmitted if a condom has broken. You may want to think about going "Double Dutch!" This is where you take the oral contraceptive pill (for protection against pregnancy), and also use condoms to protect against STD's - and is a method used by a lot of young people in Holland!