Patient's question:
I had my period on October 29th. It didn't stop completely until around November 3rd, but the flow had become very light. On the evening of November 3rd, I had sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex. Then, when I woke up on the morning of November 4th, I noticed a heavy flow of blood. Out of fear of pregnancy, I took two emergency contraceptive pills (Yuting) on the morning of November 4th. My period stopped from November 5th to 8th, but it returned again on November 9th. Today, the flow is especially heavy, and it seems quite abnormal—small blood clots sometimes appear. What could be the reason for this? Should I go to the hospital for a detailed check-up?Follow-up question: Could there be a possibility of pregnancy? What is the safe period?
Doctor's answer:
Hello: It may be the effect of emergency contraception, and you will not get pregnant. A woman's ovulation date is generally about 14 days before the next menstrual period. The egg can survive in the fallopian tube for 1-2 days after being released from the ovary, waiting for fertilization; a man's sperm can maintain its fertilizing ability in a woman's reproductive tract for 2-3 days, so sexual intercourse during the days before and after ovulation is more likely to result in pregnancy. For safety, we consider the 5 days before the ovulation date and the 4 days after it, including the ovulation date itself, as a total of 10 days called the fertile window. Because sexual intercourse during the fertile window is more likely to result in pregnancy, it is also referred to as the "dangerous period" or "high-risk period."The safe period is divided into the pre-ovulation safe period and the post-ovulation safe period. The period from the day the menstruation is clean to the day before the start of the fertile window is the pre-ovulation safe period. The period from the day after the fertile window ends to the day before the next menstrual period is the post-ovulation safe period. The post-ovulation safe period is safer than the pre-ovulation safe period. This is because some women may have their ovulation date moved earlier due to environmental changes and emotional fluctuations, which shortens the pre-ovulation safe period, and they may not be aware of it, making the pre-ovulation safe period less safe. It is extremely rare for a woman to ovulate twice in one menstrual cycle, meaning that there is generally no second ovulation between the time after ovulation and the next menstrual period, so the post-ovulation safe period is relatively safer.