How to Know If You're Pregnant While Taking Birth Control

Overview

Abstinence is the only birth control method that is 100 percent effective. All other methods have a potential to fail, and the birth control pill is no exception. It is important to be able to pick up the signs that you may be pregnant while taking birth control so you can obtain appropriate medical care. Luckily, doing so may be easier than you think.

Step 1

Get out the calendar. Determine the date of your last period and try to recall if you have had intercourse since this date. Although birth control pills are supposed to prevent ovulation altogether, if the pill was not working properly it is possible that you may have ovulated at any point in your cycle. Therefore, any sexual intercourse that has occurred since your last menstrual period may have resulted in conception.

Step 2

Determine if you have been using your birth control method properly. Think back and remember if there was ever a day where you took your birth control pill at an unusual time or if you ever missed a pill at any point during the month. Although it's possible to still be pregnant even if you took your birth control perfectly all month, the chances are increased with improper use.

Step 3

Note any changes in physical symptoms. Having an unusually light period or no period at all may be the most obvious sign that you could be pregnant, but there are other symptoms to look for as well. Breast tenderness, nipple changes, nausea or vomiting, fatigue or frequent urination are some symptoms that may indicate you could be pregnant.

Step 4

Take a home pregnancy test. For the most accurate results, it may be best to wait to test until you officially miss your period. Home pregnancy tests are available at any drugstore and are fairly inexpensive. They are also easy to use, with most tests only requiring you to urinate on the test stick and wait a few minutes to view the results. However, it is important to follow the directions on the package to ensure the accuracy of the results.

Step 5

Get confirmation from a health care professional. If you do not trust the results from the home pregnancy test, your doctor can do a blood test that will determine if there are any pregnancy hormones present in your bloodstream. This test will be able to tell you conclusively whether or not you are pregnant. However, since you are probably unsure of your exact date of ovulation, it may be best to wait until you miss a period before testing so you do not run the risk of getting a false negative result by attempting to test too soon.