Does Ovulation Occur During Pregnancy?

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Written by Editorial Team

Editorial Team

With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting..

Motherhood is unique but can also be tricky. While researching more tips and what to look out for during pregnancy, you might also stumble upon questions such as whether it is possible to get pregnant with another baby while you are already pregnant. There haven’t been enough talks about the same and, therefore, not many scientific studies. The question is intriguing; this article will tell you everything about ovulation.

pregnancy and ovulation

What is Ovulation and When Does it Occur?
Is Ovulation During Pregnancy Possible?
Can Ovulation Test Show a Positive Result?
Having Period During Pregnancy: Is it Possible?

What is Ovulation and When Does it Occur?

Ovulation is the bodily process where the ovaries release an egg. The produced egg makes it away through the fallopian tube and, if it finds sperm, it gets fertilized. This fertilized egg then goes to the uterus and waits for implantation, but if the egg doesn’t get fertilized, the uterus lining sheds, which constitutes your period. After an ovary has released an egg, it survives for about 24 hours until it dies or a sperm fertilizes it.

To answer, when ovulation happens, it occurs about 14 days before the next menstrual cycle. In most women, it appears four days after or before the mid-point of the period cycle. Specific changes in the body indicate that you are ovulating, such as heightened sense of smell, breast tenderness, libido changes, and changes in the cervix.

Is Ovulation During Pregnancy Possible?

To answer, can you ovulate and be pregnant simultaneously? The answer is no. When you are pregnant, your body is aware of your situation and the life inside you, so the ovulation process does not occur. Therefore, no egg is released. All other similar functions also stop during pregnancy. The uterus lining is still in its class to support the growing life inside you. Therefore, the lining does not shed, and the menstruation cycle does not take place either.

The menstrual cycle is interrupted during pregnancy, which means that you won’t ovulate. However, many other factors can also disrupt the functioning of a menstruation cycle, such as stress, anxiety, exhaustion, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), birth control medications, etc.

Can Ovulation Test Show a Positive Result?

Before answering this question, you must know that both the pregnancy test and ovulation test shows positive results when the concerned hormone is present and not otherwise. You might take an ovulation test, and it can come positive.

However, ovulation tests do not check for the release of an egg or not. These hormone levels might be high and can result in a positive ovulation alarm in the test.

To sum up, if you are pregnant and still be ovulating is not possible. The positive test result might be due to high hormone levels or a faulty test kit. In specific scenarios, this can indicate that the woman is about to get pregnant or, unfortunately, might experience a miscarriage.

Having Period During Pregnancy: Is it Possible?

Along with the question about can ovulation happen in the early stages of pregnancy, another question that pops out is, can a woman have a period while pregnant and what’s the reason behind it?

As for the ovulation and pregnancy question, this question does not have a solid scientific base. As mentioned earlier, menstruation generally stops during pregnancy because the uterus is no longer shedding the lining and support the progress of the growing baby. The lining needs to stay intact for the embryo to develop into a proper fetus safely.

However, pregnant women can see some droplets of blood or experience very light bleeding during their pregnancy, but this is not because they are on their period. If the bleeding continues for a prolonged period or gets the blood gets thick or dark in color, you will probably need the doctor’s immediate attention.

The question that can a pregnant woman ovulate during pregnancy stands invalid as the answer is a strict no. Our biological processes do not support ovulation during pregnancy or even periods, for that matter. However, extensive research and medical tests are required to come up with more solid and detailed results. Therefore, all these are myths, and a pregnant woman can relax without thinking about ovulation and menstruation until the baby is born.

Editorial Team,

With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting.Read more.

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