Can I Get Pregnant After My Period Ends

Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant Every Day Of The Month

When sex coincides with your most fertile ovulation days, you’ll increase your chances of getting pregnant. Get to know each phase of your cycle to make conception faster and easier.

To hit the baby-making bullseye, you’ve got to aim for certain sweet spots of fertility in your cycle. Here’s your guide to the best chances of getting pregnant throughout the month so you can plan accordingly.

What About Period Sex

Weve heard period sex hailed as the ultimate time for unprotected love making. Though baby making odds are slim, its not 100 percent risk-free.

During the 4 to 8 days of bleeding, youre shedding the unfertilized egg from your previous cycle. This means there isnt a new egg ready for baby making, but it doesnt mean your partners sperm wont hang out until the new egg makes its debut.

What Happens After Your Period Ends

The complete shedding of the unfertilised female egg and your uterine lining symbolises the end of your period. After your menstrual cycle ends, the female genitals begin to prepare for another menstrual cycle. Your body begins to shift towards your most fertile period, where the chances of pregnancy are high.

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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.

Can You Get Pregnant On The Last Day Of Your Period

If you stop bleeding on Day 6, have sex on Day 7 and ovulate on Day 11, its possible the sperm from Day 6 will be waiting in your fallopian tubes for conception. Your chances of conceiving right after your period increase each day after your bleeding has stopped. If you are trying to conceive this is a good time to have sex. Increase your chances of conception by having sex every other day for the next 14 days.

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Right After Your Period Ends

Many women look forward to having contraception-free sex right after their period ends. Its true that its unlikely youll get pregnant a day or two after menstruation stops, but given the lifespan of sperm and the challenges around predicting ovulation exactly its not at all impossible.

This is especially true if you ovulate earlier than you usually do, or if you have a naturally short menstrual cycle of around 21 days.

How Many Days After My Period Can I Get Pregnant

Whether you are a woman trying to get pregnant or you’re trying to avoid getting pregnant, it is entirely your choice.

In both cases, it can be helpful and extremely important to do your research on fertility and help you identify the best time to get pregnant or prevent possible pregnancy. This article should be able to help and will tell you all about fertility and your period.

To learn more about fertility and pregnancy, you can also read our guides to working while pregnant and whether you can run when pregnant.

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How Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period

The chances of getting pregnant when you’re on your period are low, but they’re not zero. So how could a pregnancy happen at the same time your body is deciding its not pregnant?

Lets break it down: At ovulation, your ovary releases an egg into your fallopian tube, where it can live for 24 hours awaiting fertilization before it travels to the uterus. Meanwhile, the uterus is building up a lining just in case it needs to host a growing embryo.

If egg meets sperm during ovulation and implants in that lining, bingo baby on board. If not, your body sheds both lining and egg .

Most womens menstrual cycles last about 24 to 28 days, from the first day of their period to the first day of the next period. Because the egg can survive for 24 hours after ovulation and sperm can live inside a woman for up to five days, a woman can get pregnant starting five days before ovulation and ending a day after.

Ovulation usually occurs 14 days before the first day of your next cycle which, if you have a 28-day cycle and a week-long period, leaves you a week between the last day of your period and the first day you ovulate.

But what if you have sex on the last day of your period and you ovulate a few days early? There could still be viable sperm inside you, and you could get pregnant.

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.

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Egg And Sperm Lifespan

Once released, your egg isn’t viable for very long. You have from 12 to 24 hours after ovulation to get pregnant, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

Your egg isnt the only factor in getting pregnant. Your partner also needs to provide sperm to fertilize it. The length of time sperm can live varies. Some only live for a short while, and other may live up to seven days inside of you. On average, sperm remain viable for two or three days in your reproductive tract.

What Can I Do To Get Pregnant

If you want to get pregnant, its a good idea to talk to your doctor. Many doctors will advise a few lifestyle changes if youre trying for a baby, such as taking a folic acid or prenatal vitamin supplements, avoiding alcohol, quitting smoking, and trying to maintain a healthy weight. You may also want to use an ovulation test to help you identify when your most fertile days are. You can see our range of ovulation tests and fertility monitors here to help you maximize your chances of conceiving.

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Can You Get Pregnant A Week After Your Period

Yes, you can get pregnant a week after your period. There lies a possibility to conceive a week after your period if you have sex without contraception. It is more likely for women with a shorter menstrual cycle since their fertile window gets activated earlier.

Take home message: Always use effective contraceptive methods while having intercourse unless you are planning pregnancy, as none of the days of the month in menstrual cycles can be claimed as 100% safe days.

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Chances Of Getting Pregnant

The chances of becoming pregnant vary from person to person and from cycle to cycle.

On average, a 30-year-old persons odds of getting pregnant are about 20% per cycle, assuming they are having unprotected sex.

The odds of becoming pregnant also depend on when a person has sex relative to ovulation. An app-based study of people who were trying to get pregnant found the average chances of pregnancy were as follows:

Therefore, people should not rely on when their period is due to decide whether to have sex.

The most crucial factor is ovulation. A period indicates the beginning of a new cycle, but it reveals little about when a person might ovulate.

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If Youre Trying To Get Pregnant

If youre trying to get pregnant, pinpointing ovulation is a vital first step. If youve been dutifully baby dancing mid-cycle and havent yet gotten pregnant, you may even wonder if you have more irregular ovulation and would benefit from sex during or right after your period.

There are several ways you can try to figure out your ovulation patterns. They include:

At-home ovulation predictor kits. These tests work by detecting LH , which surges 12 days before ovulation takes place. So these kits can tell you when youre going to ovulate, but they cant tell you when ovulation has taken place.

Progesterone test kits. Some women who have irregular periods, such as those with PCOS, find that using a kit that detects progesterone the hormone released right after ovulation is helpful to use in addition to a standard ovulation kit. Determining whether or not your body produced progesterone will help you to know if you ovulated or not.

Fertility apps.Ovulation-tracking apps compile a monthly record of multiple factors, such as basal body temperature and cervical mucus. They can help women with regular periods determine when theyre ovulating. We wish we could put this in neon flashing lights, though: These apps can help you get pregnant, but theyre not birth control and shouldnt be used to prevent pregnancy.

Factors That Make It More Likely

Anyone can become pregnant right after their period.

A 2018 article found that a healthy persons cycle can vary by up to 9 days a year. Therefore, even someone who normally ovulates around day 17 or 18 might occasionally ovulate much earlier.

A person may be more likely to become pregnant during or right after their period if they:

• frequently have unprotected sex
• have a very short or irregular menstrual cycle
• are over the age of 40 years and approaching menopause. A 2002 study found that women aged 4045 ovulated slightly earlier in their cycles than younger women.

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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.

I Had Unprotected Sex Right After My Period Ended Could I Be Pregnant

I just ended my period. My boyfriend came and then an hour and a half later he we did it wihtout a condom Could i be pregnant?

Its possible theres no safe time in your menstrual cycle to have sex without using birth control. Heres why:

Pregnancy can happen when the sperm cells in semen meet up with one of your eggs. Your ovaries release an egg every month thats called ovulation.

After sex, sperm can live for up to 5 days in your body waiting for one of these eggs. That means that even if you werent ovulating when you had sex, sperm can still meet up with your egg later on.

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.

If all this sounds super complicated, thats because it is. And everyones menstrual cycle is a little different, which makes it even MORE complicated. Its also very common for peoples cycles to be irregular, which means your period comes at different times especially when youre younger. But even if your cycle is regular, it can be hard to know exactly when youre ovulating and at risk for pregnancy. Thats why its so important to use birth control every time you have sex if you dont want to get pregnant.

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What If You Want A Baby

If youre trying to get pregnant, its vital to schedule plenty of time between the sheets during your fertile window.

If youve been getting frisky mid-cycle for a while and still arent preggo, it might benefit you to have sex more regularly. Cycles vary, after all. It also helps pinpoint your ovulation knowledge is power!

Heres how to get a better handle on your bodys ovulation patterns:

Q: Can You Get Pregnant Four Days After You Have Your Period

A: Every woman has a different “fertile” time based on her cycle length and hormone regularity. The first day of your menses is Day #1 of your cycle. It is impossible to become pregnant on Day #4 of your cycle because there’s not enough time to mature an egg in 4 days. However, if you are not having a “regular” cycle each month then your ovulation may not be “normal.” It is always best to practice safe contraception if you do not have cycles that are regular enough for “natural family planning” and if you do not want to become pregnant.

Answered by Dr. Marra Francis

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Getting Pregnant After Depo

As long as you want to prevent pregnancy, you need to receive an injection every 90 days. This is because, after 90 days, the levels of Depo-Provera are not high enough for most women to reliably prevent pregnancy.

Lets say you want to get pregnant and you discontinue injections. You might assume your fertility will return on day 91, but this isnt how the medication works. While the levels of Depo-Provera after 90 days may not be high enough to be considered effective for pregnancy prevention, they may still be too high to get pregnant.

Some women will get pregnant the very first month after the 90 days, but this isnt common. Most women will see their fertility return within 5 to 7 months of their last injection. In other words, about two months after that 90-day period ends.

Within 10 months of the last injection, 50% of women who discontinue Depo-Provera will get pregnant.

Can You Get Pregnant On Your Period While Using Birth Control

It’s possible to get pregnant when you’re using birth control, whether you’re 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 it’s worth, tracking your monthly cycle called “fertility awareness” in order to avoid pregnancy isn’t 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. It’s even possible to get pregnant on your period if you’re 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 You’re 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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Can I Get Pregnant Just Before My Period

The probability of conceiving if you have sex two or three days before your period is extremely low. Since your egg lives for around 12 to 24 hours after it is released, this means your fertility window closes soon after you ovulate. However, there is always a risk of pregnancy. Use our tool to calculate the chances of getting pregnant.

Can You Get Pregnant On Birth Control

There is no form of birth control that is 100% effective, so it is possible to get pregnant while using most types of birth control. However, many types of birth control, when used correctly, are highly effective in preventing pregnancy. For example, the birth control pill is over 99% effective in preventing pregnancy when taken correctly. For all forms of birth control it is important to have a basic understanding how they work and how to use them correctly.

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