Content
- Features of physiology
- Follicular
- Ovulatory
- Luteal
- Is pregnancy possible during menstruation?
- Causes of late ovulation, in which conception is diagnosed after menstruation
- Whether the bleeding is menstrual if the time coincides with the critical days
- The introduction of the embryo into the uterine wall
- Hormonal Disorders
- Injury to the vagina
- Maturation of two eggs instead of one
- Causes of menstruation in the early gestation period
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Bubble drift
- Miscarriage
- Frozen pregnancy
- The difference between washing the fetus from the present critical days
- Signs of early pregnancy
The main sign of pregnancy, most women consider the termination of monthly menstrual bleeding. Already from the first day of the delay, in order to confirm or deny the fact of conception, you can use special sensitive tests, and after 1-2 weeks undergo an ultrasound scan. Sometimes in women who do not know about their pregnancy due to the presence of bloody discharge, unexpectedly the fact of pregnancy is confirmed, and for those who have already learned about their interesting situation, there is an incomprehensible brown daub.
Pregnancy through menstruation is an infrequent situation, but occurs in medical practice. It is necessary to figure out how to distinguish menstruation from the first signs of a completed conception, and what symptoms early pregnancy manifests itself, even if there is scanty bleeding.
Features of physiology
In order to understand whether it is possible to be pregnant with saved menstruation, it is necessary to turn attention to the physiological structure of the female body and the principles of the functioning of the reproductive systems. Every month, an egg matures in one of the appendages, ready for future fertilization. Less often, against the background of superovulation, two eggs develop and grow at once, and then the pregnancy is multiple.
Whether conception will be carried out depends on how logically and sequentially three phases of the monthly cycle pass one after the other:
Follicular
Begins on the first day of menstruation with active discharge from the vagina of bloody contents and lasts an average of 14 days (duration ranges from 7 to 21 days, depending on the size cycle). It contains parts of the rejected uterine epithelium - the endometrium, represented by clots. Menstruation lasts for 3-7 days, after which the discharge becomes scarce and stops. From the first day of menstruation, the process of follicle maturation starts under the control of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estrogen. One of these bubbles will eventually become the site for the egg to mature.
A week later, the largest, dominant follicle is released, containing the egg ready for fertilization. In conditions of increased production of estrogen, a large amount of blood and nutrients are added to the uterus, which are necessary for the proper development of the ovum in case of fertilization.
Ovulatory
The duration of this stage is the shortest of all - from 24 to 48 hours. Under the influence of luteinizing hormone (LH), the dominant follicle ruptures, releasing the egg outside. It moves along the surface of the ciliary epithelium of the fallopian tubes towards the uterus to fuse with the sperm. If fertilization did not occur within the allotted time, the egg dies and merges from the mucous membrane of the uterine wall, after which it comes out along with the bloody contents during menstruation.
Luteal
The phase starts after the mature egg leaves the dominant follicle. In place of the bursting bubble, a corpus luteum is formed - its function is to increase production progesterone, which is necessary for the implantation of the embryo into the uterine wall and further maintenance gestation. In the absence of fertilization, by the end of the luteal phase, the corpus luteum decreases and dies, the level of progesterone falls, the endometrium is rejected and goes out.
If pregnancy occurs, the body begins to produce large amounts of prolactin. Against the background of changes in the hormonal background, the process of maturation of follicles and eggs is inhibited. As a result, there is no endometrial rejection and menstrual bleeding until the end of bearing a child.
The statement that if menstruation has gone, then the woman is not pregnant is not entirely true. In the new state, many women have bloody discharge that looks like menstrual discharge, but is not. If pregnancy is confirmed by tests and ultrasound results, but the bloody secret continues to bother the woman, she should seek medical help. These symptoms can indicate serious problems.
Is pregnancy possible during menstruation?
The situation when menstruation has passed, and the woman turned out to be pregnant, is theoretically possible, for this it is necessary to have the main factor - the fusion of a mature egg with a sperm. In the presence of regular menstrual flow, the body's ability to conceive increases, but at the end of the ovulatory phase, this chance becomes lower. Depending on the characteristics of the cycle, a girl can become pregnant even with menstrual flow.
With late ovulation, when the release of the egg into the uterine cavity occurs at the very end of the cycle, despite the lady's confidence in the safety of intimate contact at this stage, she can become a mother.
When conception is completed, the embryo is already in the cavity of the fallopian tube. By the end of the cycle, the endometrium is rejected and excreted in the form of bloody discharge. That is why the girl is diagnosed with pregnancy through the ongoing periods. A similar situation can occur with a patient who has hormonal disorders that shift the ovulation period to the very end of the cycle.
Causes of late ovulation, in which conception is diagnosed after menstruation
The monthly arrival of critical days, their stable appearance at the same date is a good indicator reproductive system health, in which it is easy for a woman to determine the days favorable for conception. It happens that it is not possible to become pregnant for a long time, despite the regular menstrual cycle - this is due to hormonal shifts, which the lady may not even know about.
The shortening or lengthening of the follicular phase can affect not only the ability to conceive a child, but also the timing of fertilization. So, late ovulation, which occurs just before menstruation, can be triggered by problems:
- inflammation in the small pelvis;
- fibroids, polyps in the uterus;
- cysts of the appendages;
- endometriosis;
- diseases of the endocrine system - diabetes mellitus, pathology of the thyroid gland, adrenal glands;
- frequent stress, chronic fatigue;
- hyperprolactinemia.
When asked if menstruation can go after conception, doctors answer - yes, if a woman has a shortened menstrual cycle of 21-24 days, but this is not a rule, but an exception. If they do not want to have a child, such patients should choose a reliable method of contraception, since the calendar method is not suitable for them.
Whether the bleeding is menstrual if the time coincides with the critical days
There are several reasons why a woman has bleeding, similar to menstruation, even after fertilization. Can menstruation go a week after conception - normally this should not be the case, since all three phases of the cycle cannot take such a short time interval. The fact that many girls go pregnant without knowing it and mistaken for critical days is sometimes called "washing the fetus."
The introduction of the embryo into the uterine wall
The so-called implantation bleeding is noted after 7-10 days from the fusion of the sperm with the egg. The introduction of the embryo into the wall of the uterus does not occur immediately - the fetus needs to make its way from the fallopian tube to the organ cavity. If the meeting with the sperm occurred directly near the ovary from which the egg came out, its movement will take even longer.
After the embryo has descended into the uterus, under the influence of the hormone progesterone, it needs to penetrate the wall of the genital organ. This is necessary so that the cell grows together with capillaries through which nutrients for growth and development will be supplied to the fetus. The endometrium of the uterus before implantation is crammed with a mass of blood vessels, has a lush and loose consistency. When the embryo is introduced, part of the capillaries is damaged, as a result of which there is a slight vaginal bleeding, which women confuse with critical days.
Hormonal Disorders
Situations are diagnosed when menstruation goes through the fetus as a result of hormonal disruptions. Due to insufficient production of progesterone, necessary for the full introduction of the fetus into the wall uterus, in the early stages after the onset of pregnancy, minor bloody discharge.
The onset of secretion often coincides with the onset of the expected menstruation. The woman thinks that her period has come, although later it turns out that she is pregnant. To eliminate spotting, improve hormonal levels and support gestation, gynecologists prescribe hormonal drugs to the expectant mother.
Injury to the vagina
Regardless of whether pregnancy occurred during menstruation, some time after intimate contact or examination in the gynecological chair, a woman may experience bleeding from vagina. At conception, the mucous membrane becomes especially sensitive, a large number of blood vessels are concentrated in it.
If they are damaged, smearing discharge appears, which can alert. In the early stages of pregnancy, doctors forbid many women to continue having sex if it can injure the cervix or provoke an increase in the tone of the uterus.
Maturation of two eggs instead of one
The situation when a lady has all the symptoms of pregnancy, but suddenly her periods have passed, and the signs of pregnancy remain, is rare - the reason is repeated ovulation. This happens in women with a genetic predisposition, while taking hormonal drugs in preparation for IVF, after abruptly canceling the use of oral contraceptives.
A similar repeated hormonal wave is diagnosed in 10% of patients.
Oocyte maturation occurs not in one, but in two follicles at once, both of them rupture and release the eggs outside. The process can occur simultaneously, or with an interval of up to 7 days. Bloody discharge is observed if one fertilized embryo has already entered the wall of the uterus, and the second comes out along with menstruation.
Causes of menstruation in the early gestation period
Normally, menstruation should not go through the fetus - the appearance of bloody discharge, similar to menstruation when diagnosed with gestation, should be a reason for contacting a doctor. There are several reasons for such discharge.
Ectopic pregnancy
As the name suggests, pregnancy begins to develop not in the uterus, as expected, but outside the genital organ - in the ovary, fallopian tube or peritoneal cavity. This condition is a serious threat to the health and life of a woman. If you do not pay attention to the symptoms of pregnancy in time and do not diagnose the exact symptoms of ectopic gestation, this is fraught with rupture of the ovary, fallopian tube and internal bleeding. Dangerous signs include:
- nausea with urge to vomit;
- fainting, dizziness;
- lowering blood pressure;
- breast engorgement, nipple tenderness;
- pulling discomfort in the lower abdomen;
- loss of appetite.
An ectopic pregnancy test may show two stripes, but they usually appear weaker than during uterine gestation.
Bubble drift
Pathology is not very common, but it belongs to the category of dangerous. With a cystic drift, the sperm merge with an egg that does not contain a nucleus, or a normal egg is fertilized by two sperm at once. Instead of a full-fledged fetus, a benign tumor begins to grow in the uterine cavity, which is the proliferation of chorionic cells.
If the problem is not detected in time, the cystic drift in 20% of cases degenerates into choriocarcinoma - a cancerous tumor. Pathology is also determined by severe toxicosis that worries a woman at an early stage.
Miscarriage
Abundant menstruation after the beginning of gestation is bright red, accompanied by pulling pains in the abdomen and lower back, means a threat of early miscarriage. If the secretion is poor, the expectant mother must be urgently taken to the hospital, where, with the help of hormonal drugs, doctors can avoid miscarriage and continue carrying.
Frozen pregnancy
After pregnancy is diagnosed, after a few weeks, all the symptoms of gestation disappear in the woman. Soon, discharge is noted, similar to the last menstruation - dark brown, smearing, scanty, which eventually become abundant and acquire a bright scarlet color. Symptoms are accompanied by severe abdominal pain, similar to miscarriage.
If you do not consult a doctor in time to determine the causes, there remains the risk of developing endometritis - an acute inflammatory process inside the uterus.
The difference between washing the fetus from the present critical days
So that a woman can independently understand whether pregnancy and ongoing periods take place at the same time, or she confuses menstruation with another type of bleeding, she should know what the two types mean discharge.
Symptoms | After conception | Regular periods |
Terms of occurrence | Much earlier or later than the expected date | At the usual time |
The amount of blood released | Scanty, smearing discharge | Abundant |
Colour | light brown or dark, almost brown. The secret of the scarlet hue speaks of the possible onset of a miscarriage. | Usual |
Duration | 1 to 3 days | Depending on individual characteristics, from 3 to 7 days |
Signs | In case of miscarriage, sharp pains in the lower abdomen, radiating to the lower back | There are no differences from the usual course of menstruation |
With the normal course of gestation, a single case of bloody secretion from the vagina is of little importance and is not a reason for panic.
If, 1–2 months after the news of pregnancy, a woman regularly has discharge, similar to periods, you should immediately consult a doctor for comments and recommendations.
Especially should arouse suspicion signs accompanying bleeding - drawing pains in the abdomen, bright red or scarlet shade of the secret, its abundant amount.
Signs of early pregnancy
In medicine, many cases have been recorded when expectant mothers may begin their periods after fertilization has occurred - bleeding indicates the attachment of the fetus to the wall of the uterus.
If at this time the genital organ is strongly contracted against the background of intense bleeding, similar to the monthly one, gestation may be interrupted. In the case of normal embryo attachment, a woman may continue to think that she is having her period.
Certain symptoms of early pregnancy through menstruation, noticeable a few days after menstruation:
- scanty smearing brown discharge;
- swelling of the breast, visible on the surface of the skin of the vein;
- change in taste preferences - craving for sweet, salty, spicy;
- apathy, tiredness, drowsiness;
- constipation, bloating;
- a sharp decrease in immunity, increased susceptibility to colds;
- changes in the condition of the skin - the appearance of acne and acne on the face, chest and back due to a surge in hormones;
- a metallic taste in the mouth;
- swelling of the lower extremities;
- decreased sex drive - the body tries to maintain and prolong the pregnancy, minimizing the risk of miscarriage as a result of intimate contact.
To accurately identify pregnancy, it is recommended to go to the clinic. At an early stage, you can donate blood - the level of chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is determined in the laboratory, later you can check for pregnancy using an ultrasound scan.
Can there be pregnancy with ongoing menstruation, and what symptoms are accompanied by it? In some women with a shift in ovulation, conception occurs during critical days and is accompanied by smearing brown discharge after them. It must be remembered that bleeding with a positive pregnancy test is not a typical symptom that is best not ignored.
One-time discharge of bloody secretion is 1–2 days long, their meager amount should not frighten the expectant mother. But if you have concomitant symptoms (abdominal pain, malaise, decreased blood pressure), you should consult a doctor.