The Pregnancy Panic Companion: When Periods Are Irregular

This is part of our Pregnancy Panic Companion. Click here to go back to the beginning.

You said you are scared about a pregnancy, but your menstrual period (or your partner’s) is irregular or infrequent.

Instructions for the timing of pregnancy⁠ (pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the uterus. Medically, someone is considered to be pregnant when an egg has been fertilized by sperm, cells divide, and the fertilized egg is implanted within the lining of the uterus.) tests talk about taking tests when a period⁠ (period: The fluid – or flow – which contains blood, from the shedding of the uterine lining usually at the end of each menstrual cycle. Sometimes periods may be less fluid and more globby; this is the state that is often mistaken for blood clotting.) is absent or late.  But if periods are irregular or infrequent, you can’t know when to expect a period, so you also can’t know when a period is late.

So:

• If it has been three weeks or less since the risk you are worried about, then the information on this page is what applies to you, because it is probably too early for you to take a pregnancy test⁠ (pregnancy test: What we tell you to take when you ask us if you’re pregnant. A test that can be done at home or by a healthcare provider to determine pregnancy. Usually a urine test, a pregnancy test measures for a specific hormone, hCG, only produced with pregnancy.) .
• If it has been three or more weeks since the risk you are worried about, then the information on this page is what applies to you, because enough time has passed since your risk for a pregnancy test to give accurate results.