Can You Get Pregnant If You Take Birth Control

You Missed A Pill Dose

The most common explanation for getting pregnant while on birth control is straying off schedule when it comes to taking your oral contraceptive pill.

Oral contraceptive pills are the most popular method of hormonal birth control for American women, and with complete compliance, fewer than 1 in every 100 women will get pregnant.

However, if you miss a day of your pill regimen, your likelihood of conceiving may hinge on which type of OCP youre taking:

• Progestin birth control Progestin only pills, or mini-pills, use only one type of hormone to prevent pregnancy: progestin. While progestin only pillscan completely halt ovulation for some women, around 4 in 10 mini-pill users will continue to ovulate while on their medication. To remain 99% effective at preventing pregnancy, the mini-pill must be taken within the same 3-hour window each day.
• Combination birth control Combination birth control pills use two types of hormones to stop ovulation: estrogen and progestin. The addition of estrogen allows combination birth control to halt ovulation entirely. While youre encouraged to take combination pills at the same time each day for consistencys sake, veering a bit off track wont necessarily impede your birth controls efficacy. This is why most women are still highly unlikely to conceive if they miss one combined pill and make up for it by taking two on the following day.

How Does Birth Control Work

All birth control methods help prevent an egg and sperm from meeting. If sperm cant reach the egg or an egg isnt released, pregnancy cant happen.

But each birth control method works a little differently, and some can affect your fertility or fertile window differently.

When we say fertility, we mean your bodys ability to conceive. And your fertile window is the time in your cycle when your chances of conceiving are at their highest.

Some types of birth control just act as a barricade, while others use hormones to help you skip your fertile window or make it difficult for your partners sperm to reach their desired destination.

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How Do I Take It

You will be given three pills to take immediately, and three pills to take 12 h later. If you will be unable to take them in 12 h, you can delay your first dose so that you can take the second dose 12 h later. For instance, if it is 10 oclock at night, and at 10 tomorrow morning you will be in math class, you can wait until midnight to take the first pills and take the next ones at lunchtime. The second dose of pills is very important.

• Do not drive or drink any alcohol for the next 24 h after the second set of pills. The medication that you take to prevent nausea may make you feel drowsy.
• Do not take any extra birth control pills. They will not decrease your chance of getting pregnant and will likely increase nausea and vomiting.

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Can You Get Pregnant While Taking Birth Control Pills

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In this way, is birth control 100% effective?

effectiveeffective100

What are the chances of getting pregnant while on the pill?

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How long into birth control can I stop using condoms?

7 days

Can I Get Pregnant If I Take Birth Control After Sex

Star writes, hey hannah my naame is star and im 16 years old and i think im pregnant because my boyfriend and i had sex like may 8th and we didnt use a condom and we had sex for like some hours and he never pulled out he just kept sexing me then when we were done itook my birth control and that was like 3 or 4 in dda morning then we had sex again.. can i be since i took the birth control after sex??? then we also had sex on monday nigth the 11th of may but i dnt think he came in me but it was also unprotected.. and my period jus came on yesterday.. but ive been sleeply lately.. my boobs are tender my stomach is getting a little hard and its hard were your pants go that part of my stomach. can i be preegnant???

Dear Star,

Are you on a daily birth control pill? Are you taking it faithfully every day ? Is your period that just started behaving like your normal period? If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, then I wouldnt be too worried, if I was you.

Some of these symptoms could accompany a regular period and, thus, wouldnt be definite signs of pregnancy. If you are experiencing your regular period, then you are not pregnant if you were pregnant, then youd miss your period, because your body would be entering pregnancy gear and preparing to make another human being inside you. If you still arent sure, then wait a couple of days until your period ends and take a urine pregnancy test.

Best of luck,

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How Soon Can You Get Pregnant After Stopping Birth Control

Youve taken steps in your family planning, and now youre ready for a baby. How long after stopping birth control are you fertile again? Well, it depends on the contraceptive. Dr. Kirtly Jones discusses how long it typically takes to conceive after ending common contraception methods and when to involve a specialist if youre having trouble getting pregnant.

You have done all the right things in planning your family and now you’re ready to have a baby. How long after stopping birth control before you try to get pregnant? How long does it take to be fertile again? And how long is too long?

Start from the top. How do you stop your method of contraception? Well, that seems like an easy question, but sometimes it isn’t. You can stop using your condom or diaphragm or contraceptive foam right now and you can take off your patch, take out your ring or stop your pills today.

Taking out your implant or your IUD takes a medical appointment with your clinician or your family planning clinic. Really now, we don’t recommend that you or a friend try to take out these medical devices on your own, so getting an appointment may take a few weeks.

If you’re on birth control pills or patches or rings, the hormones in these methods are gone from your body within a week. And in the case of the progestin-only mini-pill, it may just be a couple of days then your body will get back to ovulating, so it may be a month or two before you ovulate.

Risks Of Taking Birth Control While Pregnant

If you were taking birth control to prevent pregnancy but find out weeks later that youre indeed pregnant, its natural to wonder what effect your birth control may have on a developing fetus. The good news is that birth control has been shown to be safe in early pregnancy.

Of course, no guarantee can be made that the medication hasnt affected the babys development, so be sure to see your doctor as soon as you suspect or find out that youre pregnant. If you test positive, you should stop taking your birth control pill.

Becoming pregnant while on birth control does increase your risk of ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized embryo attaches outside the uterus, often in the fallopian tube. This is a very serious, life-threatening problem and should be cared for immediately.

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How Long Does It Take To Get Pregnant After Birth Control

A study of more than 2,000 women explored how long it took to get pregnant after stopping birth control. This study looked at a common birth control method that used progestin and estrogen.

The results found that overall, fertility and time to pregnancy was not impacted by previously taking birth control. Only in smokers or women over age 35 was the time to pregnancy different. But in the non-birth-control population, fertility rates are also lower in smokers or women over 35. Sobirth control use does not change fertility.

The study showed:

• 21% of women got pregnant 1 cycle after stopping birth control
• More than 45% got pregnant after 3 cycles
• More than 79% got pregnant after a year
• More than 88% got pregnant after 2 years

In the study, the average time to pregnancy after stopping contraceptives was 5.5 cycles. This is consistent with general time to pregnancy and fertility rates in women under 35. The general rule of thumb is that if youre under 35, you only need to seek infertility treatment if:

• Its been more than a year of regular, timed intercourse without pregnancy
• You do not have regular periods
• You have repeated miscarriages

The timeframe shortens to 6 months for women over age 35.

Factors that affect time to pregnancy after birth control are more than likely related to other things that might include:

• Whether you had irregular periods using birth control
• Your age
• Your partners age and health

Getting Pregnant With An Iud

IUDs are a very effective method of birth control, says Costescu. The copper IUDs failure rate is a mere 0.8 percent, while a hormonal IUD has a failure rate of just 0.2 percent. A copper IUD is immediately effective when placed, and the hormonal type is effective within five days after being placed, he explains. And, since you dont have to do anything after its in place, and youve had a follow-up to make sure it was inserted properly, theres no chance for user error.

The one risk is that over the five-year life of your IUD, there is a three to five percent chance it may be expelled by your body. If someone does notice they suddenly have heavy bleeding with clots with an IUD inside, that could be a sign that the IUDs been expelled, Black explains. If this happens, do a string check to make sure the IUD is still in place if you cant find the string, make an appointment with your health-care provider so they can make sure everything is where it should be and, in the meantime, use backup birth control, such as condoms.

If you suspect youre pregnant, take a home pregnancy test. If its positive, its important to see a health-care provider as soon as possible to get an ultrasound. Its an urgent matter because if you get pregnant with an IUD there is a higher chance that it will be an ectopic pregnancy, which means the embryo has implanted in one of your fallopian tubes rather than in your uterus, which can be dangerous, and needs to be treated right away.

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How Long Does It Take For Birth Control Pills To Work

The time it takes birth control pills to work depends on when you start taking them and what type of pills you use. You may begin taking the birth control pill any day of the month. It is however, advisable to use a backup birth control method, such as condoms, for about a week once you start taking the pills.

Combination oral contraceptive pills

• When started within five days after the first day of your period, the combined pill will protect you from pregnancy right away.
• If you get your periods on a Monday morning and you start taking the combined pills any time before Saturday morning, you will be instantly protected from a possible pregnancy.
• If the pills are started at any other time, it is best to use an additional method of birth control, like a condom, for the first week after you start taking the combined pills.

Progestin-only pills

• Progestin-only pills, POPs or mini pills can be started any day of the month. They will protect you from pregnancy after 48 hours of taking the first pill.
• In this case, you must use another method of birth control to prevent pregnancy during the first two days.

You must always discuss with your nurse or doctor about which birth control pill option would be best for you.

What If I Vomit Or Have Diarrhoea

In some circumstances vomiting and/or diarrhoea can reduce its effectiveness and put you at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. Some drugs and medical conditions have the potential to reduce the effectiveness of contraceptives indirectly by causing diarrhoea or severe vomiting.

If you vomit within three hours of taking your pill , theres a chance it hasnt had time to be absorbed into your body. If this happens you should take another one straight away. Provided you arent sick again, you will continue to be protected against pregnancy and should resume your usual routine the following day.

If you’re continuously sick or experience severe diarrhoea for more than 24 hours, then its effectiveness may be reduced. In this case, you need to count each day with sickness or diarrhoea as a day you have missed your contraception. Continue taking your pill as normal but use extra protection, like condoms, for 7 days after vomiting and/or diarrhoea stops . If you have unprotected sex during this period, you may not be protected against pregnancy. This information on what to do if youve missed a pill will help, or consult the information in your pill packet on how to proceed.

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The 24 To 48 Hour Window

Dr. Brant says the general rule of thumb for the combination pill is to consider the 24 to 48 hour safe window. You can play catch up with missed pills before that, but after that time window has passed, youre no longer protected against pregnancy.

If youve missed three or more days or if you havent taken a pill in 48 hours and have had unprotected sex in the last five days, its best to call your doctor and use an emergency contraception.

Its never wrong to reach out to your provider if youre confused about what type of pills you take or what to do if youve missed multiple days, says Dr. Brant. They can help you decide what to do next.

What Are The Chances Of Getting Pregnant First Month Off Birth Control Pill

The NHS advises that of women who are having regular sex:

• aged 19 to 26, 92% will conceive after one year and 98% after two years
• aged 35 to 39, 82% will conceive after on year and 90% after two years

As soon as you come off the pill there is a chance you will become pregnant. In fact, one study has suggested that as many as 40% of women who come of the pill will have a period or get pregnant in the first month. This goes up to 99% in 3 months.

If you dont want to get pregnant when you come off the pill, you will need to use another form of contraception such as condoms.

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Does It Matter What Pill You Miss

Many birth control pill packs have three weeks of active pills that contain either progestin and estrogen or only progestin. They also have one week of placebos, which are sugar pills that have no hormones.

With these packs, forgetting to take a pill if your first, second, or third week can affect your pregnancy risk. Forgetting to take a placebo pill does not affect your pregnancy risk, as these pills are only there to help you remember to take a pill each day.

There are also packs with 24 active pills and four placebos or 84 active pills and seven placebos. You can determine whether a missed pill is a concern by applying the same knowledgea missed active pill affects your risk, while a missed placebo does not.

So How Soon Can You Get Pregnant After Stopping Birth Control

Some women conceive within the first one to three months of being birth control-free. For others, it may take several months. Why the difference?

Your overall health and age and your partners fertility are important factors for getting pregnant. But timing is big, too.

To increase your chances of pregnancy, youll want to become intimately familiar with your menstrual cycle. Understanding your cycle is the best way to identify your fertile window. So, if youre ready or getting ready to try for a baby, its a good idea to start tracking your menstrual cycle now.

The good news is there are apps for that. A fertility tracker app can make it easier to understand your patterns, so you can plan your baby-making sessions with confidence. There are dozens of apps to choose from, so you should be able to find one you like. Popular fertility apps include Clue, Flo, Fertility Friend and Premom. Some apps even pair with ovulation test kits for extra-easy tracking.

Also, getting pregnant isnt easy for everyone, and its important to prepare your body for it. Taking care of your physical, mental and emotional health can increase your chances of conception and a healthy pregnancy. To help you get ready, weve also put together a preparing-for-pregnancy checklist.

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Birth Control & Nutrient Depletion

One factor youll want to consider is whether birth control impacted your nutrient levels. Typical forms of hormonal birth control have been shown to deplete nutrients or change the way your body stores them. The effect is more pronounced the longer you take them. Nutrients shown to be depleted by birth control include:

• Folate
• Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12
• Vitamin C
• Selenium
• Zinc

Many nutrients listed above are critical for methylation and DNA synthesis. Low or depleted stores could result in problems conceiving, low-quality eggs, or even embryo problems. Folate deficiencies can contribute to neural tube defects, which occur in the first days and weeks after conception. You can supplement during pregnancy, but in the most nutritionally demanding time of life, you dont want to be playing catch-up with critical nutrients.

If youve been on birth control for months or years, its important to focus on nutrient stores before pregnancy.

Some of these nutrients are also associated with infertility or a longer time to conception. When intake or levels are too low, most notably with zinc and selenium, it can contribute to problems getting pregnant.