Generally speaking, the period from 7 days before to 8 days after menstruation is the safe period, during which sexual intercourse will not lead to pregnancy. However, many women nowadays have irregular menstrual cycles, and there is no such thing as a safe period. Even after menstruation, there is still a possibility of pregnancy. Therefore, a human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test can be done 10 days after sexual intercourse to confirm whether or not a woman is pregnant.
1. The period after menstruation during which pregnancy is unlikely is also known as the safe period, commonly referred to as "the first seven and last eight days." The 7 days before and 8 days after menstruation are considered safe, but this is only a general rule. Generally speaking, the safe period before ovulation is 7 days, and the safe period after ovulation is 8 days. If a woman's menstrual cycle is regularly 28 days, then the "first seven and last eight" rule can be applied to avoid the 10-day risky period.
2. For women with frequently short menstrual cycles, such as 21 days, ovulation usually occurs around the 7th day. In this case, there is no safe period before ovulation, as the minimum reserve period before ovulation may occur immediately after menstruation. For such women, there is a risk of pregnancy even if menstruation has just ended.
3. For women with frequently long menstrual cycles, such as 35 days, ovulation usually occurs around the 21st day. In this case, the delayed ovulation often makes it difficult to determine the safe period after ovulation. Generally, the possibility of pregnancy during ovulation is relatively high. Counting from the first day of menstruation, the 14th day is the ovulation day, and the ovulation day and the five days before and four days after it constitute the ovulation period. If you are still unsure, you can also take a blood hCG test 10 days after sexual intercourse for confirmation, or undergo an ultrasound or pregnancy test one week after a delayed menstrual period.
