Can I Get My Period And Still Be Pregnant

What To Do When Your Period Is Late

Can you be pregnant and still get your period? – Dr. Suhasini Inamdar

If your period is more than a week late and you got a negative pregnancy test, you may want to schedule an appointment with your health care provider to be safe. Your doctor can do a blood test to confirm that youre not pregnant.

If the blood test is also negative and your practitioner rules out any other possible concerns, its fine to sit back and go with the flow . Every woman skips a period now and then, especially if shes under stress or has been sick. Relax and do what you can to ease anxiety by eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When Youre Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

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Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period While Using Birth Control

Its possible to get pregnant when youre using birth control, whether youre on your period or not.

The likelihood that a contraceptive will fail varies depending on the method of birth control :

  • Oral contraceptives : About 7 to 9 percent failure rate
  • Progestin-only pill: About 7 percent failure rate
  • Patch: About 7 to 9 percent failure rate
  • Vaginal contraceptive ring: About 7 to 9 percent failure rate
  • Male condoms: About 13 to 18 percent failure rate
  • Diaphragms: About 12 to 17 percent failure rate

For what its worth, tracking your monthly cycle called fertility awareness in order to avoid pregnancy isnt the most reliable birth control method the typical failure rate may be as high as 23 percent.

The bottom line: Although the odds are slim, you can get pregnant on your period or any other time of the month. Its even possible to get pregnant on your period if youre using birth control.

So unless youre trying to conceive, its always smart to be vigilant about contraception unless you like big surprises.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When Youre Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

Can You Feel Pregnant Before You Miss Your Period

Yes, you can feel pregnant before you miss your period. Some people say theyve felt pregnancy symptoms within a week of conception .

Could I have the symptoms of early pregnancy and not be pregnant?

Many of the symptoms of early pregnancy overlap with other medical conditions, as well as your typical menstrual cycle. Premenstrual symptoms can be very similar to pregnancy symptoms. This can make it difficult to tell the difference. You can also miss a period and not be pregnant. This can happen when you lose or gain a lot of weight or are stressed. Breastfeeding can also cause your period to stop.

The best way to know youre pregnant is to take a pregnancy test. Pregnancy tests are available at your local pharmacy or grocery store without a prescription.

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How Long Will Spotting Last During Pregnancy

Unlike your menstrual period, spotting during pregnancy only lasts about 1 to 2 days. If this spotting is implantation bleeding, it likely occurs a few days sooner than your next expected period. It will be much lighter and not require you to change a pad. Implantation bleeding doesn’t require treatment and stops on its own. Even if you just think you’re having implantation bleeding, be sure to call your healthcare provider to let them know.

Fertility Awareness And Family Planning

can i be pregnant and still have my period

Some women use fertility awareness as a method of natural birth control. One of the tools used is something called the Standard Days method. This establishes that if you have a period that is between 26 to 32 days long, days eight through 19 will be your most fertile days. However, this method is most effective when you have regular menstrual cycles.

If a woman has a regular period and uses the method perfectly, less than one to five women out of 100 will become pregnant. However, the key words here are perfect use. The typical use rate is different. Typical use means that the methods may be done incorrectly or measured inconsistently. In the first year of this typical use, 12 to 24 women out of 100 will become pregnant.

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How Soon Can I Get Pregnant After Coming Off The Pill

You can get pregnant as soon as you come off the pill but if youre trying to get pregnant, its a good idea to wait until youve had a natural period. This will give your body time to adjust and give you a chance to make sure youre ready for pregnancy. Make use of our pregnancy planning tool to see what else you can do.

Can I Do The Test Wrong

Its important you read the instructions that come with your test carefully and follow them. This way you can be sure you can trust the result. Some tests are easier to read than others for a test that gives a result in words such as pregnant or not pregnant, is clear whereas visual tests where you have to interpret lines can be harder to read and can leave you wondering whether youre pregnant or not. If you doubt youre reading the result correctly and the uncertainty makes you feel anxious, then get a test that is easy to read, like the Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test, so you can be sure of the result you see.

You can see what a negative pregnancy test result looks like in our infographic below.

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The Causes Of Irregular Periods You May Be Overlooking

One of the main causes of an irregular period is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome . PCOS is an imbalance in the hormones controlling the reproductive system. PCOS causes irregular ovulation, cysts on ovaries, bleeding, and infertility. Research shows PCOS cases double miscarraiges and premature deliveries.

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Can You Get Your Period While Pregnant

Is it possible to be pregnant and still have your period

A period will not be the cause of any bleeding during pregnancy.

When a woman is pregnant, she does not continue to ovulate and will not have a period. Menstruation only occurs when a person is not pregnant.

Although it is possible for women to experience some bleeding during pregnancy, this will not be due to their menstrual cycle.

Some women also do not have any periods while breast-feeding. However, they may still begin to ovulate again soon after giving birth. Therefore, doctors may recommend some form of birth control while a woman is breast-feeding if she does not wish to get pregnant.

The menstrual cycle occurs to facilitate pregnancy. The cycle begins on the first day of a persons period and ends on the first day of the following period.

Ovulation, when the ovary releases an egg, occurs midway through the cycle.

An egg is only viable for about 1224 hours after a woman ovulates. If sperm cells are present and able to fertilize the egg, the egg will implant itself in the uterus, resulting in pregnancy.

If there is no fertilization, menstruation will occur, and the body will shed the uterine lining so that it can begin making a new one for the next cycle.

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Why You Can’t Have Your Period While Pregnant

Menstruation only happens when you’re not pregnant. Each month, your uterus grows a thick blood-rich lining in preparation for an egg to embed there. If you don’t get pregnant that month, you shed this tissue and blood, and this is your menstrual period.

But once an egg embeds in the uterine lining, hormones tell the blood-rich tissue to stay intact to support the growing baby. And you won’t shed it and start having your period again until your pregnancy is over.

Pregnant Symptoms But Got My Period And Negative Test

If you had an early period, pregnancy symptoms with a negative pregnancy test, then its likely because of implantation bleeding.

During implantation, your bodys human chorionic gonadotropin is still very low and increases twofold every 48 hours. A pregnancy test taken a few days after implantation may be negative.

If you got your period early with pregnancy symptoms and a negative pregnancy test, you should wait until a week after your period and retake your test.

If you missed period with a negative pregnancy test, you should learn the other reasons why your period is late.

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Why Cant You Technically Have A Period When Youre Pregnant

Throughout the month, your body prepares for pregnancy. It does this by building up the endometrium, or uterine lining. If you become pregnant, this lining serves to help nourish the fertilized egg at the very early stages of pregnancy. If you dont become pregnant, your body sheds the endometrium, via your period. Therefore, its impossible to be pregnant and have a period, because you dont shed your endometrium while pregnant.

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Is There Any Way That You Can Make Your Period Lighter

Can I be pregnant and still get my period?

Absolutely, there is a way to lessen the severity of your period. Hormonal shifts brought on by consistent exercise may lead to a lighter period, among other potential benefits. Exercising and losing weight often result in a lighter period as a side effect. When practised on a consistent basis, strenuous exercise has the potential to potentially prevent periods from occurring. On the other hand, you may have bleeding outside of your period if you engage in strenuous physical activity. This may happen even if you are not currently on your period.

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Is It Possible To Have Your Period When Youre Pregnant

No, although some women have something called breakthrough bleeding, which may mimic the symptoms of a period. Its fairly usual to bleed during the first few weeks of pregnancy, and it could seem like mild menstruation. Because of this, some pregnant women do not even recognize they are pregnant until it is too late.

However, if you are pregnant and have any bleeding, you should seek the advice of your obstetrician or a midwife as soon as possible. The majority of the time, breakthrough bleeding during pregnancy is nothing to be concerned about. However, bleeding may sometimes be an indication of a more severe problem.

Bleeding Later In Pregnancy: Why It Happens

Weve already discussed why it isnt possible to have a period during pregnancy, and why some people may experience light bleeding or spotting during their first trimester. Bleeding during the second and third trimesters is possible, though not common, and it may be an indicator that something else is going on. If you experience bleeding later in your pregnancy, its important to see your health care provider.

Potential reasons for mid- or late-term pregnancy bleeding include:

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When To See The Doctor For Pregnancy With Irregular Periods

You might see the doctor for irregular periods in any of the following cases:

  • Your period suddenly becomes irregular after being regular
  • You havent had a period for 90 days or more
  • You have a period more often than every 21 days or less often than every 35 days
  • Your period lasts for more than seven days
  • Your period is unusually heavy
  • Your period is incredibly painful
  • You bleed in between your periods

Your doctor will help determine the cause of your irregular period and suggest a course of action.

What Should I Do If I Experience Bleeding During Pregnancy

Can you get pregnant while on your period? – Pandia Health

If you experience bleeding, it is wise to have this checked out. If you have been seen in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit during your pregnancy, you may contact us directly, up to 15 weeks + 6 days of pregnancy. Your GP or midwife can also help you.

If you have been seen in the EPAU and you then experience more bleeding contact the EPAU. Depending on how much bleeding and for how long the nursing staff will decide if you need to be seen again. A rescan is not always necessary. Sometimes the nurse will advise that you monitor this bleeding at home. A rescan will only be performed if bleeding heavy with clots. If there is a significant change in your symptoms then the nurse will make an appointment to come to EPAU and be either rescanned or to be assessed by the doctor. If bleeding unmanageable then the nurse may advise to be assessed on ward 30 or the Emergency department depending on your symptoms.

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You Have An Ectopic Pregnancy

Do you have severe abdominal pain, light brown discharge and pregnancy symptoms? Then its possible you have an ectopic pregnancy.

What does ectopic pregnancy mean?

In normal pregnancies, fertilization occurs inside the Fallopian tube, which is a 10cm tube attached to the body of the uterus. After fertilization, the embryo or fertilized ovum is transported back to the uterus for implantation.

However, in ectopic pregnancies, this process fails to result in implantation outside the uterus, or in the fallopian tubes. Implantation inside the Fallopian tube will cause bleeding into the abdomen with symptoms like

  • Pain especially in the right or left side of the abdomen
  • Heavy vaginal bleeding, though it may be light bleeding or no bleeding at all.
  • Dizziness or fainting attack
  • Severe pain in the abdomen that gets worse with time

Who are at risk of an ectopic pregnancy?

  • Untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea infection
  • Pelvic inflammation disease
  • Drugs like Clomiphene citrate used to stimulate ovulation
  • Previous history of an abortion

What to do?

You should inform your doctor ASAP about your symptoms. Ectopic pregnancy is an emergency worldwide and may cause death in young women if not treated early.

What Should I Do If I Suspect Pregnancy And Im Bleeding

If you suspect, or know, you are pregnant, and you experience any bleeding or spotting, you should contact your healthcare provider. Bleeding during pregnancy can occur in healthy pregnancies that will continue to term. However, bleeding during pregnancy is sometimes indicative of complications, including pregnancy loss.

If youre having what appears to be a regular period, it is unlikely that youre pregnant. However, any time you think you could be pregnant, its good to be in contact with your care provider.

If youre unsure about whether or not you might be pregnant, check out BellyBellys article, Am I Pregnant?

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Can You Have A Period While Pregnant

Technically, its biologically impossible to get your period while pregnant, according to doctors. Getting your period, or menstruating, is by definition, the shedding of the uterine lining which happens when there is not a fertilized egg in the uterus, says Dr. Amy Roskin, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Favor.Being pregnant means that you would need your uterine lining to sustain a pregnancy, so menstruation does not occur.

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Can You Ovulate On Your Period

I Just Got My Period Can I Still Be Pregnant

You cannot ovulate on your period. If you are trying to plan a pregnancy, the best time to conceive is on the day of ovulation and 24 hours before so the chances of being fertile on your period are extremely low. Its also worth knowing that some women may experience spotting around ovulation this is a much smaller amount of blood than you get with period bleeding. If you are spotting, you may be fertile.

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Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period If You Have An Irregular Cycle

Yes. If you have an irregular period, it can be harder to predict when youll be ovulating and that could cause you to get pregnant accidentally, since it can be harder to avoid having sex close to that time.

Here are a few types of irregular menstrual cycles, and how its still possible to get pregnant:

  • You have a short cycle. Some women have cycles as short as 21 days and still ovulate, which means they dont have as much time between when they finish menstruating and when they next ovulate. And since sperm can live in your reproductive tract for a few days, if you happened to have sex during your period and then ovulated the following cycles egg two to three days later, that egg could encounter viable sperm. And you know what that means.
  • Your periods last a long time. While your body is slowly shedding that uterine lining, the clock is ticking on ovulation and your next egg shows up while youre still bleeding from the previous months egg. So youre already fertile again which means you can get pregnant on your period.
  • You have breakthrough bleeding, or spotting, when you ovulate. Especially if you have light or irregular periods, it would be easy to mistake this bleeding for a true period even though its happening when youre actually most fertile, since youve just ovulated.

Sometimes, however, an irregular period can be a sign that youre not ovulating at all, which is one cause of infertility.

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