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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Could Late Periods And Spotting Be Due To Pregnancy?

hi my girlfriend is 18 years old and missed one pill and the next day took 2 to catch up, we also use condoms to be extra safe but she is now about 4 days late on her period and experienced only a small amount of spotting. what is the chance of her being pregnant?
Mon, 13 Jul 2015
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OBGYN 's  Response
Hallow dear, I have gone through your query and will try to guide you on the issue.

The first doubt of missed period of a woman in child bearing age group who otherwise is menstruating regularly, and particularly who is sexually active is pregnancy. However, only by missed period the pregnancy is suspected and not diagnosed.

The other symptoms of pregnancy is first few weeks are nausea and vomiting, frequency of urination and breast symptoms (engorgement, tenderness, clear or milky secretions, darkening of nipples & areola and increasing the size of areola). Still we do not label pregnancy even on these symptoms also. For confirmation of pregnancy, clinical examination is required. The inference of clinical examination are also sometimes confusing before 15 days from missed period.

Hence, urine pregnancy test and/or ultrasonography done 8-10 days after missed period is useful to confirm the pregnancy; done earlier may be inconclusive. Beta hCG tests are more specific and sensitive which can give conclusive results even 2-3 days after missed period.

Please understand that bleeding or spotting never happens in normal pregnancy.

It is likely that your girlfriend is about to get her menses and hence she is having spotting. You had used condom and additionally taken 2 tablets of emergency contraceptive pills within 24 hours of intercourse. Both the methods of birth control are highly reliable. I feel she should not be pregnant and this delay is menses could be merely due to stress of unwanted pregnancy. Probably by the time you get this guidance, she might have got het menses; if not, wait for 8-10 days and get her urine pregnancy test and/or ultrasonography done to confirm the diagnosis.

I am sure, you are relieved of the stress now.
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Could Late Periods And Spotting Be Due To Pregnancy?

Hallow dear, I have gone through your query and will try to guide you on the issue. The first doubt of missed period of a woman in child bearing age group who otherwise is menstruating regularly, and particularly who is sexually active is pregnancy. However, only by missed period the pregnancy is suspected and not diagnosed. The other symptoms of pregnancy is first few weeks are nausea and vomiting, frequency of urination and breast symptoms (engorgement, tenderness, clear or milky secretions, darkening of nipples & areola and increasing the size of areola). Still we do not label pregnancy even on these symptoms also. For confirmation of pregnancy, clinical examination is required. The inference of clinical examination are also sometimes confusing before 15 days from missed period. Hence, urine pregnancy test and/or ultrasonography done 8-10 days after missed period is useful to confirm the pregnancy; done earlier may be inconclusive. Beta hCG tests are more specific and sensitive which can give conclusive results even 2-3 days after missed period. Please understand that bleeding or spotting never happens in normal pregnancy. It is likely that your girlfriend is about to get her menses and hence she is having spotting. You had used condom and additionally taken 2 tablets of emergency contraceptive pills within 24 hours of intercourse. Both the methods of birth control are highly reliable. I feel she should not be pregnant and this delay is menses could be merely due to stress of unwanted pregnancy. Probably by the time you get this guidance, she might have got het menses; if not, wait for 8-10 days and get her urine pregnancy test and/or ultrasonography done to confirm the diagnosis. I am sure, you are relieved of the stress now.