Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period
People can get pregnant at any time during their menstrual cycle, though it is much less likely during their period.
A person is most likely to get pregnant in the middle of their menstrual cycle. This phase is the fertile window.
The chances of becoming pregnant are much lower before and after the fertile window, but it is still possible, and there are several factors to consider.
In this article, we look at the chances of becoming pregnant during the period and at other times of the menstrual cycle.
A person can become pregnant at any time. However, it is most likely around the time of ovulation.
The average menstrual cycle is 28 days . The menstrual cycle is the time between the first day of one period and the first day of the next period. Ovulation usually occurs 12-14 days after a persons period ends.
During ovulation, the egg leaves the ovary and travels down the fallopian tube, where sperm can fertilize it. The egg can only survive for 24 hours after ovulation. For this reason, it must meet a sperm cell during this time for pregnancy to occur. The egg then travels to the uterus.
, so cycle length varies significantly between people. People with shorter menstrual cycles may ovulate closer to their period than people with longer cycles.
How To Predict Ovulation
To figure out your most fertile days each month, you need to know when youll ovulate. To pinpoint that time, youll need to rely on body awareness and look for ovulation signs each month.
Most people with ovaries will ovulate two weeks before the start of their next period.
Natural family planning techniques can help you learn when you ovulate. You can also look at the day that you expect your next period to start and count back 14 days from it. This calculation will give you an idea of when you will ovulate.
If you have a very regular 28-day cycle, ovulation usually happens on day 14. However, if the length of your cycle varies, counting back 14 days wont be a good way to predict when you will ovulate.
That said, you do not need a 28-day cycle to use this methodyou just need a regular cycle.
You can still figure out when you are most fertile if your cycle is longer or shorter than 28 days. The key is knowing that your cycles are reliable.
In other words, if you have a 35-day cycle, then you have a 35-day cycle every month.
When To See A Doctor
Females who track their fertile window with the aim of getting pregnant should see their doctor for preconception planning.
As well as identifying barriers to conceiving, a doctor can advise on the use of folic acid or prenatal supplements to encourage a safe pregnancy.
Most couples who have frequent sex without contraception will conceive within 12 months.
Women under 35 years of age should see their doctor if they do not conceive after a year of trying. Those over 35 years of age should seek medical advice after 6 months of trying to conceive.
Anyone who has irregular cycles or does not appear to ovulate should also speak with their doctor. There may be an underlying medical cause that is preventing ovulation and conception.
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about when pregnancy can occur.
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How Do Ovulation And Pregnancy Work
Ovulation occurs when an ovary releases a mature egg. About once a month, an egg matures and the ovary releases it into the fallopian tube. It then heads toward sperm in the fallopian tubes and uterus.
Before arriving to meet the egg, the sperm must travel from the vagina, through the cervix of the uterus, into the uterine cavity, and into the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg.
It can take anywhere from about 45 minutes to 12 hours for this to occur. Sperm has a lifespan of about 2 to 5 days after entering the vagina upon ejaculation.
An egg is viable between 12 and 24 hours after it leaves the ovary. Sperm can stay alive up to 5 days after having sex. Implantation of an egg, which happens after fertilization, usually takes place 6 to 12 days after ovulation.
You can get pregnant immediately after your period. That can happen if you have sex toward the end of your cycle and are approaching your fertile window. On the other hand, the probability of getting pregnant right before your period is low.
If you track ovulation and wait 36 to 48 hours after ovulating, the chance youll conceive is low. The probability of pregnancy decreases the further in the month you are from ovulation.
If pregnancy doesnt occur, the uterine lining will shed and your menstrual period will start.
Does Abortion Affect Future Pregnancy
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , having a previous pregnancy does not increase the risk of infertility after the procedure.
People who do become pregnant after an abortion may experience some pregnancy complications, but the risk of this is low.
In one study that included data on 54,911 abortions among 50,273 women, researchers found that complications occurred in only 2.1% of cases and serious complications occurred in 0.23% of cases.
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Whens The Best Time To Get Pregnant After Your Period
So, its time for the how to get pregnant after period portion of our guide.
The funny thing is, for all the procreating we do as a species it must be fun or something women can only get pregnant during a pretty small chapter of every month.
The fertile window, as its called, is a small one.
So if youre wanting to know if you can get pregnant after your period, yes you can, but typically a few weeks after.
The fertility cycle is about 6-10 days in most women.
If youre the cookie-cutter textbook 28-day regular cycle case, this would be around days 10-17 of your cycle.
Thats why many couples land up getting a fantastic toolkit of calendars and clocks and sometimes even canceling important engagements to, well, get it on.
But of course, in the chimeric world of what is typical, very little is. In fact, in only about 30% of women is the fertile window entirely within the days set out by the clinical guidelines
How Soon After An Abortion Can You Get Pregnant
Ovulation can occur as soon as 2 weeks after an abortion. This means a person may become pregnant again before their next period. However, menstrual cycles vary in length, and people with shorter cycles may ovulate sooner.
Another factor that influences the timing of ovulation is the duration of the pregnancy before the abortion. If an abortion takes place later in the pregnancy, the person may not ovulate for several weeks afterward. This can occur when pregnancy hormones linger in the body.
A person who wants to avoid pregnancy soon after an abortion may want to use contraception. According to the ACOG, a person can use any contraceptive method, including an intrauterine device, immediately after pregnancy ends.
Anyone who wonders whether they have become pregnant soon after an abortion should take a pregnancy test. If the result is positive, they should see a doctor, who can determine whether there is a new pregnancy or whether leftover pregnancy hormones are present.
People can become pregnant within 2 weeks of an abortion. For those who are ready to get pregnant again, there is generally no medical reason to delay trying to conceive unless a doctor advises otherwise.
A person does not need to take extra steps to become pregnant after an abortion.
However, some doctors recommend waiting until the first menstrual period has ended. This will make it easier to estimate the delivery date of the next pregnancy.
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How To Prevent Pregnancy
The most effective strategy for avoiding pregnancy is to refrain from sex. Sexually active people who do not wish to become pregnant should use contraceptives such as condoms or birth control.
Using two methods can offer additional protection, for example, when a person uses both hormonal birth control and condoms.
Several fertility monitoring techniques make it easier for a person to pinpoint their fertile window and avoid sex or use contraceptives during this time.
These methods are more effective if a person has regular periods. Some fertility monitoring strategies include:
- Charting basal body temperature: A persons morning body temperature usually rises shortly after ovulation.
- Using ovulation predictors: These tests typically give a positive result a day or two before ovulation, but it is possible to get a positive without ovulation.
- Looking for fertile cervical fluid:Thick cervical fluid with a texture similar to raw egg whites indicates ovulation is approaching.
- Checking cervical position and texture: Some females find that the position and texture of their cervix changes throughout their cycle.
Can You Get Pregnant During Your Period
For those with a shorter cycle the average is 28 to 30 days theres still a possibility pregnancy could occur if you have sex during your period. For example, if you have sex toward the end of your period and you ovulate early, you can conceive. Using birth control, condoms, or another barrier method is typically the best way to prevent pregnancy.
Read on to learn more about how to time sex and other ways to prevent pregnancy.
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How Accurate Are Home Pregnancy Tests
Home pregnancy tests are quite accurate and reliable when you use them correctly. Most of the tests available at drugstores claim that they work 99 out of 100 times. Their accuracy is similar to that of a urine pregnancy test that you get in a doctors office or hospital.
- Because these tests work by detecting the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone in your urine, their accuracy might be lower in early pregnancy or when you have just missed your period.
- If your pregnancy test comes out negative but you feel that you might be pregnant, repeat the test a week after the date you missed your period.
You may want to visit your healthcare provider if you are not confident about the result of your pregnancy test.
Can You Get Pregnant At The Beginning Of Your Period
This is a common misconception that women canât get pregnant during their periods, but that is not always true. The chances are slim, but a woman can get pregnant, especially on the first day of her period, if she has a 20-day menstrual cycle.
This is because a sperm lives in the womanâs body for six days, and eggs are released from the ovaries 14-16 days before her first day of the period. In this way, a sperm lives in the vagina on a womanâs first day of the period. This can cause pregnancy at the beginning of the period, so it is always advised to use protection.
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How Else Can I Prepare For Pregnancy
In addition to tracking your ovulation to determine your fertile window, its important to schedule preconception counseling with your doctor. There are a variety of screenings and lifestyle modifications that can help increase your chances of a successful planned pregnancy.
If youre under 35 and have been trying to conceive for more than a year, or if youre over 35 and have been trying for six months, it may be time to talk to your doctor about why you cant get pregnant.
What This Study Adds
The timing of the fertile window is highly variable, even among women who regard their menstrual cycles as regular
More than 70% of women are in their fertile window before day 10 or after day 17 of their menstrual cycle
There are few days of the menstrual cycle during which some women are not potentially fertile
Regarding the second assumption, the evidence for fertile days after ovulation comes from studies using crude measures of ovulation . With more precise measures, the fertile window does not seem to extend beyond the day of ovulation.1,2 It follows that women reach their fertile days earlier in the cycle than suggested by current guidelines. For example, women with regular 28 day cycles are most likely to be potentially fertile on days 8-15 of their menstrual cycle .
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Can You Get Pregnant Without Having A Period
Rachel Gurevich is a fertility advocate, author, and recipient of The Hope Award for Achievement, from Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She is a professional member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and has been writing about womens health since 2001. Rachel uses her own experiences with infertility to write compassionate, practical, and supportive articles.
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.
Can you get pregnant without having a period in months? Yes, its possible, but its not likely. If youre not getting your periods, this is a good reason to see your gynecologist. There are some normaland some not-so-normalreasons this can occur. What could cause you not to get your periods? Could you be pregnant and not know it?
What do your periods have to do with getting pregnant? And, if you want to get pregnant, how can your doctor help you conceive if youre not menstruating?
Thyroid Dysfunction And Reproductive Health
Your thyroid gland is regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary axis a dynamic duo featuring the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland . When something happens in one area of the HPA, it often triggers a chain reaction in other areas. What this means: When there are higher or lower levels of thyroid hormones, it can alter our reproductive hormones and disrupt the menstrual cycle which makes conception trickier. But just because you have hypo- or hyperthyroidism doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant. In one study of a group of almost 400 women suffering from infertility, 24% of participants were found to have hypothyroidism but within a year of treatment, 76% were able to conceive.
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Sex Immediately Before Your Period
Ovulation usually occurs several days to a week or more before menstruation begins: about midway between the first day of your last menstrual period and the start of your next one.
A “typical” cycle is 28 days long, but many people have slightly shorter or longer cycles. In one study of 32,595 people, people with self-reported regular periods had menstrual cycles ranging from 23 to 35 days long. The most common day to ovulate is day 15 LMP.
If you are trying to be mindful of your cycles as a natural form of birth control, be aware there’s a slight chance of pregnancy if you ovulate later in the cycle or simply miscalculate the dates of your next period. In one large study, even people who reported having regular menstrual cycles had a 6% chance of being in their fertile window on the day they expected their next period to begin.
The bottom line is that if you are trying to conceive, right before you expect your period would not be the best time to start. You can still enjoy sex, of course, but you are much more likely to get pregnant if you try again after your period.
Can I Get Pregnant A Couple Of Days After My Period Has Finished
Its possible, but also unlikely. Though there is always risk of pregnancy if you have sex without contraception a. If you ovulate early when you have short menstrual cycles you may be able to get pregnant this time of the month. However, once youve finished your period youre moving into your fertility window, which means your chances of getting pregnant increase as you approach ovulation.
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How To Use Fertility Prediction
If you want to use fertility prediction to avoid pregnancy, the process is always the same:
- Determine how many days each monthly cycle lasts
- Predict the day of ovulation by charting signs in your body and counting back 14 days from the first day of your period
- Count back six days from ovulation, and abstain from unprotected sex for these six days
- Do not have any unprotected sex for the entire day after the day you ovulated
Since your cycle may change from month to month, tracking it is not a reliable birth control method.
Chances Of Getting Pregnant After Your Period
You can get pregnant after your period ends in fact, the fertile days last for up to 3-5 days after the end of your period. Regular sex on alternate days is recommended if youre planning to conceive. This should be continued up until a few days after the halfway mark of the period. For example, if the halfway mark is 14, 6 days before and 4 days after are considered ideal.
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How Soon Can I Take A Pregnancy Test
Timing is very important in pregnancy testing as HCG levels in urine help determine that a woman is pregnant. As HCG levels double every 48 hours, we can conclude that a woman is pregnant even in her early days of pregnancy.
The best time to take a pregnancy test is when your period is late. But, if you wish to know sooner, you can wait for two weeks after you had sex and can take the pregnancy test, but still, a test after the period is late is the most effective one.