If you are sexually active, there is a risk of getting pregnant. The greatest chance of successful fertilization occurs during ovulation. It is possible to get pregnant on the last day of your period, but the probability is low. Menstruation is not a reason to refuse contraception, unless, of course, the woman is currently ready to become a mother. Knowing the days on which successful fertilization can occur is important if a girl has long dreamed of having a child. At the end of the cycle, hormonal levels stabilize. The endometrium grows in the uterus. The mucous layer will be rejected during subsequent menstruation if fertilization has not occurred.
Conception in the last days of the cycle is rare, but it does happen
When can you get pregnant: “flying days”
The content of the article
Even children know that in humans, conception occurs only in one case, when a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm meet and “kiss.” This is possible only at the moment called ovulation. Ovulation is a relatively short period in the life of an egg when it moves from the ovary to the woman’s uterus. On average, ovulation in women can occur only once every 20-30 days. In other words, only a couple of days a month are “vagrant” for a woman.
Ovulation, provided that the cycle is stable, occurs approximately in the middle of the menstrual period. Calculating the duration of the cycle is quite easy: the countdown starts from the beginning of menstruation and lasts until the next discharge begins. For example, if a woman’s menstrual cycle is 30 days, then ovulation will occur on the 15th day. The life of an egg is only 2 days. After which it dies and is excreted from the body during menstruation, which lasts on average 5-7 days. Simple? Not really. After all, if everything were exactly like this, women would not go for an abortion and would not buy birth control pills. And if you can’t get pregnant while on your period, then why has such a myth been circulating for several centuries?
Is it possible to get pregnant immediately after menstruation?
It is possible to get pregnant at this time, but it is very unlikely. If you have a regular menstrual cycle, then ovulation occurs approximately on the 14th day, counting from the first day of menstruation. This means you won’t be able to get pregnant immediately after your period.
However, if the cycle is irregular or very short, then ovulation may occur almost immediately after the end of menstruation, and there is a possibility of conception. After all, it is worth considering the possible lifespan of sperm of about 5 days (although usually much less), which can wait for the egg to be released in the woman’s fallopian tubes. In this case, conception is possible because you fall into the “window” of fertility.
In a typical menstrual cycle, which is 24-28 days long, ovulation usually occurs between days 10 and 14 of the cycle. The sperm can live in the fallopian tube for a maximum of 3-5 days, waiting for the egg to be released.
If your period lasts 6 days, then after it ends there are 4-8 days left until ovulation. If you add the lifetime of the sperm, then a small window of fertility appears - a period during which conception is possible. If ovulation occurs a few days earlier than usual, your chances of getting pregnant increase.
Remember that every day after the last day of your period, the likelihood of conception increases. Therefore, couples who want a child are advised to have sex every other day for the next 14 days to have a good chance of getting pregnant.
Also find out whether you can get pregnant before your period or immediately after it starts.
There is no such thing as an immaculate conception: is it worth counting the dangerous days?
So, if we look at this issue in more detail, we will find many small “buts” that lead to big problems, namely abortion.
- Each woman has a unique menstrual cycle in duration and character. If it is short (22 days), then the days in which the likelihood of conception increases are closer to menstruation. If you incorrectly calculate the timing of ovulation, it is easy to get pregnant without protection. And if the timing of pregnancy is incorrectly calculated, a woman may well assume that she became pregnant during her critical days, although of course this is not the case.
- Sperm are tenacious and can exist perfectly in a woman’s vagina for a whole week, waiting in the wings. One of the sperm may well be the lucky one who meets the egg, forming a new life, on a completely different day than you think.
- As a result of childbirth, after an abortion or stress, the ovulation rhythm may change. Therefore, it is not possible to thoroughly calculate the days of ovulation. If your menstrual cycle changes, pregnancy may come as a surprise. Nutrition, sports activities, medications, etc. can affect the cycle.
- Some women experience spontaneous ovulation. This phenomenon occurs quite rarely, but it does happen. Spontaneous ovulation differs from normal ovulation in that during its period an additional egg matures at different rates. The reason is a strong hormonal surge. Reproducing two eggs at a time may be hereditary.
In some diseases and conditions, for example, hypothermia, intermenstrual bleeding may begin, which patients mistake for menstruation. Naturally, conception can occur during this period, since it does not interfere with ovulation. And due to pregnancy, real menstruation does not occur. This is where the myth about pregnancy during menstruation comes from.
What happens in a full menstrual cycle?
To make it easier to understand why the chances of getting pregnant after your period are very low, you can consider the example of a normal menstrual cycle.
The release of an egg is called ovulation and it occurs only once per cycle. If the egg is fertilized by a sperm and attaches to the wall of the uterus, the woman becomes pregnant. If it is not fertilized, it dies. Hormone levels then drop and the top layer of the uterine lining (endometrium) sheds and comes out during menstruation.
- Day 1 is the first day of the menstrual cycle (and the first day of your period). It begins after hormone levels drop at the end of the previous menstrual cycle. This signals that the upper layers of the mucous membrane lining the uterus are peeling off and leaving the body with the blood. The bleeding lasts about 5 days.
- Usually by the end of the 5th day the bleeding stops. By this time, under the influence of hormones, fluid-filled vesicles called follicles develop in the ovaries. Each follicle contains an egg.
- Between days 7 and 14, one follicle that is most developed becomes dominant. He alone will develop further and reach maturity. The mucous membrane of the uterus begins to thicken and become saturated with nutrients, awaiting a fertilized egg.
- Around day 14 (in a 28-day cycle), hormones cause the walls of the mature follicle to rupture and the egg to be released from the ovary. This process is called ovulation.
Until ovulation occurs, conception is impossible. This is why, during a normal cycle, women do not become pregnant immediately after menstruation. More realistic chances of getting pregnant appear a few days after their end - approximately on the 9th day of the cycle (counting from the first day of menstruation), which depends on its length.
Over the next few days, the egg travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus. If a sperm fertilizes an egg at this time, it will move down the fallopian tube and implant itself into the wall of the uterus.
If the egg is not fertilized, hormone levels decrease around day 25. This signals the start of the next menstrual cycle. The egg dies and menstruation occurs.
Do I need to use protection during menstruation?
From the above it follows that pregnancy during menstruation is unlikely. But you still need to protect yourself during this period for a number of reasons:
- During menstruation, the cervix is slightly open - this is the gateway to infection. Without using a condom, you can get any infection that will lead to inflammation of the uterus.
- If you have been taking birth control pills, which you need to take from the first day of your period, you need to continue taking them. If you miss days, you are at risk.
- If your period comes at the wrong time, it may be intermenstrual bleeding. This means you also need to protect yourself.
Normal cycle
Experts in the field of gynecology say that the risk of becoming pregnant exists on absolutely any day of the cycle. Over time, it increases - when approaching the middle of menstruation, the possibility of conception increases significantly. Also, one should not forget that male reproductive cells, under favorable conditions, retain their viability for more than a week.
The normal cycle of a healthy sexually mature woman lasts exactly 28 weeks. It consists of 3 phases:
- Follicular. Its normal duration is 2 weeks. During this period, the process of follicle maturation occurs in the ovaries - they are the precursors of mature germ cells. Several of them are formed, but only one (the most viable and largest) becomes a mature egg. She is the one who is capable of conception.
- Ovulation. This stage is characterized by the passage of the egg through the fallopian tubes and its entry into the female reproductive organ - the uterus. She stays there for 2 days, waiting for fertilization.
- Luteal. It occurs simultaneously with ovulation and lasts about 14 calendar days (sometimes it can be more or less). In this phase, under the influence of the specific female hormone progesterone, the uterus prepares for the attachment of the embryo. If conception does not occur for some reason, the unfertilized egg dies. After 2 weeks, the endometrium is rejected. Thus, a new menstrual cycle begins.
For some reasons (individual characteristics, various pathologies and diseases), the phases of the cycle can change their duration. Women are not always able to independently control the process of conception without the use of contraceptives. Therefore, it is quite possible to get pregnant on the last day of your period (as on any other day).
Risk of pregnancy in the last days of menstruation
If you exclude cycle disruption and early onset of ovulation, you can still get pregnant at the end of your period. In this case, the probability will increase every hour. There are several reasons for the appearance of intrauterine development during bleeding.
Two out of 10 patients who became pregnant during menstruation ovulated again. This condition occurs due to hormonal surges and also occurs in women who are usually having twins. You need to know whether you had two or three children in your family at once. It turns out that one egg is released on time, and the other ovulation is unplanned.
You need to take care of yourself even during menstruation, as pregnancy can occur due to hormonal imbalances. This happens under stress or, conversely, from intense positive emotions. Some medications can interfere with the production of hormones. If we consider that sexual intercourse occurred on the 4th day and the sperm remains viable for a week, then conception can occur on the 11th day of the cycle.
How to avoid pregnancy
Currently, the pharmaceutical market offers a wide range of different contraceptives, which differ in composition, method of use and gender. If a woman is not going to become a mother in the near future, then she should take care to prevent conception.
Emergency contraception
So, most girls prefer oral contraceptives. Their advantage is that when used correctly, the cycle becomes clear, and menstruation comes almost to the hour. Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting the need to regularly take pills at certain hours.
In a situation where unprotected sex occurred and ejaculation was in the vagina, or there was interrupted sexual intercourse, you can take emergency contraception. The effect of medications is entirely aimed at preventing ovulation in a woman’s body.
It is important to understand that such drugs are strictly unacceptable to be taken on an ongoing basis, since they greatly affect hormonal levels.
As for oral contraceptives, they are also hormonal, so they should be selected together with a gynecologist, and only after a thorough diagnosis of the body. When taking such medications regularly, the contraceptive effect continues during the seven-day break.
Is it possible to get pregnant while on your period?
Summarizing all the information, we can make several statements:
- You can get pregnant during menstruation;
- the minimum probability of conception is in the first two days of intense bleeding;
- with a decrease in secretion, the chance of fertilization increases;
- immediately after menstruation there is a high probability of becoming pregnant;
- Conception is impossible with anal intercourse.
In women with irregular menstruation, as well as in women who do not monitor the frequency and duration of menstruation, the risk of unplanned pregnancy increases significantly.
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
Abortion and contraception clinic in St. Petersburg - department of the medical gynecological association "Diana"
Make an appointment, tests or ultrasound via the contact form or by calling +8 (812) 62-962-77. We work seven days a week from 09:00 to 21:00.
We are located in the Krasnogvardeisky district, next to the Novocherkasskaya, Ploshchad Alexander Nevsky and Ladozhskaya metro stations.
The cost of a medical abortion in our clinic is 3,300 rubles. The price includes all pills, an examination by a gynecologist and an ultrasound to determine the timing of pregnancy.
