Getting Pregnant After Birth Control

Most women who use oral contraceptives at one time or another in their lives often plan to get pregnant after birth control pills in the future. In the instructions for such drugs, it is usually written that conception can occur already in the next cycle after the abolition of oral contraceptives. However, you need to understand that this does not always happen. A lot depends on the age of the woman, the characteristics of her body, the specific drug and its dosages.

The essence of using oral contraceptives is to take synthetic analogues of female sex hormones — progesterone and estrogens. As a result, ovarian function is inhibited with the cessation of the ovulation process. Normally, after giving up pills, there is a fairly rapid recovery of reproductive function with the possibility of getting pregnant after contraceptive medications. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the body tends to get used to the intake of bioactive substances from the outside. If the pills are canceled, it may take a certain period of time for him to fully restore fertility.

Important factors that affect the rate of resumption of the possibility of conception are:

The age of the woman. At the age of 25, the process of normalization of the menstrual cycle may take 2 or 3 months, after 30 – about a year, at 35 and older – several years. That is why doctors recommend women not to delay pregnancy.

The duration of taking the tablets. If contraceptives have been used for several months, then normal ovulation can occur already in the next cycle. But when a woman has been continuously taking contraceptives for years, it will take much longer for her to normalize her reproductive function.

Individual characteristics of the body. Different women have different hormone levels, some may have gynecological diseases, etc. One woman may need 1-2 months to stabilize the menstrual cycle, and another may need several years. Everything is individual, even if the age and duration of taking medications do not differ.

Therefore, when planning pregnancy, it is necessary to cancel oral contraceptives as early as possible, taking into account that the body will need several months to recover.

Rebound effect is a term that is used in gynecology to characterize the compensatory increase in ovarian productivity after the cancellation of the course of contraceptive drugs. To combat some forms of infertility, doctors can purposefully use oral contraceptives.

At first glance, this may seem absurd. After all, a woman's reproductive function is already suffering, and here she is even more oppressed. Nevertheless, it was found that with a short-term course of oral contraceptives (2-3 months) followed by their cancellation, a compensatory increase in ovarian activity is observed. They work better, which contributes to the normalization of the menstrual cycle with the stabilization of the ovulation process.

This is the essence of rebound effect. In most cases, it significantly increases the chance of getting pregnant after contraceptives. However, we must remember that this effect does not always work.

If infertility persists and ovulation does not occur, a woman may need other treatment. Usually, in endocrine infertility, ovulation stimulation with hormonal drugs is prescribed or pregnancy is achieved with the help of assisted reproductive technologies.