Do You Ovulate On the Pill?
The answer to this question depends upon your age, weight, height, menstrual cycle and other factors. However it is very likely that you will ovulate during the month of your period. So if you are not using any form of hormonal contraception then chances are you will ovulate.
How Often Do You Ovulate?
You may have heard that you need to get pregnant every month or even every 3 months to maintain fertility. While this might be true for some women, it is not necessarily the case with all women. Some women ovulate less often than others. If you are one of those women then you probably don’t need to worry about getting pregnant too much.
However, if you are not having regular periods then it would be wise to check your cycle at least once a year just so that you aren’t missing out on the chance of becoming pregnant. There is no harm in checking regularly either since it is good to know what’s going on with your body.
How Will I Know If I’m Ovulating During My Period?
If you are using hormonal birth control then you probably won’t have a period every month. This means that you won’t be able to tell that you are ovulating during your period. Instead, you will need to check either your cervical mucus or your temperature to see if you are ovulating during your period.
What should I do if I think I’m Ovulating During My Period?
If you are concerned about the fact that you might be ovulating during your period then there are a few things that you could do.
If you want to get pregnant, then you should have unprotected (or unprotected-ish) vaginal penetration with your partner around the time of ovulation. You can use an ovulation calculator to find out when you are most likely to ovulate. If all goes well then you should get pregnant within the month.
You could also choose to use an ovulation test. These tests can tell you when you are about to ovulate so that you know when to have unprotected (or unprotected-ish) vaginal penetration with your partner. If you are tracking your cycle with one of these tests and you find that you might be ovulating during your period then it may be a good idea to see your doctor or a fertility specialist to make sure everything is working properly.
Sources & references used in this article:
A randomized clinical trial of treatment of clomiphene citrate-resistant anovulation with the use of oral contraceptive pill suppression and repeat clomiphene citrate … by EF Branigan, MA Estes – American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 2003 – Elsevier
How do levonorgestrel-only emergency contraceptive pills prevent pregnancy? Some considerations by B Mozzanega, E Cosmi – Gynecological Endocrinology, 2011 – Taylor & Francis
“A ‘Cage’of Ovulating Females”: The History of the Early Oral Contraceptive Pill Clinical Trials, 1950–1959 by L Marks – Molecularizing Biology and Medicine: New Practices …, 2003 – books.google.com
Serendipity in the search for “morning-after pills” led to clomiphene for the induction of ovulation by VC Jordan – F&S Science, 2020 – Elsevier
The Growing Debate About the Abortifacient Effect of the Birth Control Pill and the Principle of Double Effect by DWL Larimore – Ethics & Medicine, 2000 – epm.org
Phasic contraceptive pills and functional ovarian cysts by JC Caillouette, AL Koehler – American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 1987 – Elsevier
Men perceive their female partners, and themselves, as more attractive around ovulation by KD Cobey, AP Buunk, TV Pollet, C Klipping… – Biological …, 2013 – Elsevier
