Is pregnancy possible despite having a birth control implant?

Posted on Tue, 18 Mar 2014

Question: can a woman be pregnant if she has the arm birth control implant and is on her period ? she took the test while on her period.she said it tested positive?

Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (17 minutes later)

Brief Answer: it is very unlikely Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic Pregnancy tests detect the level of HCG in the urine.This hormone would not be produced if a woman is having a normal menstrual cycle. If a woman is experiencing a period then she is unlikely to be pregnant unless the bleeding represents an miscarriage and the test is still detecting the HCG hormone in the urine. A period represents shedding of the lining of the uterus that has occurred because there is no pregnancy. IN a miscarriage there would normally be severe abdominal cramps, clots in the bleeding and fleshy products as well mixed in with the blood. In addition, the birth control implant is very effective , up to 99%.It is rare to get pregnant using this method. Only 1 out of 100 women would conceive with this birth control. It is very unlikely but if she wants to check, she can either repeat the test or ask her doctor for a blood HCG level which would be more accurate. I hope this helps,feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Michelle Gibson James (26 minutes later)

her periods are irregular.often because of the in arm birth control she can miss them for 2 to 3 months.

Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer: this type of control is very effective Detailed Answer: HI Implanation bleeding can sometimes be confused with a period but implantation is normally a lot lighter than a normal period. Also implantation bleeding would normally only last a few hours or less than 24 to 36 hours and may be brown or dark red because it is slow to leave the uterine/vaginal area and therefore older. If she however experienced the type of bleeding that would normally occur with her periods when they do occur then it is unlikely that conception has taken place. It is rare to have a falsely positive pregnancy result, if a result is suspected as being false positive the suggestion is normally to repeat the test. In some cases, the test may be accidentally misread or misinterpreted. It is possible that she is the 1 out of 100 that may conceive while on this type of contraceptive but that can only be determined by either repeating a home pregnancy test or doing a blood HCG level. It is rare but you can recheck Please feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar