When Can I Get Pregnant During My Menstrual Cycle
You have the highest chance of getting pregnant on the days leading up to ovulation these are called fertile days.
Ovulation usually happens about 14 days before your period starts but everyones body is different. You may ovulate earlier or later, depending on the length of your menstrual cycle.
Your egg lives for about 1 day after its released from your ovary, and sperm can live in your uterus and fallopian tubes for about 6 days after sex. So you can usually get pregnant for around 6 days of every menstrual cycle: the 5 days before you ovulate, and the day you ovulate. You can also get pregnant a day or so after ovulation, but it’s less likely.
Many people track their menstrual cycles and other fertility signs to help them figure out when theyre ovulating. This is called fertility awareness some people use it to prevent pregnancy, and others use it to try to get pregnant. Check out our app, which makes it easy to chart your cycle and figure out your fertile days.
Some people have very regular cycles, and other peoples cycles vary from month to month. Its really common for young people to have irregular periods. Since your period can be unpredictable, its hard to know for sure when youll ovulate . So if you dont want to get pregnant, use birth control every time you have vaginal sex.
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.
What To Do If You’re Bleeding Or Spotting During Pregnancy
- Fever or chills
- Signs of preterm labor, such as your water breaking
Go to the nearest emergency room if your doctor’s office is closed and you can’t reach your provider. If they determine your bleeding isn’t serious, potential treatments may include things like relaxing and avoiding sex, travel, and rigorous exercise. It’s important that you follow your provider’s recommendations, to keep both yourself and your baby healthy.
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The Period You Get While On The Pill Isnt A ‘true’ Period
Sure, you bleed during the week that you take the sugar pills. But technically thatâs âmonthly withdrawal bleeding.â Itâs slightly different than a regular period.
Normally, you ovulate in the middle of your menstrual cycle. If the egg your ovaries release isnât fertilized, your hormone levels drop, causing you to shed the lining inside your uterus, and you get your period.
Birth control pills, though, prevent ovulation. With most types, you take hormones for 3 weeks followed by 1 week of pills without them. Though they keep your body from releasing an egg, they usually donât prevent it from building up the lining of your uterus all month. The period-like bleeding during that fourth week is your bodyâs reaction to the lack of hormones from the last week of the pill.
Potential Causes Of Bleeding During Pregnancy
Brian Levine, MD, MS, FACOG, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, as well as reproductive endocrinology and infertility . He is the director and founding partner of CCRM New York and was named a rising star by Super Doctors from 2017 to 2019.
It is not possible to have a true menstrual period during pregnancy. Your hormone levels during pregnancy will change to prevent you from menstruating, and it is not possible for your body to shed its entire uterine lining while maintaining a pregnancy.
It is, however, possible to have menstrual-like bleeding for a variety of reasons during pregnancy.
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Im Passing Blood Clots During Pregnancy Is Everything Okay
Compared to light spotting during pregnancy, passing blood clots during pregnancy can be a sign of something potentially serious.
If youre passing blood clots during pregnancy at any point it doesnt always mean its a sign of pregnancy loss.
But you should still check in with your healthcare provider, because it could be an indicator of preterm labor, ectopic pregnancy, placenta issues, or something else.
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.
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Can You Really Get Your Period While Pregnant
The short answer is no. Your period, by definition, only occurs after you ovulate, and you cannot ovulate when you are pregnant.
During the first half of your cycle, your uterine lining thickens in preparation for a possible pregnancy. After ovulation, your progesterone levels increase, maintaining your uterine lining.
If you dont get pregnant, progesterone levels drop after about two weeks, and your lining begins to shedthis is your period.
If the egg hasbeen fertilized, and if it successfully implants in your uterine lining, then it will start secreting the hormone hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. This hormone signals to your body to keep your uterine lining intact. You may still experience some form of bleeding or spotting, but, by definition, it is not your period.
How Can You Increase Your Chances Of Becoming Pregnant
If you want to become pregnant tuning into your menstrual cycle and understanding whats going on in your body can really help you. Here are my top tips:
- Get to know your cycle and when ovulation is likely to occur Keeping track of your menstrual cycle is always a good thing. It not only prepares you for your period appearing but it also means you can figure out when you are likely to ovulate. You generally ovulate in the middle of your cycle, so, if you have a 28 day cycle youll ovulate around day 14. Day 1 of your cycle is the first day of you period. Try keeping a diary for a few months so you can calculate the length of your cycle. You can also buy an ovulation test which can be more accurate. Take note of any symptoms you experience around the time of your period too as this could signal a hormone imbalance. A hormone imbalance could affect ovulation and your chances of falling pregnant
First published in 2016, updated in January 2022.
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What Are The Chances A Woman Can Get Pregnant On Her Period
A womans likelihood of getting pregnant can rise and fall throughout her ovulation cycle. While the average females monthly cycle may be 29 days, others may have a cycle that varies from 20 to 40 days, or longer.
The likelihood that a woman will get pregnant one to two days after she starts bleeding is nearly zero. But the likelihood starts to increase again with each successive day, even though shes still bleeding.
At roughly day 13 after starting her period, her chance of pregnancy is an estimated 9 percent.
While these numbers may be low, it doesnt mean a woman can ever be 100 percent assured that she wont get pregnant on her period.
When Should I Test
Home pregnancy tests can be very accurate , especially if you wait to test until after your period is officially late. Some tests claim to accurately detect pregnancy up to a week before your missed period, so if you’re experiencing some pregnancy symptoms and are champing at the bit, go for it.
You’re more likely to get an accurate test result if you wait until your period is late, according to the Mayo Clinic. That’s because the hormone that’s detected in home pregnancy tests, hCG, doubles every two to three days after an embryo attaches to your uterus, meaning there’s more to detect in your urine if you wait a few days.
Because this hormone can sometimes take a while to build up, false negative results aren’t uncommon in early pregnancy. It’s much more rare to get a false positive. If you get a positive test result, you are very likely pregnant or experienced a recent pregnancy loss, and can confirm the pregnancy through a blood test or ultrasound.
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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.
Fertility Awareness And Family Planning
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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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.
Ive Been Using Contraception Will This Affect My Cycle
This depends on what type of contraception youve been using. If youve been taking the pill, your period may be irregular when you first come off it, so try to give yourself up to 3 months for your natural menstrual cycle to get back to its normal routine.
The first period after stopping the pill is known as a withdrawal bleed. The next one after this is your first natural period.
The contraceptive injection can also affect your cycle. Your periods may change and become irregular, heavier, shorter, lighter or stop altogether. This can carry on for some months after you stop the injections.
If you use the contraceptive implant your fertility will return to normal as soon as it is taken out.
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Serena Williams Says She Had A Period While She Was Pregnant
Whether you’re trying to become pregnant or trying your hardest to avoid it, you can usually take your period as a sign that you don’t have to think about a baby anytime soon. But, in a new interview with InStyle, Serena Williams says she actually got a period during the early stages of her pregnancyand she was completely floored to find out that she was actually pregnant.
In the interview, Williams says that she didnt think it was even possible that she could be pregnant. She hadnt seen her now-husband Alexis Ohanian in like four weeks and literally had a cycle just before. Williams says she took the test just to shut my friend up and was completely surprised when it was positive. She was even more shocked when her doctor told her she was seven weeks along. Oh, and she was playing in the Australian Open at the time.
When You Are Most Fertile
You are most fertile three days prior to ovulation, during ovulation, and two to three days afterward.
Once you ovulate, your system flushes the egg out within 12-24 hours if it’s not fertilized. And you will not be able to get pregnant until around the next time you ovulate.
The first day of your period marks the start of your cycle, but most people don’t ovulate until the middle of a menstrual cycle.
However, cycles vary in length for each person, which means the fertility window may happen earlier or later.
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Can You Ovulate On Your Period
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.
Exercise Or Lack Of Body Fat
You may be an athlete who is neither over- nor underweight . However, its not your weight that really impacts your reproductive cycleits the amount of fat.
Athletes may have a high percentage of muscle and a low percentage of body fat. This can cause their menstrual cycles to be irregular or even stop completely. Excessive exercise can also cause your periods to become irregular or stop.
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What Are The Causes Of Early Bleeding
There are a number of causes of bleeding in early pregnancy which include:
Spotting or bleeding may occur shortly after conception, this is known as an implantation bleed. It is caused by the fertilised egg embedding itself in the lining of the womb. This bleeding is often mistaken for a period, and it may occur around the time your period is due.
Hormonal bleeding is when some women experience a light bleed at around four to eight weeks of pregnancy, or around the time their period would have been due. This can be very confusing for women who are pregnant and is the reason many women do not realise they are pregnant for a while. Again, it is totally normal. This usually settles around the 13th week of pregnancy as by this time the placenta is sufficiently developed to produce all of the hormones needed to sustain the pregnancy.
After the egg is fertilised, the fertilised egg then goes on to implant itself into the lining of the womb . Sometimes this results in a little bleeding that shows up on an early scan as a haematoma. This is not anything to worry about. When it happens the woman may notice a small amount of vaginal bleeding, but this is not necessarily the case.
The haematoma will gradually disappear and in most cases, the pregnancy remains safe.
Best Time To Get Pregnant After A Period
The likelihood of becoming pregnant is highest during the two days before ovulation begins or exactly on the day of ovulation, when an egg is released from the ovary. Usually, ovulation happens about two weeks before the start of the next period. Cycles and ovulation dates vary, so you may want to try an efficient method of predicting ovulation to improve the chance of conception.
Here are four methods for predicting ovulation they can help you find the best time to get pregnant after your period:
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