Can you have your period and still be pregnant is a great question to ask. A quick search online will bring up a number of differing opinions – both from the medical community as well as mothers. Here’s a quick breakdown of two different thoughts on the matter.
The medical community as of late still staunchly maintains that a woman cannot be pregnant if she has her period. To understand why this is, we need to take a look at what happens during the menstrual process.
Without getting super detailed about which hormones rise or fall in order to cause this or that to happen, what we need to know in order to answer the question is this: Once a month an egg is released and travels to the uterus where it sits, waiting to be fertilized. After a few days have gone by and egg still isn’t fertilized then the body decides it’s time to flush out the blood-rich tissue lining the walls, and start over again. If you were pregnant, then the fertilized egg would have attached itself to the wall of the uterus and the blood wouldn’t have been shed. This is one way to know whether or not you can have your period and still be pregnant.
Having said that, every pregnancy is different. While you cannot have a full period and still be pregnant, you can experience spotting. Spotting is intermittent, or early pregnancy bleeding, and is caused by a couple different reasons. There’s the chance that you are pregnant and something is wrong with the pregnancy and only a doctor can tell you if this is the case. On the other hand, many women who are on birth control, and even some that aren’t, simply experience a light bleeding that can be confused with their periods.
If you suspect that you might be pregnant, the first thing you should do is figure out when your last period was, and to start counting. If it’s about time for your next cycle then give it a week or two before taking an at-home pregnancy test, or set up an appointment with your doctor.
While it’s not true that you can have your period and still be pregnant, it is possible to bleed intermittently while pregnant.
