For many women, pregnancy is a long-awaited event. But there are no fewer girls who want to delay motherhood, and for this it is necessary to use contraceptives.
To date, according to the World Health Organization, the most reliable contraceptives are birth control pills. Their reliability reaches 98%, which is why more than 50% of women around the world prefer this particular method of protection against unwanted pregnancy.
But 98% is still not a full guarantee, and in medical practice there are cases when a pregnancy occurred while taking birth control pills. Why could this happen?
The benefits of pills
But is only a high degree of reliability the reason that women choose this type of contraception? Of course not.
Taking pills is very convenient. It is enough for a woman to take one tablet every day and not be afraid of an unwanted pregnancy, unlike the same condoms or suppositories, which must be used before each sexual intercourse.
In addition, birth control pills are the most economical options. A pack of pills, designed for a month of admission, can cost from 200 to 700 rubles, which is much cheaper than buying a condom.
But despite this, many women refuse this method of protection, fearing an unwanted pregnancy. However, let's look into this issue in more detail.
The principle of operation is OK
To fully understand why pregnancy occurs when taking birth control pills, consider their principle of action.
The effect of contraceptives is aimed at the implementation of such functions:
- Prevention of the process of egg maturation and its movement from the ovary to the uterus.
- An increase in the viscosity of the secretion of the cervix, which is why sperm cannot reach the “goal” necessary for fertilization.
There are two types of tablets:
- Mini drank. These are non-combined tablets that contain prostagen, which is responsible for increasing the viscosity of the uterine secretion, which is why ovulation does not proceed to the end.
- The effect of the second type of birth control is stronger. These drugs contain the hormone estrogen, an increase in the concentration of which leads to block the development of follicles in the ovary. This suggests that the egg simply does not ripen and, accordingly, does not go outside. Such drugs completely prevent ovulation.
Now that we roughly understand the principle of the work of these contraceptives, we’ll figure out why the situation arises when, even when taking birth control pills, the test shows pregnancy.
Causes of unwanted pregnancy
First of all, you must understand that pregnancy when taking birth control pills just does not occur. It can arise due to additional reasons, as a result of which the effect of the drug on the body decreases, and, as a result, the concentration of substances necessary to stop ovulation decreases. Many factors can contribute to this.
Skipping pills
This cause of pregnancy is the most common.
There is a certain principle of contraceptive use. Most often, this is a fairly simple schedule: 1 tablet every day at the same time. But often such a situation may arise that a girl forgets to drink the last pill of the course and takes the necessary 7-day break, and a week later begins to take a new package. Thus, a woman misses a whole day, during which the ovaries can return to normal functioning, which is why pregnancy can occur after the end of taking birth control pills.
The same thing happens in the opposite situation. A girl can drink the entire course of pills, but after a seven-day break, forget to take the pill. And again, skipping only one day dramatically increases the likelihood of becoming pregnant. The same situation may arise if a girl forgets to take a pill in the middle of a cycle.
Vomiting or diarrhea
Often, troubles happen with our body that can provoke pregnancy when taking birth control pills.
For complete absorption of the active ingredients of the drug, it takes about 3-4 hours. If, at this time, you started vomiting or diarrhea, then it is likely that the substances of the contraceptive drug are not fully absorbed, because of which there is a risk of egg fertilization.
Taking additional drugs
This reason is one of the most serious. The thing is that there are a large number of drugs that reduce the functioning of the substances necessary to prevent pregnancy. Most often, these drugs include antibiotics.
But the list of drugs does not end there. Antiallergic, anticonvulsant and antifungal drugs can also suppress the effects of contraceptives. Therefore, before taking certain medications, you need to consult a gynecologist and find out whether they reduce the effect of birth control pills.
It is also necessary to be careful with teas that girls like to drink while losing weight. Many of them affect the effect of birth control, which can trigger the appearance of an unwanted pregnancy. The same applies to herbs. Many of them, after prolonged use, still continue to affect the body. For example, St. John's wort retains its effect on the body for another 2 weeks after completion of its intake. Therefore, if you plan to drink any decoctions, be very careful.
Psycho-emotional states
Pregnancy while taking birth control pills can also occur due to severe stresses. Of course, this reason is the rarest, but if a woman regularly experiences severe stress at work or at home, it can radically affect the state of the whole organism and cause a suppression of all its functions. Because often when taking birth control pills, the doctor prescribes a course of sedatives for the first 2-3 months.
Delay of menstruation
One of the problems that a woman may face when taking OK (oral contraceptives) is the delay in menstruation. Many are immediately scared and believe that pregnancy has occurred while taking birth control pills.
But do not immediately panic. Since OK contain a small dose of hormones, the hormonal background when taking the tablets changes. This can lead to the fact that menstruation begins earlier or later than usual.
By the way, it is worth paying attention to the fact that many women have stabilized the cycle when taking OK, if they had problems with it before. Therefore, do not be alarmed by such changes, especially if you take birth control for only 1-2 months.
It is worth worrying only if you previously skipped taking the pill, took other serious medications, or you had unprotected sexual intercourse before you started taking OK.
Pregnancy with OK
Many girls are concerned about the question: "What should I do if pregnancy occurs while taking birth control pills?"
If you decide to continue the pregnancy, then do not worry. Although a woman may begin to worry about the health of her unborn baby, which may be affected by taking birth control pills. But no need to panic. Medical practice has shown that taking OK does not affect the development of the fetus, and the risk of pathologies in this case is the same as in cases when the pregnancy was planned.
The main rule that you must follow: immediately stop taking contraceptives and go to the gynecologist if you find out about your pregnancy.
However, there are situations that a woman does not know about her pregnancy and continues to drink contraceptives. In this case, the issue of fetal safety is much more serious. Although for many years of research, doctors could not find a direct connection between taking OK and fetal development. It was found that in the first 5 weeks of pregnancy, birth control does not affect the development of the embryo. But already from the 6th week the genitals of the child develop, and during this period, hormones are at least undesirable.
Symptoms
And now it’s worth talking about the situation when pregnancy has already taken while taking birth control pills. Symptoms in this case can be quite different or completely absent, however, there are a number of signs by which a girl can determine that she is pregnant:
- Pain in the chest and mammary glands. This symptom is often observed during pregnancy, however, many girls have such pain during menstruation or from a habit of taking OK. In any case, if you observe only this symptom, you do not need to worry in advance.
- Common signs of pregnancy (including birth control pills, including) are nausea and vomiting.
- Change in taste preferences. Such a symptom may well arise in the early stages, when, for example, a woman liked a certain product, and during pregnancy there was an aversion to it.
- Pain in the lower abdomen and back. Be mindful of these symptoms, as they may indicate not only pregnancy, but also health problems.
In any case, even all these symptoms in the aggregate cannot guarantee that you are pregnant. To get an accurate result, you should do a pregnancy test. When taking birth control pills, this happens, so it's better to play it safe. Or immediately go to an appointment with a gynecologist, where a hCG test will be done.
Planned pregnancy is a matter of time
Many women and girls are concerned about the question: "How quickly is it possible to plan pregnancy after taking birth control pills?"
For each woman, the timing is purely individual. It is enough for someone to wait a couple of months, and someone will need about six months to restore the normal functioning of the reproductive organs. The important thing is that you should not panic if you cannot get pregnant in the first 1-3 months after the cancellation of OK. But if a similar problem persists after 6-7 months of regular attempts, you should consult a doctor.
But there is also the opposite effect, which in medical practice is called the "rebound effect." In other words, pregnancy upon cancellation. After stopping OK, a new change in the hormonal background occurs, due to which the likelihood of becoming pregnant increases significantly. Due to this effect, infertility treatment is carried out: first, a woman takes birth control pills for a certain time, and after some time they are canceled, due to which the girl can achieve a desired pregnancy.
but on the other hand
But, unfortunately, not all women understand the whole responsibility that concerns the reception of OK. Many people prescribe drugs on their own, without thinking about the possible serious consequences. Meanwhile, there is an important rule for taking oral contraceptives: after 3-6 months of admission, you must definitely take a break of at least 1 month. During this time, the body begins to function again, as before, and the risk of getting used to OK is reduced to zero.
However, not all girls think at least of any cyclical nature and take drugs for several years. Not surprisingly, because of this, there are many problems with the reproductive system, which can be irreparable. In the best case, one of the problems can be an ectopic pregnancy when taking birth control pills. At worst, infertility, which will be very difficult, if not impossible to cure.
In addition, today there are many types of OK, and in order to choose the right pill, a woman needs to pass a number of tests and get a doctor’s appointment. Only in this case can you be sure that oral contraceptives will not harm your health.
To summarize
Concluding this rather big course on taking birth control pills, I would like to give some recommendations and tips that should be followed:
- If during OK you notice spotting or mild bleeding - do not panic. This is a common occurrence when taking OK.
- Visit your gynecologist regularly while taking birth control. The doctor must monitor your health condition to prevent serious consequences.
- Observe your health yourself. The appearance of serious symptoms prescribed in the instructions suggests the need to stop taking OK.
- Oral contraceptives should not be stopped drinking at will, otherwise it can cause the effect of withdrawal and a sharp failure of the hormonal background.
- Try not to miss a pill.
- Before taking OK, be sure to read the instructions, even if the doctor has explained everything to you in detail.
Now you know if pregnancy is possible when taking birth control pills. You know the main reasons for this phenomenon. And most importantly - remember: there are many myths that oral contraceptives are terribly harmful to health. It is not true. If a woman follows all the doctor’s recommendations and drinks OK according to a strict schedule, then no problems will ever arise. Be healthy and love each other!