Is it possible to have normal periods and be pregnant

Mayo Clinic. Bleeding during pregnancy. Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy. Join now to personalize. Photo credit: iStock.

You can't have your menstrual period while you're pregnant. Sources BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world.

Darienne Hosley Stewart. Featured video. The real reason they didn't know they were pregnant. Spotting during pregnancy. What is a cryptic pregnancy? Ectopic pregnancy. Subchorionic hematoma in pregnancy. Implantation bleeding. New to BabyCenter? Health Chevron. Whether you're trying to become pregnant or trying your hardest to avoid it, you can usually take your period as a sign that you don't have to think about a baby anytime soon.

But, in a new interview with InStyle, Serena Williams says she actually got a period during the early stages of her pregnancy—and she was completely floored to find out that she was actually pregnant. She was even more shocked when her doctor told her she was seven weeks along. Oh, and she was playing in the Australian Open at the time. Just a little refresher: Every month if you're ovulating , the lining of your uterus thickens and an egg makes its way from one of your ovaries through the fallopian tubes.

If it comes in contact with sperm, the sperm can fertilize the egg. If fertilization happens, the egg will continue its journey to the uterus and can implant on that lining. If things continue from there, the fertilized egg becomes an embryo and, later, a fetus and the placenta will develop from the uterine lining.

But, if the egg doesn't get fertilized, your body sheds that built-up uterine lining through your vagina, causing a period. View on Instagram. Thomas Ruiz, M. But you could have bleeding in early pregnancy that just so happens to coincide with when your period is due, Dr. Schaffir says. In fact, up to 30 percent of pregnant people have some form of bleeding in early pregnancy, according to the American Pregnancy Association. If you have these symptoms, alert your doctor right away.

Bleeding in the first trimester can also be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy when the fetus starts to grow outside of your womb, usually in a fallopian tube. The amount of bleeding with an ectopic pregnancy may vary.

It's also associated with unilateral pain, dizziness, or lightheadedness, says Dr. Ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening if untreated, so rapid diagnosis is key. Hakakha, other reasons you might see bleeding during the first trimester are a subchorionic hemorrhage a blood clot that forms behind the developing placenta , a cervical infection, placenta previa when the placenta implants and grows over the cervix , or benign cervical polyps.

During the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, bleeding can also result from vasa previa where the blood vessels of the placenta are in an abnormal location and cross over the cervix , a placental abruption where the placenta begins to pull away from the wall of the uterus prematurely, or labor, says Dr.

Although bleeding in pregnancy is common, it's never normal, explains Dr. If someone is pregnant and bleeding, with or without pain, they should call their doctor for further instruction. By Jennifer Barton Updated April 12, Save Pin FB More. Here's How to Tell. Be the first to comment! No comments yet.