Can You Get Pregnant After Your Period Ends

Sex Right After Your Period

While you may assume that your odds of getting pregnant are slim in the first few days following your period, you are actually moving into a new fertility window. Researchers have shown that a person’s chances of conception jump starting a week after the start of their last period and rise steadily after that, peaking around day 15 LMP.

Your odds of getting pregnant in the days just following your period rise when you have a shorter length between periods because that usually means you ovulate soon after your period ends. Research has shown that people with a 23-day menstrual cycle, for instance, have a 9% chance of ovulating on day 10 LMP. That means they are fertileable to get pregnantbetween six and 11 days after the start of their last period.

Remember, even when you are in your suspected fertile window, that does not mean you will necessarily get pregnant from sex. Structural problems with your uterus or fallopian tubes or issues with either your eggs or your partner’s sperm can prevent conception and fertilization. If you are timing sex to get pregnant and having trouble after several months, consider talking to a fertility doctor about tests you can take to better understand how to maximize your chances of conception.

Do You Know What Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant Really Are

It is possible to get pregnant on every day of a womans cycle.

Myth. Womens menstrual cycles have a fertile window of about 6 days, ending in the day of ovulation. However, the fertile window may occur on different days within the cycle.

A woman is likely to get pregnant on the days right after her period.

Myth. In most menstrual cycles, there are some days between the end of the period and the beginning of the fertile window however, in some unusual cycles, the fertile window starts before her period ends. This is more common in women who are nearing menopause.

A woman is likely to get pregnant on the days right before her period.

Myth. In most menstrual cycles, there are at least 10 days after ovulation and before the next period. Intercourse during these days will not result in pregnancy. However, in some unusual cycles, ovulation and the fertile window may be delayed, so you cannot rely on counting days to know for sure when ovulation happens.

A woman is likely to get pregnant around the middle of her cycle.

Myth and fact. For many women, ovulation happens around the middle of the cycle. However, in women with regular cycles, ovulation may occur as early as day 9 or as late as day 21. With an irregular cycle, ovulation may occur even earlier than day 9 or much later than day 21.

A woman is less likely to get pregnant on days when vaginal secretions are present.

It is impossible for women to identify the fertile window of the menstrual cycle.

You Have A Short Menstrual Cycle

Although an egg doesn’t typically release during the immediate post-period phase, called pre-ovulation, your chances of conceiving aren’t zero. Sperm can live up to five days in fertile cervical mucus. That means they can stick around for a few days until your body does release an egg during ovulation. If you have a short menstrual cycle, you may be fertile soon after your period ends.

For example, if you ovulate on day 11, it is technically possible to get pregnant from sex as early as day six of that cycle, which may be right after your period ended.

“One study showed that people who had sex only one time during this phase still got pregnant,” says Steven R. Bayer, M.D., a Boston-based reproductive endocrinologist. In fact, a 2018 study in Obstetrics and Gynecology examined PIV intercourse patterns in people trying to conceive with the help of ovulation tests. Researchers found an increased pregnancy likelihood in the days leading up to ovulationâ18.5% for day one and 23.6% for day two.

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Cycles Shorter Than Twenty

If your menstrual cycle lengths are shorter than 28 days, your fertile days will start before day nine of your cycle. For example, If your cycles are 24 days long:

• You will likely ovulate on day ten, and your fertile days will be from days five to ten .
• If you bleed for five days, you can get pregnant if you start having intercourse as soon as your period ends.
• If you bleed for ten days and have intercourse the day after , you might still get pregnant if the egg you ovulated on day ten is still viable a day later.

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Early Signs Of Pregnancy

If you have a regular monthly menstrual cycle, the earliest and most reliable sign of pregnancy is a missed period.

In the first few weeks of pregnancy you may have a bleed similar to a very light period, with some spotting or only losing a little blood. This is called implantation bleeding.

Every pregnancy is different and not everyone will notice all of these symptoms.

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What Are The Chances I Can Get Pregnant On My Period

The chances of getting pregnant if you have sex during your period are very low. However, if youve had unprotected sex, it is still possible to get pregnant during your period.

To understand how this can happen, you need to know how your menstrual cycle works.

• Your cycle starts on the first day of your period and lasts until the first day of your next period.
• About 10 to 16 days before the start of your next period, you will ovulate, which is when one of your ovaries releases an egg.
• Once youve ovulated, you enter the Luteal phase, when the now empty follicle develops the corpus luteum, which produces the hormone progesterone.
• The lining on your uterus thickens in preparation for a fertilised egg to implant.
• If you have not conceived, then the egg passes into the uterus, hormone levels drop, and the womb lining sheds as you begin your next period.

You are at your most fertile around the time you ovulate. Although the egg lives only for 12 to 24 hours after being released, you can get pregnant even if you have sex days before you ovulate as sperm can live up to five days in your body.

So how likely are you to get pregnant during your period? Well, it depends on a few factors like:

• whether you used contraception or not
• the length of your menstrual cycle
• the length of your period
• when you had sex

You can also conceive after having sex during your period if you have short menstrual cycles, as this means you ovulate a few days earlier, and closer to the end of your period.

Pregnant Again After Giving Birth Now What

A second pregnancy within the first year of giving birth usually causes major emotional upheaval . This may be what you are going through right now. Your baby is only a few months or weeks old and now you are pregnant againmany women caught in this situation begin asking themselves how they will be able to manage another pregnancy and an additional child so soon.

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Basal Body Temperature Method

Also called the temperature method, you take your temperature each morning as soon as you wake up . You use a basal body thermometer, which may go in your mouth or your rectum. A basal thermometer is more sensitive than a regular thermometer. It measures body temperature to a tenth of a degree.

A womans basal body temperature rises slightly during ovulation . If you track your temperatures leading up to ovulation, you should see a sustained rise in your basal body temperature after ovulation.

To help you plan, write your body temperature down each day on a tracking sheet. You should track your temperature for at least three months before using this method for family planning.

However, its important to note that the basal body temperature method is not good at predicting your ovulation when trying to conceive. Once you identify the rise in your temperature, youve already ovulated. However, this method is a good tool to monitor your pattern of ovulation.

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 I Get Pregnant During My Period

If you have a 28-day cycle, the answer is you will most likely not get pregnant if you have sex during your period since ovulation is still a number of days away. However, if you have irregular cycles, especially shorter cycles, you should be careful. Since your cycles are shorter, you may be ovulating earlier as well.

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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Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period

Yes, but it’s unlikely. It’s possible to get pregnant during your period when:

• You have a very short menstrual cycle .
• You have long periods.
• You were bleeding around the time of ovulation and mistakenly thought it was a regular period. If you had unprotected sex at that time, you could conceive.

Here’s why you could get pregnant during your period:

Ovulation happens during the middle of your menstrual cycle anywhere between 7 and 19 days before your period starts. During ovulation, an egg reaches maturity in one of your two ovaries, the ovary releases the egg into your abdomen, and it gets sucked into the nearest fallopian tube, where it can survive for about 24 hours. Conception occurs when an egg and sperm meet in a fallopian tube.

A typical menstrual cycle is 28 days, which usually leaves a good few days between the end of your period and the start of ovulation. But some women have cycles as short as 22 days. If you have a short cycle or long periods, you could ovulate right after your period ends. And because sperm can survive in your reproductive tract for up to five days, if you have sex during your period, it’s possible that live sperm will be there when you ovulate, ready to fertilize the egg.

Increase Your Conception Chances

One study has shown that women who are trying to conceive will increase their likelihood of conception if they monitor and are aware of their potential fertile days. Being knowledgeable about their ovulation increased the accuracy of when their actual fertile period occurred rather than estimating when they perceived their ovulation would occur.

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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.

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Calculating Your Monthly Fertility Window

Your fertility window is the time during your menstrual cycle when youre most likely to get pregnant. For most people, its the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation. Calculating your monthly fertility window can help you target the optimal time to have sex if youre trying to conceive. However, natural family planning is a less reliable form of contraception and does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.

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Menstrual Cycle: How Does It Work

For girls out there still trying to understand how it all works, heres a quick explainer about the ideal menstrual cycle. Please do consult your doctor if you feel your periods are late or incorrect.

Ideally, a womans menstrual cycle begins on the first day of the period. It will continue up to the first day of your next period.

Your body is most fertile for pregnancy at the time of ovulation. This is when the egg releases from the ovaries and be fertilised for up to 24 hours. It happens about 12 to 14 days before your next period begins.

This is the fertility window, which is when there is a higher chance of you conceiving.

The fertility window includes:

• Five days leading up to ovulation
• On the day of ovulation

In most cases, chances are slim that you will get pregnant right after your first period. But sperms can sometimes survive for up to seven days after you have sex.

So if you do end up conceiving, remember thats one stubborn kid you are about to have.

Check Your Basal Body Temperature

Its also a good idea to pay attention to the signs that your body is ready to ovulate. Checking your basal body temperature is one way to do this.

The BBT is your temperature first thing in the morning. Just after you ovulate, it rises slightly sometimes by less than a degree and stays higher until your period starts. If you record your temperature every day, you can spot the subtle changes that mean one of your ovaries has released an egg.

To take your BBT, you need to:

Use a basal body thermometer. Its more sensitive than a standard one and will show temperature changes down to a fraction of a degree. You can get them at many pharmacies for less than $20.

Take your temperature at the same time each morning. Always do it before you get out of bed. Even getting up to go to the bathroom can affect your body temperature. So can smoking, drinking, or getting a bad nights sleep.

Remember, your BBT wont tell you exactly when youve ovulated, and it may take a couple of months before you start to see a pattern. Youre most likely to get pregnant 2 or 3 days before your ovary releases an egg, and then another 12 to 24 hours after that. When your temperature has spiked for 3 days, your chances of conceiving drop.

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Is It Possible To Get Pregnant 4 Days After Your Period

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How Soon Can You Get Pregnant After Stopping The Pill

The contraceptive pill stops your body from ovulating, but as soon you stop taking the pill this process kicks back into action. So it is possible to get pregnant as soon as you come off the pill.

As many as 84 out of 100 of couples will get pregnant within a year starting to have regular sex without contraception. These numbers vary depending on your age, but its safe to say, if you dont want to get pregnant and youre not on the pill, youll need to use another form of contraception.

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