Can you get pregnant and get your period?

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Extract from the article: La femme, qui a atteint l'âge de la puberté jusqu'à la ménopause, a ses règles chaque mois. L'exception à cette règle est la grossesse. Puisque normalement, lorsque l'organisme commence à sécréter l'hormone Gonadotrophine Chorionique Humaine, le cycl

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The woman, who has reached the age of puberty until menopause, has her period every month. The exception to this rule is pregnancy. Because normally, when the body begins to secrete the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, the menstrual cycle stops. However, some women present exceptional cases where they still have their period while being pregnant. How do you explain this situation?

Bleeding early in pregnancy is common in some women. They resemble small brownish spots, but can be as abundant as normal menses. The moment no violent pain is felt, there is no reason to worry. Doctors suggest that her bleeding is associated with pregnancy and that it is more of a symptom related to the placenta problem. Either the egg is implanted inside the uterine wall, or it is the hormones controlling the menstrual cycle that cause bleeding.
The best is to go to the gynecologist to make sure everything is normal. The only concern is to determine the probable date of delivery, as doctors usually refer to the first day of the last period. An ultrasound examination of the first trimester of pregnancy will then determine the probable date of delivery.

Watch out! When the bleeding persists and is accompanied by cramps and pain in the lower abdomen, while the pregnancy test is positive, go to the doctor immediately. Because these signs can announce a miscarriage or an extrauterine pregnancy.

Denial of pregnancy

An unusual but likely phenomenon, pregnancy denial is the behaviour of a woman who is physically pregnant but mentally not. It differs in two situations. The first is the partial denial that ends before delivery, and the second is the full denial until the end of the pregnancy.
Indeed, these people are not aware that they are pregnant in such a way that the body follows the rhythm without showing any symptoms of pregnancy: no nausea, no growing belly, regular presence of menses. But beware the pregnancy test is positive and the ultrasound finds a fetus.

Often, pregnancy denial occurs in women with some emotional or psychological disorders. They think they’ve gained extra pounds, that they have a digestive problem.  

What about the fetus? The specialists explain that the mother can’t feel her baby moving in her womb since it can lodge in the uterus in a standing position, along the vertical column. Even if he gives a sign of life, his mother doesn’t realize.

But once the mother realizes that she is pregnant, the most amazing thing is that everything becomes normal again: absence of periods, the belly becomes visible, the mother manages to feel the movements of her child. Medical monitoring must therefore be carried out very closely. When the denial is total with a discovery at delivery, it will require a real psychological support because the baby was not expected at all so no preparation. It can even lead to suicide.

A messy menstrual cycle

The case of pregnancy denial can be aggravated when the woman suspects she is infertile because of her messy menstrual cycle. She may be one of the women with so-called « polycystic » ovaries. She has irregular periods and does not ovulate every month. Nature may have wanted her to be pregnant.

What action should we take?

If you think that the last sexual intercourse may present a risk of getting pregnant, have the reflex to take a pregnancy test to avoid surprises. Medical examinations are also necessary to check if the pregnancy is going well, despite the bleeding. The gynecologist can perform a cervical examination, a palpation of the abdomen, a pelvic ultrasound.

William O.

Article validated by Dr Dédé Benedicta Améwoui, Gynecologist Obstetrician, Head of Clinique Group Médical (Lomé, Togo)