Truth: Any Sexual Position Can Result In Pregnancy
Any sexual position that results in semen getting near the cervix can lead to pregnancy. For that matter, even if semen gets near the vaginal opening, pregnancy can occur.
The so-called “missionary position” of man on top, woman on bottom, is assumed to be the best position for conception. However, theres no evidence that youre more likely to get pregnant having sex this way.
Days Before And After Ovulation
Ovulation usually occurs between days 11 and 21 of your cycle . The first day of your period signifies the beginning of your next cycle. When youre ovulating, an egg is released from your ovaries and moves down the uterine tube towards your uterus.
An egg lives 12-24 hours following ovulation, but sperm can live in the female reproductive system for up to five days after sex. Therefore, having sex from five days before or one day after ovulation can result in pregnancy.
A 2019 study found that women who have unprotected sex one day before ovulation had the highest probability of getting pregnant .
Fertility Tracking For Women With Pcos And Irregular Periods
If women are not ovulating or ovulating irregularly, as in the case of polycystic ovary syndrome , they may experience irregular bleeding. Women with PCOS have bleeding that occurs randomly, not in response to a true cycle. As a result, women with PCOS cannot use their period to track their cycle. They would be better suited to discuss alternative methods of tracking fertility with their health care provider.
Similarly, women who experience irregular periods should not count on using their period to track their fertility. An average period cycle lasts 21 to 35 days from the start of one period to the start of the next period. If your periods fall out of this timeframe, then they may be irregular and not associated with ovulation.
Women may experience irregular periods for a variety of reasons like being underweight or constant and intense exercise, Harper said. However, irregular periods may be an indicator of an underlying health issue like PCOS. Speak with your provider if you believe you have an irregular menstrual cycle.
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Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant Every Day Of The Month
When sex coincides with your most fertile ovulation days, you’ll increase your chances of getting pregnant. Get to know each phase of your cycle to make conception faster and easier.
To hit the baby-making bullseye, you’ve got to aim for certain sweet spots of fertility in your cycle. Here’s your guide to the best chances of getting pregnant throughout the month so you can plan accordingly.
Can I Get Pregnant The Day Before My Period And Still Have A Normal Period
This is a question Flo users often ask, maybe because of the misconception that its not possible to get pregnant during a period.
You can’t get pregnant a day before your period, as ovulation will have occurred 10-16 days before the period .
Regardless of when conception happens, periods stop.
Nevertheless, some people experience spotting during ovulation and mistake it for period blood. In fact, ovulation is the most fertile day of a cycle. Having unprotected sex during ovulation spotting can result in pregnancy.
Sometimes, people may also mistakenly assume implantation bleeding is just a period. Actually, implantation bleeding is an early sign of conception.
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Truth: Ovulation Can Happen From Either Ovary
Your body doesn’t systematically “schedule” ovulation to alternate ovaries from month to month. Ovulation can switch from side to side, but it doesn’t have to.
It’s also common for women to ovulate more often on one side than the other, actually. That could be your left ovary or your right ovary it depends on a number of factors. This is also why you may notice you get ovulation pain on one side more frequently than the other.
Which ovary releases the egg has more to do with which ovary has a follicle that reaches the final stage of maturity. At the start of your cycle, several follicles in each ovary begin to develop. Only one will make it all the way through the stages of development to ovulation. When more than one follicle releases an egg, that’s how you may conceive non-identical twins.
After Your Partner Has Had A Vasectomy
While you have a less than one percent chance of getting pregnant by a man whos had a vasectomy, you might have a much larger chance if you dont wait until your partners been tested to see if it worked. Your partners sperm should be checked three months after the procedure, and he needs to have had a minimum of 20 ejaculations. Make sure to use other protection until you get the OK from your doctor after three months.
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My Menstrual Cycle Is Still Irregular Has The Pill Affected My Fertility
Its unlikely the pill has caused any fertility problems, but it can sometimes cover up problems you already have, such as missing periods or PCOS .This is because the pill prevents the ovaries from releasing an egg , so although its normal to experience period-type bleeding on the pill, you dont have a real period.
Contact your GP if youre still having irregular periods 3 months after stopping contraception.
Can You Get Pregnant While On Your Period
The chances of getting pregnant while on your period are low, but pregnancy is still possible.
The answer lies in understanding the fertile window. For people who are trying to get pregnant, menstruation is not the best time to conceive. Getting pregnant depends on ovulation, which happens when an egg is released from the ovary and moves toward the uterus. The day of ovulation varies from one person to another and from cycle to cycle.
Although the chances of getting pregnant while on your period are low, there are exceptions. For example, it is possible to conceive during a period if ovulation occurs early in your cycle or if your periods last longer than five days.
The chances of becoming pregnant during menstruation are higher for people with shorter monthly cycles. Shorter cycles mean ovulation occurs early in the cycle. Because sperm can live for up to five days inside your body, having sex near the end of a period could lead to pregnancy if ovulation occurs early .
Generally, most people ovulate sometime between days 10 and 17 of their menstrual cycle. The earlier ovulation occurs, the earlier the fertile window will start. The fertile window begins five days before ovulation. If ovulation occurs on day 14 of a cycle, then the fertile window starts on day nine. But if ovulation occurs on day eight of a cycle, the fertile window begins on day three possibly in the middle of a period.
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Can You Get Pregnant During Your Period
Most people have menstrual cycles that last 26 to 34 days, and if someone with this cycle has an average two- to eight-day period, they will probably not get pregnant during their period. An egg that is released during ovulation but remains unfertilized “comes out with all of the menstrual blood,” Dr. Hakakha explains.
That said, the chance of pregnancy on your period increases if you have an irregular cycle. “A woman with a shorter menstrual cycle , could have seven days of bleeding, have intercourse on her final day of bleeding, and ovulate three days later,” Dr. Hakakha says. “Since sperm live for three to five days, she could definitely get pregnant” if it fertilizes a released egg, which has a lifespan of about 24 hours.
In addition, some women experience breakthrough spotting or bleeding between periods. This can occur during ovulation and be mistaken for a period, making it difficult to establish the exact place in the menstrual cycle. Having sex during ovulation increases your chances of getting pregnant.
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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How Can A Woman Get Pregnant On Her Period
Its easy to mistake vaginal bleeding for the beginning of a period. Its possible you could bleed during ovulation when youre most fertile. This could easily be mistaken for a period. Having unprotected sex at this time dramatically increases your chances of becoming pregnant.
For the average woman, the ovulation cycle is somewhere between 28 and 30 days. This means that if you have sex while on your period, you wont likely ovulate until several days later.
But women with a shorter cycle wouldnt have the same amount of time between having their periods and ovulating.
Another consideration is that a mans sperm can live inside a woman for up to 72 hours after ejaculation. Toward the end of your period, your chances of becoming pregnant will increase.
If youre curious about your ovulation patterns, you can track the number of days between your periods. This includes when you start your period, and then when you start your period again.
Over several months, you can identify a pattern to determine roughly when your ovulation cycle occurs.
If You Take Antibiotics While On The Pill
Theres a big, fat warning label on every pill packet that says taking antibiotics may lessen the efficacy of the pill, but many people dont read the fine print. However, theres only one antibiotic thats been proven to interfere with the pill: rifampin, which is used to treat tuberculosis and bacterial infections. Scientists claim that there isnt an issue when using other antibiotics. Their take is that pregnancy may occur because people may skip a pill or two when theyre not feeling well, or their bodies may not be able to absorb the hormones properly if theyre vomiting or have diarrhea. All that said, I know a decent number of pill-popping moms whove gotten pregnant while on antibiotics, so you probably dont want to chance it.
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How To Know When Youre Ovulating
Knowing when you ovulate can help you plan for sex at the right time and improve your chance of getting pregnant. You can keep track of your menstrual cycles on a chart, in a diary, or on a free period-tracker app on your smartphone.
To work out the length of your menstrual cycle, record the first day you start bleeding . This is day 1. The last day of your cycle is the day before your next period begins.
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Some people think the menstrual cycle and a period are the same thing.
A period is when you bleed .
A menstrual cycle starts on the day when a period starts and ends the day before the next period. A cycles length is considered normal if its between 21 and 35 days. They can vary between women and from one cycle to the next.
- Working out your average menstrual cycle length
If your menstrual cycles are different lengths you can work out your average cycle length.
The number of days in a womans menstrual cycle can vary month to month. Periods are not always regular. It can be useful to work out an average cycle length, based on the length of three menstrual cycles, to estimate when youre most likely to be ovulating.
If you add the number of days in three cycles and divide the total number by three, it gives you your average cycle length.
Example
Sarah tracked her last three menstrual cycles by counting the time from the first day of one period, to the day before the next period.
Cycle 1 was 28 days Cycle 2 was 32 days Cycle 3 was 27 days
28 + 32 + 27 = 87
Cycles Without Ovulation: Can You Conceive
Just like periods arent always regular, neither is ovulation. The day you ovulate can vary from cycle to cycle, and in some cycles, ovulation may not happen at all. This is also normal.
Irregular ovulation occurs when the ovaries and pituitary gland arent communicating properly about when to release an egg.
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Health Risks For Pregnancies Later In Life
Health risks in pregnancy increase with age. After age 35, the risks of certain problems rise in comparison to younger women. These include:
- Multiple pregnancy, especially if you have IVF. Multiple pregnancies can result in early birth, low birth weight, and difficult delivery.
- Gestational diabetes, which can cause health problems for both mom and baby.
- High blood pressure, which requires careful monitoring and possibly medication to ward off complications.
Should Women With Irregular Periods Panic
Irregular periods are concerning. More so if getting pregnant is on the cards. Missing periods can also be a sign of an underlying medical issue. Theres no need to panic. Take action early. Seek advice from your OB/GYN, as doctors can help increase the chances of a successful pregnancy.
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What If You Want To Get Pregnant After You’ve Hit Menopause
Okay, so let’s say you’ve already hit menopausemeaning you haven’t had a period in 12 months or morebut you would still like to get pregnant. Luckily, if that’s your choice, science is on your side through a process called in vitro fertilization .
According to the US National Library of Medicine , IVF is essentially the joining of a woman’s egg with a man’s sperm, outside of the woman’s body . In women who are of childbearing age, there are five steps to IVF: stimulation, egg retrieval, insemination and fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo transfer. However, because women who have already gone through menopause are not producing eggs, they do not need to go through the first two steps, and will instead have to use eggs from a donor.
From there, it’s like any other IVF pregnancy: Once a fertilized egg divides and become an embryo outside of the body, per the NLM, it’s placed inside the woman’s womb, where she can carry the embryo, then fetus, to term.
The bottom line: If you havent yet reached menopause but are perimenopausal, you can definitely still get pregnant. But if youve already hit menopause when you decide you want to consider motherhood, its not necessarily too late” for that, either.
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