Can I get pregnant while I’m on my period? This is something many women wonder, whether they want to conceive or not.

A woman is most likely to get pregnant in the middle of her menstrual cycle. This phase is called the “fertile window”. The chances of getting pregnant before or after the fertile window are much lower, but it can still happen — and we will explain how.

When do ovulation and fertilization occur?

Fertilization usually occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle, when the ovary releases an egg (ovulation). The egg — during its journey to the uterus — can be fertilized by a sperm cell. The average menstrual cycle is 28 days long. The menstrual cycle is the time between the first day of one period and the first day of the next.

Ovulation usually happens 14 days before the next expected period. (We will talk about irregular cycles below.) The egg can survive only 12–24 hours after ovulation. For this reason, it must “meet” a sperm cell within this timeframe for conception to occur. A woman has a high chance of becoming pregnant if she has frequent intercourse for 3 days after the LH hormone surge, something easily detected by our ovulation tests. A woman with a 28-day cycle cannot get pregnant while on her period. Therefore, concerns such as “he finished inside me during my period” or “can I get pregnant one day before my period” are unnecessary if your cycle is regular.Woman upset

Can I get pregnant during my period?

According to the above, no. However, there are other factors we must consider:

• the length of the woman’s cycles

• differences in the day ovulation occurs in each cycle

• how long sperm can remain alive inside the female body

Menstrual cycles are considered normal if periods occur every 24–38 days. Women with shorter cycles may ovulate closer to their period compared to those with longer cycles. Wide variation in cycle length and the timing of ovulation makes it difficult to know when a woman is in her fertile window unless ovulation tests are used. Beyond that, sperm can survive for 3–5 days inside the female reproductive tract, which means a woman can become pregnant even if she has intercourse 5 days before ovulation.

A possible example of such a case would be:

A woman with a short menstrual cycle (for example, 24 days) has sexual intercourse on the fifth day of her cycle (while still on her period) and the sperm is strong enough to fertilize the egg 5 days later. Therefore, if the man finished inside on the last day of her period, there is a pregnancy risk. When she enters her fertile window, fertilization occurs. It is a false assumption that this pregnancy happened while she still had her period. Finally, keep in mind that during menstruation the woman sheds blood — specifically, she sheds an unfertilized egg and uterine lining tissue.

Can I get pregnant a few days before my period?

On the contrary, this cannot happen right before your period, because it takes 14 days after ovulation for the period to arrive. So, if the man finished inside one day before the period — or even 3 days before — ovulation occurred many days earlier, meaning there is no pregnancy risk.

--------------------

See all the articles on our blog by clicking here.