WEBVTT - Can You Get Pregnant During Your Period?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum here, considering that roughly half

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<v Speaker 1>the people on the planet experience periods during their lives,

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of myths out there about periods,

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<v Speaker 1>and there are a lot of myths about conception and pregnancy. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>let's best a myth that has to do with all three.

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<v Speaker 1>You may have heard it before. You can't get pregnant

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<v Speaker 1>during your period. This is not true. You can totally

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<v Speaker 1>get pregnant during your period. It's not super likely statistically speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>but just as a baby's arrival isn't as simple as

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<v Speaker 1>a stork dropping off a special bundle, getting pregnant involves

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<v Speaker 1>plenty of biological intricacies and uncertainties. A menstrual cycles vary,

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<v Speaker 1>and a person can technically get pregnant at any point

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<v Speaker 1>during their cycle. The typical menstrual cycle lasts twenty eight days,

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<v Speaker 1>split into the folicular and luteal phases. In a nutshell,

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<v Speaker 1>the folicular phase consists of an egg developing in the

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<v Speaker 1>ovaries and the uterus starting to grow a nurturing lining.

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<v Speaker 1>Then the egg releases. That's ovulation, and the luteal phase begins.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the preparatory time in which a person's body gets

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<v Speaker 1>ready for that egg to meet up with a sperm

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<v Speaker 1>in the fallopian tubes. Hormone secretions prompt the uterine lining

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<v Speaker 1>to continue thickening for embryo implantation should fertilization occur. If

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<v Speaker 1>fertilization does not occur, menstruation commences as the lining of

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<v Speaker 1>the uterus sheds and the unfertilized egg exits the uterus.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have a textbook twenty eight day cycle with

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<v Speaker 1>a textbook five day period, you are probably most likely

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<v Speaker 1>to get pregnant. If you have sex fourteen days after

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<v Speaker 1>your last period. That's when sperm are most likely to

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<v Speaker 1>encounter a mature egg in the fallopian tubes. But not

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<v Speaker 1>all cycles last twenty eight days. Not all periods last

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<v Speaker 1>five days. The normal range for a menstrual cycle is

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<v Speaker 1>anything from twenty one to thirty five days, and the

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<v Speaker 1>average period can last from four to seven days. It's

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<v Speaker 1>normal to reach peak fertility anywhere from eleven to twenty

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<v Speaker 1>one days after your last period, and that's not even

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<v Speaker 1>taking more outlying situations into consideration, irregular periods that only

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<v Speaker 1>come around every few months, as well as cycles that

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<v Speaker 1>are shorter than the average twenty eight days, may hold

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<v Speaker 1>higher probabilities for overlap between ovulation and menstruation, although the

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<v Speaker 1>statistical chances of it happening are low. There are three

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<v Speaker 1>main ways that it's possible to get pregnant from unprotected

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<v Speaker 1>sex despite the presence of vaginal bleeding. First step, if

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<v Speaker 1>a woman has an especially short menstrual cycle, ovulation can

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<v Speaker 1>occur before menstruation stops. This is the least likely scenario

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<v Speaker 1>for a period pregnancy to take place, but a longer

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<v Speaker 1>period lasting up to seven to eight days, combined with

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<v Speaker 1>a compressed menstrual cycle can add up to an embryo.

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<v Speaker 1>More commonly, with shorter menstrual cycles, the ovaries could release

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<v Speaker 1>an egg a few days after menstruation finishes. But even

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<v Speaker 1>though an egg wasn't ready and waiting during the period itself,

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<v Speaker 1>unprotected intercourse on say the last day of bleeding, could

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<v Speaker 1>leave behind sperm with a surprisingly potent shelf life. A

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<v Speaker 1>sperm can survive inside a woman's body for three to

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<v Speaker 1>five days, possibly resulting in pregnancy if the ovaries release

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<v Speaker 1>an egg into the flopian tubes in that time frame.

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<v Speaker 1>Vaginal bleeding can also be misleading, as it doesn't always

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<v Speaker 1>signal menstruation. In fact, some women's spot during ovulation, which

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<v Speaker 1>could be mistaken for a light period. In that case,

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<v Speaker 1>unprotected sex could certainly result in pregnancy. Stress, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>can be the culprit behind a late period, as can travel,

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<v Speaker 1>which can sometimes be synonymous with stress. Change in weight

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<v Speaker 1>can affect a person's peer it, and so can illness.

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<v Speaker 1>Certain conditions and some medications. For example, take endometriosis, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a case of misplaced cells. Ones that should be

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<v Speaker 1>in a person's uterus grow in other places to or instead.

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<v Speaker 1>Like the bowel, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. They respond to

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<v Speaker 1>menstrual hormones by swelling and getting thicker, just like the

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<v Speaker 1>ones that make up the uterine lining, but they don't

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<v Speaker 1>get shed. They're just stuff. This condition can cause shorter cycles,

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<v Speaker 1>longer periods, or breakthrough bleeding and cramping, all making it

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<v Speaker 1>more difficult to know what stage of your cycle you're on.

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<v Speaker 1>Or take polycystic overy syndrome or PCOS. This is caused

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<v Speaker 1>by your hormones being out of whack, and since the

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<v Speaker 1>menstrual cycle is ruled by hormones, it can cause your

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<v Speaker 1>periods to come irregularly, or uterine fibroids, which are non

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<v Speaker 1>cancerous tumors in the uterus. They can change the shape

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<v Speaker 1>of the uterus and cause extra heavy periods or p

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<v Speaker 1>the inflammatory disease, which is an infection often caused by

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria from s t i s like chlamydia. While some

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<v Speaker 1>people have no symptoms at all, it can result in

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<v Speaker 1>irregular periods or damage to the fallopian tubes, which messes

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<v Speaker 1>with eggs and sperms travel through the reproductive system. All

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<v Speaker 1>of that is to say that our bodies are all different,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes they're up to some pretty weird stuff. It's

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<v Speaker 1>plausible for an expectant egg and an enterprising sperm to

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<v Speaker 1>meet at any point during the month. Also, while we're

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<v Speaker 1>here dispelling the myth that you can't get pregnant on

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<v Speaker 1>your period, let's talk briefly about another myth. Some people

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<v Speaker 1>mistakenly think that urinating after unprotected intercourse will flush any

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<v Speaker 1>lingering sperm from the vagina. That's anatomically impossible, though, the

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<v Speaker 1>since sperm enter through the vaginal opening, whereas urine exits

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<v Speaker 1>through the ureical opening, which is between the vaginal opening

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<v Speaker 1>and the clitteress m Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>articles Can a Woman Get Pregnant during her Period? By

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<v Speaker 1>Kristen Conger and Abnormal Menstrual Cycles and Fertility by Katie Lambert,

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<v Speaker 1>both on how stuff Works dot Com. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com and is produced by Tyler clang Fully. More

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.