Is It Tru Women Cant Get Pregnant on Their Periods
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Can You Get Pregnant During Your Period?
I write about women's health and reproductive health
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Knowing how long your menstrual cycle is and when to expect your period can be incredibly helpful. Whether you want to conceive or are actively avoiding that, knowing the window of time when you're most fertile can give you a better idea of what's going on in your body. While the likelihood of when you'll get pregnant rises and falls throughout your cycle here's how you might conceive while on your period. It's a common fertility myth that you can't get pregnant during your bleed. It's unlikely but due to the nature of your cycle and the length of time that sperm can survive inside a woman after ejaculation, it's definitely possible.
No two menstrual cycles are the same and they can last between 21 and 45 days. While it's widely reported that the average cycle lasts 28 days research by Natural Cycles, the first FDA cleared birth control app, found that of the 124,648 women they studied only 13% had a 28-day cycle. Mary Jane Minkin, MD, Yale School of Medicine and expert on potential contraceptive solutions like ANNOVERA says, "menstrual cycles can vary in length, not only from woman to woman but from cycle to cycle, although many women tend to keep a stable cycle."
Your cycle starts on the first day of your period and you typically ovulate around the middle of your cycle (so day 12, 13 or 14.) If you have a shorter cycle you may ovulate on day seven and if it's longer it could happen as late as day 21. Follicle-stimulating hormone is released at the start of your cycle to stimulate your ovaries to release an egg. Your ovaries make estrogen which builds up the lining of your uterus. During ovulation luteinizing hormone is released which triggers the release of an egg. Your ovaries then start to produce progesterone to prepare your uterus for a fertilized egg. This is when you're most likely to get pregnant if the egg is fertilized. If you don't concieve then your ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone which triggers the lining of the uterus to shed and you get your period.
As the lining of your uterus breaks down during your period logic would dictate that you wouldn't be able to get pregnant during this time. However, that's not necessarily the case. "While women aren't able to conceive while on their period, sperm can survive within the female reproductive system for up to five days," says Natural Cycles Medical Expert Dr. Jack Pearson, "this means that some women have a chance of becoming pregnant from unprotected sex during their period and these sperm fertilizing the egg released in the next cycle."
If you have a short cycle, have unprotected sex at the end of your period and the sperm survives inside your body for three days then there's the possibility that you could get pregnant. A recent survey conducted by Natural Cycles found that the majority of women believed you can get pregnant on any day of your menstrual cycle. While this is technically true there's a window of days where you're much more fertile. "You probably won't get pregnant the first or second day of your period but certainly by the end of your period you should be using contraception," says Dr. Minkin, "and of course, if you are in a non-monogamous relationship, you should be using the condoms for STI protection. STIs can certainly be transmitted during your period."
Without using an app or tracker it can be difficult to know when you're ovulating. You may notice that your discharge becomes more stringy in texture. "Your basal body temperature (your body's lowest resting temperature) can help you identify when you're ovulating. That's because right after ovulation happens in the menstrual cycle, there is a noticeable rise in basal body temperature," says Dr. Pearson, "once ovulation is identified through basal body temperature, this information can be used to work out a woman's fertile window."
It's unlikely that you'll conceive during your period. However, it isn't completely impossible. As sperm can survive for days after intercourse in your body it may fertilize the egg from your next cycle. It's for this reason that being consistent with contraception when you're not trying for a baby can be so important.
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Is It Tru Women Cant Get Pregnant on Their Periods
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicebroster/2020/05/26/how-you-can-get-pregnant-during-your-period/
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