Can a woman get pregnant while on her period?
Yes, while a woman is least likely to get pregnant during her period, she can. During menstruation a woman’s body is flushing out both the unfertilized egg and the lining her body prepared for the possibility of a fertilized egg, so it is quite difficult to get pregnant during this time. Yet it is not impossible. Sperm can reside inside of a woman’s body for several days after sex, and a very slim chance exists that these several days will extend into the beginning of a woman’s fertile period. The greater risk involved with having unprotected sex during a woman’s period is that she has mistaken spotting or other midcycle bleeding for her period. If this is the case, then a woman may be having unprotected sex at a time when she is very much fertile. It is also essential to remember that menstruation does not protect either partner from contracting HIV or a STD! Both menstrual blood and vaginal secretions can transmit STDs and HIV, exposing the partner of any HIV+ woman to greater risk.
This does depend on the cycle and the length of a period. Of course every woman is different so if a woman has a 28 day cycle and only a 3 day period it is very unlikely that she could get pregnant but say she has a 28 day cycle and a 10 day period (as i usually do) then it can happen. Day 1 is considered the first day of the period so a woman on a 28 day cycle will typically ovulate around the fourteenth day and it is during ovulation that a woman gets pregnant. Remember that sperm can also live in the cervix for about 72 hours after intercourse. In other words a woman with a 28 day cycle needs to be careful if she has a period that lasts 8 or 10 days because the sperm can live for another 3 days and if she ovulates at day 12-16 then it is very possible to get pregnant even though she was on her period when she had intercourse. I am not very sure about other cycles because mine were only that long when I was younger and I never really paid any attention to ovulating or anything.