[Hopefull2009]

I am having another one of those philosophical days where I'm thinking too much....2 more weeks and my 2nd semester is done

You know how if a woman takes birth control pills and when she stops, either mid-pack or at the end before her sugar pills, that she bleeds?

I was wondering that if a woman got pregnant while she was taking the birth control pills, and didn't know it, when she stopped the pack...what keeps her from miscarrying?

I tried to find the answer on the net, and couldn't.

I didn't know how the hormones from the BC pills factored in to those released by the newly forming placenta.

Any ideas?

All of the reading in our OB/Maternity book states (obviously) that women should stop as soon as they find out they are pregnant...but not all pregnant women will have symptoms (nausea, etc), obviously a period isn't going to be expected if you are still taking pills.

This can be ESPECIALLY delayed if someone is taking BC pills where you only have 3 or 4 periods a year.

[Jolie]

OK, my A&P is rusty, but I think I can answer this one.

In a cycle when a woman conceives, the corpeus luteum begins to produce progesterone, which is needed to sustain the pregnancy until implantation occurs and the developing placenta begins to produce hormones. So conception = increased progesterone levels which prevents the uterine lining from being shed.

Neither stopping nor continuing to take birth control pills will affect this progesterone production, so the newly conceived pregnancy is safe.

[ncoli123]

We actually went over something like this in class. As I understand it the changes to the endometrium make it likely that there will be no implantation. Apparently for this reason some pharmacist are refusing to distribute OCP's. Correct me if I 'm wrong it was only mentioned briefly. NIC

[rnmomtobe2010]

All I can say is I haven't made it to nursing school, but I will say this...every woman is different. I bleed while taking birth control pills and I took them every day at the same consistently. I have a six yr. old son. My cycle stopped and I was so silly and young, I did not realize it. He had no birth defects. Same with my daughter...I was on the depo-provera when I became pregnant with her. Now I am hoping that my tubes being tied will do the trick!!!