Image of "period" with a bright red period at the end of it.

Sexual practice during periods. Equally a sexual wellness educator, I am asked almost this subject a lot.

"Exercise other couples practice information technology?" "How does it work?" "Will I get meaning?"

At that place are some myths and half-truths floating around about sexual activity during a menstruum, so we are going to endeavour to set up the record straight…

Can you take sex on your period?

Yes. But similar all issues surrounding sexual practice, advice is critical. This means checking in with your partner. Depending on whether y'all're the ane menstruating or not, questions might include: "How do yous feel during your catamenia? Would you always desire to accept sex activity while y'all're menstruating?" or "I'g on my period correct now. How exercise you feel about having sex activity while I'm menstruating?" For many folks who menstruate, sexual desire changes during unlike times of the menstrual cycle. For example, a person might experience increased desire during menstruation or ovulation – it all depends on the person. Exist certain to talk about desires and feelings to ensure everyone is on the same page from the beginning.

Is having sex on your period bad for yous?

No. Having sex while one or more partners are on their period is not harmful. In fact, there are a few ways in which information technology might be helpful! Offset, the contractions of orgasm might help salve menstrual cramping. Second, sex might experience particularly groovy because the vagina can go super lubricated from menstrual secretions. If y'all or your partner worry nigh a mess from the blood, consider spreading out a towel or having sex in the shower to minimize postal service-coital cleaning.

Can you get significant if y'all have sex while on your period?

The simple respond is yes.

Nosotros get a lot of questions about specific situations on this.

If a person whose body ejaculates sperm has sex with a person whose body houses ovaries, then yes, it's possible to become pregnant at any fourth dimension during a menstrual cycle. To put that in writing again – if y'all have unprotected vaginal/penile intercourse during a menstrual period, it IS possible to go significant. Pregnancy tin happen if you have sex before, during or subsequently your period.

You are most likely to get pregnant if you have penile/vaginal sex around the fourth dimension of ovulation. Ovulation is when an egg is released from the ovary. Ovulation unremarkably occurs about 14 days after the start of someone's last catamenia.

Why practice some people think that having sex on their period means they can't go pregnant?

If someone has a perfectly regular, 28 mean solar day menstrual cycle where they ovulate every month on solar day 14 and their monthly drain begins at mean solar day 23 and lasts for 5 days – having penile/vaginal sexual practice during solar day 23-28, when they are menstruating, has a very small-scale run a risk of growing a human. However…

  • Nearly PEOPLE Do NOT HAVE PERFECTLY REGULAR 28 24-hour interval CYCLES. Many people who menstruate accept unpredictable periods, or at least slight variations each calendar month, meaning it can be difficult to know when they ovulate. In fact, folks who apply the rhythm method / Fertility Awareness where they track their cycles and just have penile/vaginal sex during days they believe are not a adventure for pregnancy take a 25% chance of creating a human. That'southward a 1 in 4 hazard. There are much more than reliable ways to avoid pregnancy.
  • Some people may experience spotting at the fourth dimension of ovulation, which could be confused with a period. So if that person thinks that when they drain is a safe time to non go meaning but happens to be someone who spots during their ovulation that detail calendar month (or regularly), they have a very high chance of getting pregnant from penile/vaginal intercourse.
  • Sperm can live in a vagina for upwards to five days. Yup, five days. If an egg comes around at whatever point during that time, pregnancy could happen.
  • Some people take sex more than regularly than every five days. Each instance of penile/vaginal intercourse extends the timeframe for live sperm to exist in the vagina.
  • Many people who have sperm release a pocket-size amount of semen prior to ejaculation. While this helps with lubrication and condolement, it makes "pulling out" a less constructive method of contraception since sperm can be present prior to ejacuation. Even foreplay with someone with ovaries has a hazard of conception due to this pre-ejaculate fluid.

And so how do I make it less likely to accept a baby?

  • Don't have penile-vaginal sex activity.
  • Only if you're going to take penile-vaginal sex…
    • Apply barrier contraception such as an external or internal condom, diaphragm or sponge, possibly with spermicide.
    • Use a prescription method of contraception such as the pill, patch, ring, implant or IUD.
    • Control your and your partner's behavior:
      • Carefully rails menstrual cycles to better understand normal cycles and predict ovulation.
      • Withdraw the penis from the vagina before ejacuation.
      • These methods take a lot of cocky-control and 100% consistency on the office of both partners. You can't command your partner's behavior, so this can be a expert backup method, but we don't recommend using one or both of these behaviors as the primary fashion to avoid pregnancy.
    • Any combination of the higher up.

I already had sex on my menses. Now I'm worried I might be pregnant.

If you already had penile-vaginal sex activity without contraception and you don't want to get significant, consider Emergency Contraception (such as ella, Plan B I Footstep or a Copper IUD). Many of these are available at near pharmacies over the counter and are pretty darn effective for up to 5 days after unprotected sexual activity.At that place are more reliable methods of contraception than Emergency Contraception. We encourage you to speak with your pharmacist or medical provider well-nigh contraception options that might piece of work for you.

Are other people having sexual activity on their menses?

Based on the number of folks who are reading this blog article – yup. But really, information technology doesn't matter if other folks are doing it or not. Having sexual practice during flow is a personal determination, so we once more emphasize that you should talk with your partner to see how they feel. If nothing else information technology can be another opportunity to get to know your partner and their likes, dislikes and comfort level.

This article has been edited for clarity and updated formatting since information technology's original publishing date.

Nigh recent edit: November v, 2019