November 9, 2022 • 6 mins
Short answer: Yes, totally. Human bodies all work a little differently, so it's possible to have an egg ready to go while you're having your period. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/pregnancy/fertility/abnormal-menstrual-cycles-and-fertility.htm; https://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/pregnancy/fertility/pregnant-during-period.htm
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum here, considering that roughly half
the people on the planet experience periods during their lives,
there are a lot of myths out there about periods,
and there are a lot of myths about conception and pregnancy. Today,
(00:23):
let's best a myth that has to do with all three.
You may have heard it before. You can't get pregnant
during your period. This is not true. You can totally
get pregnant during your period. It's not super likely statistically speaking,
but just as a baby's arrival isn't as simple as
a stork dropping off a special bundle, getting pregnant involves
(00:45):
plenty of biological intricacies and uncertainties. A menstrual cycles vary,
and a person can technically get pregnant at any point
during their cycle. The typical menstrual cycle lasts twenty eight days,
split into the folicular and luteal phases. In a nutshell,
the folicular phase consists of an egg developing in the
(01:06):
ovaries and the uterus starting to grow a nurturing lining.
Then the egg releases. That's ovulation, and the luteal phase begins.
It's the preparatory time in which a person's body gets
ready for that egg to meet up with a sperm
in the fallopian tubes. Hormone secretions prompt the uterine lining
to continue thickening for embryo implantation should fertilization occur. If
(01:30):
fertilization does not occur, menstruation commences as the lining of
the uterus sheds and the unfertilized egg exits the uterus.
If you have a textbook twenty eight day cycle with
a textbook five day period, you are probably most likely
to get pregnant. If you have sex fourteen days after
your last period. That's when sperm are most likely to
(01:53):
encounter a mature egg in the fallopian tubes. But not
all cycles last twenty eight days. Not all periods last
five days. The normal range for a menstrual cycle is
anything from twenty one to thirty five days, and the
average period can last from four to seven days. It's
normal to reach peak fertility anywhere from eleven to twenty
(02:15):
one days after your last period, and that's not even
taking more outlying situations into consideration, irregular periods that only
come around every few months, as well as cycles that
are shorter than the average twenty eight days, may hold
higher probabilities for overlap between ovulation and menstruation, although the
(02:35):
statistical chances of it happening are low. There are three
main ways that it's possible to get pregnant from unprotected
sex despite the presence of vaginal bleeding. First step, if
a woman has an especially short menstrual cycle, ovulation can
occur before menstruation stops. This is the least likely scenario
for a period pregnancy to take place, but a longer
(02:58):
period lasting up to seven to eight days, combined with
a compressed menstrual cycle can add up to an embryo.
More commonly, with shorter menstrual cycles, the ovaries could release
an egg a few days after menstruation finishes. But even
though an egg wasn't ready and waiting during the period itself,
unprotected intercourse on say the last day of bleeding, could
(03:20):
leave behind sperm with a surprisingly potent shelf life. A
sperm can survive inside a woman's body for three to
five days, possibly resulting in pregnancy if the ovaries release
an egg into the flopian tubes in that time frame.
Vaginal bleeding can also be misleading, as it doesn't always
signal menstruation. In fact, some women's spot during ovulation, which
(03:42):
could be mistaken for a light period. In that case,
unprotected sex could certainly result in pregnancy. Stress, for example,
can be the culprit behind a late period, as can travel,
which can sometimes be synonymous with stress. Change in weight
can affect a person's peer it, and so can illness.
Certain conditions and some medications. For example, take endometriosis, which
(04:08):
is a case of misplaced cells. Ones that should be
in a person's uterus grow in other places to or instead.
Like the bowel, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. They respond to
menstrual hormones by swelling and getting thicker, just like the
ones that make up the uterine lining, but they don't
get shed. They're just stuff. This condition can cause shorter cycles,
(04:29):
longer periods, or breakthrough bleeding and cramping, all making it
more difficult to know what stage of your cycle you're on.
Or take polycystic overy syndrome or PCOS. This is caused
by your hormones being out of whack, and since the
menstrual cycle is ruled by hormones, it can cause your
periods to come irregularly, or uterine fibroids, which are non
(04:53):
cancerous tumors in the uterus. They can change the shape
of the uterus and cause extra heavy periods or p
the inflammatory disease, which is an infection often caused by
bacteria from s t i s like chlamydia. While some
people have no symptoms at all, it can result in
irregular periods or damage to the fallopian tubes, which messes
with eggs and sperms travel through the reproductive system. All
(05:18):
of that is to say that our bodies are all different,
and sometimes they're up to some pretty weird stuff. It's
plausible for an expectant egg and an enterprising sperm to
meet at any point during the month. Also, while we're
here dispelling the myth that you can't get pregnant on
your period, let's talk briefly about another myth. Some people
(05:40):
mistakenly think that urinating after unprotected intercourse will flush any
lingering sperm from the vagina. That's anatomically impossible, though, the
since sperm enter through the vaginal opening, whereas urine exits
through the ureical opening, which is between the vaginal opening
and the clitteress m Today's episode is based on the
(06:04):
articles Can a Woman Get Pregnant during her Period? By
Kristen Conger and Abnormal Menstrual Cycles and Fertility by Katie Lambert,
both on how stuff Works dot Com. Brain Stuff is
production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works
dot Com and is produced by Tyler clang Fully. More
podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum here, considering that roughly half
the people on the planet experience periods during their lives,
there are a lot of myths out there about periods,
and there are a lot of myths about conception and pregnancy. Today,
(00:23):
let's best a myth that has to do with all three.
You may have heard it before. You can't get pregnant
during your period. This is not true. You can totally
get pregnant during your period. It's not super likely statistically speaking,
but just as a baby's arrival isn't as simple as
a stork dropping off a special bundle, getting pregnant involves
(00:45):
plenty of biological intricacies and uncertainties. A menstrual cycles vary,
and a person can technically get pregnant at any point
during their cycle. The typical menstrual cycle lasts twenty eight days,
split into the folicular and luteal phases. In a nutshell,
the folicular phase consists of an egg developing in the
(01:06):
ovaries and the uterus starting to grow a nurturing lining.
Then the egg releases. That's ovulation, and the luteal phase begins.
It's the preparatory time in which a person's body gets
ready for that egg to meet up with a sperm
in the fallopian tubes. Hormone secretions prompt the uterine lining
to continue thickening for embryo implantation should fertilization occur. If
(01:30):
fertilization does not occur, menstruation commences as the lining of
the uterus sheds and the unfertilized egg exits the uterus.
If you have a textbook twenty eight day cycle with
a textbook five day period, you are probably most likely
to get pregnant. If you have sex fourteen days after
your last period. That's when sperm are most likely to
(01:53):
encounter a mature egg in the fallopian tubes. But not
all cycles last twenty eight days. Not all periods last
five days. The normal range for a menstrual cycle is
anything from twenty one to thirty five days, and the
average period can last from four to seven days. It's
normal to reach peak fertility anywhere from eleven to twenty
(02:15):
one days after your last period, and that's not even
taking more outlying situations into consideration, irregular periods that only
come around every few months, as well as cycles that
are shorter than the average twenty eight days, may hold
higher probabilities for overlap between ovulation and menstruation, although the
(02:35):
statistical chances of it happening are low. There are three
main ways that it's possible to get pregnant from unprotected
sex despite the presence of vaginal bleeding. First step, if
a woman has an especially short menstrual cycle, ovulation can
occur before menstruation stops. This is the least likely scenario
for a period pregnancy to take place, but a longer
(02:58):
period lasting up to seven to eight days, combined with
a compressed menstrual cycle can add up to an embryo.
More commonly, with shorter menstrual cycles, the ovaries could release
an egg a few days after menstruation finishes. But even
though an egg wasn't ready and waiting during the period itself,
unprotected intercourse on say the last day of bleeding, could
(03:20):
leave behind sperm with a surprisingly potent shelf life. A
sperm can survive inside a woman's body for three to
five days, possibly resulting in pregnancy if the ovaries release
an egg into the flopian tubes in that time frame.
Vaginal bleeding can also be misleading, as it doesn't always
signal menstruation. In fact, some women's spot during ovulation, which
(03:42):
could be mistaken for a light period. In that case,
unprotected sex could certainly result in pregnancy. Stress, for example,
can be the culprit behind a late period, as can travel,
which can sometimes be synonymous with stress. Change in weight
can affect a person's peer it, and so can illness.
Certain conditions and some medications. For example, take endometriosis, which
(04:08):
is a case of misplaced cells. Ones that should be
in a person's uterus grow in other places to or instead.
Like the bowel, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. They respond to
menstrual hormones by swelling and getting thicker, just like the
ones that make up the uterine lining, but they don't
get shed. They're just stuff. This condition can cause shorter cycles,
(04:29):
longer periods, or breakthrough bleeding and cramping, all making it
more difficult to know what stage of your cycle you're on.
Or take polycystic overy syndrome or PCOS. This is caused
by your hormones being out of whack, and since the
menstrual cycle is ruled by hormones, it can cause your
periods to come irregularly, or uterine fibroids, which are non
(04:53):
cancerous tumors in the uterus. They can change the shape
of the uterus and cause extra heavy periods or p
the inflammatory disease, which is an infection often caused by
bacteria from s t i s like chlamydia. While some
people have no symptoms at all, it can result in
irregular periods or damage to the fallopian tubes, which messes
with eggs and sperms travel through the reproductive system. All
(05:18):
of that is to say that our bodies are all different,
and sometimes they're up to some pretty weird stuff. It's
plausible for an expectant egg and an enterprising sperm to
meet at any point during the month. Also, while we're
here dispelling the myth that you can't get pregnant on
your period, let's talk briefly about another myth. Some people
(05:40):
mistakenly think that urinating after unprotected intercourse will flush any
lingering sperm from the vagina. That's anatomically impossible, though, the
since sperm enter through the vaginal opening, whereas urine exits
through the ureical opening, which is between the vaginal opening
and the clitteress m Today's episode is based on the
(06:04):
articles Can a Woman Get Pregnant during her Period? By
Kristen Conger and Abnormal Menstrual Cycles and Fertility by Katie Lambert,
both on how stuff Works dot Com. Brain Stuff is
production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works
dot Com and is produced by Tyler clang Fully. More
podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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Hosts And Creators
Josh Clark
Jonathan Strickland
Ben Bowlin
Lauren Vogelbaum
Cristen Conger
Christian Sager
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