Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Getting Pregnant While Menstruating | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
Can you get pregnant while on your period? I have always wondered this. I just found your website and thought that I would ask.— Cyndilouwho | | | ANSWER |
July 16, 2002 | | | Dear Cyndilouwho,
The answer to this depends on the length of your menstrual cycles and the duration of your periods. Ovulation occurs 14 days before your next period is going to begin. For most women, this is after they have finished bleeding from the month before. If you have 28-day cycles, ovulation would be around day 14. If you have 24-day cycles, it would be around day 10.
While the egg only lives a day or two after ovulation, sperm can wait five days (and sometimes even longer) for the egg to arrive. Therefore, if ovulation was going to be on day 10, sex that occurred on day 5 might still lead to pregnancy. And some women will still be menstruating on day 5, or even day 7. So the answer is yes, one can get pregnant during menstruation, especially if you tend to have short cycles. I hope that this answered your question and encourage you to explore the site for answers to other questions you might have about menstruation, birth control, and more.— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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