If you have normal periods, the hormones create a thick lining in the uterus in preparation for a fertilized egg. If no fertilized egg sticks to the lining, the body sheds it and you have a period. When perimenopause begins, the beginning of menopause, and is sometimes used interchangeably, you will have irregular periods. This is because the production of hormones, which create the lining of the uterus, stops or slows down production. Once you stop menstruating for a year, you are officially in menopause.
It is important to note that pregnancy occurs during perimenopause. Consider it the “last hooray” of your body to reproduce. To make things even more confusing and elusive, women often don’t realize they are pregnant because they haven’t had a period. They easily explain pregnancy weight gain as menopausal weight gain. In these cases, pregnant women who think they are in menopause rarely resort to a pregnancy test or physical exam. Often times, it is not until later in the pregnancy that they finally realize that they might not be symptoms of menopause, and seek medical attention.
Pregnancy during menopause
The exchange of terms between menopause and perimenopause makes it confusing. The correct use of the term menopause is the cessation of menstruation for a year or more. While underweight, malnutrition, and low body fat cause menstruation to stop, often for more than a year, it typically does not occur from the late 40s to the late 60s. If your menstrual cessation occurs for any reason other than normal aging, then yes, you could potentially be pregnant during menopause. However, the odds are pretty unlikely.
Pregnancy after menopause
Once a woman goes into a true state of menopause, she stops ovulating. The complete cessation of ovulation makes conception impossible. However, an occasional period, no matter how small, indicates that there is still ovulation and a possible pregnancy.
Most late pregnancies occur during the perimenopausal phase, when periods still occur occasionally and the body squeezes out the last of the necessary sex hormones. A woman in the perimenopausal phase of her life is not as likely to get pregnant as a woman in her 20s or 30s, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. For this reason, birth control is necessary until at least a year after your last period, if pregnancy is not part of your plans.
Symptoms of pregnancy and menopause
You will be amazed at how perimenopausal symptoms mirror pregnancy symptoms. Of course, the most obvious is the missed period caused by perimenopause and pregnancy.
During pregnancy, fatigue sets in and most women find it difficult to get up in the morning. Often this is due to the change in hormones produced and the energy used by the body for pregnancy. Perimenopausal women also experience fatigue, but it is due to sleep disruption caused by hormonal change.
Both pregnant women and perimenopausal women are known to have mood swings. They both occur for the same reason, changes in the body’s hormones.
Hot flashes rarely occur in pregnant women, so if you have all of the symptoms and hot flashes above, you are probably not pregnant.
What to do if you suspect you are pregnant
If you think you might be pregnant, see a doctor for a blood test. Home pregnancy tests are often not enough to detect your condition right away. Many women have miscarriages, miscarriages, during a perimenopausal pregnancy. Your child’s health may be at stake. If you take the blood test and it shows that you are not pregnant, you can relax.