A missed period is often the first sign that makes a woman realize that she might be pregnant. In an average menstrual cycle of 28 days, ovulation occurs 14 days before the onset of the next period. If the egg is fertilized as it moves down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, then, once it reaches the uterus, the embryo embeds itself in the wall of the uterus. This is known as implantation. Some women may feel a tinge of pain or notice a spot of bleeding when implantation symptoms occurs, but most women are not aware of it. The missed period after fertilization and implantation occurs is the first indication...
...of the new life in the womb for a majority of women.
Amenorrhea is the condition where a woman’s menstrual periods fail to appear. When this happens in a woman who has had regular menstrual cycles in the past, it is called secondary amenorrhea. Though stress, sudden weight loss, breast feeding, etc. can delay the onset of periods, the most common cause is amenorrhea after pregnancy. In the case of mothers who breastfeed their babies, periods may be irregular or delayed and regular periods resume once they stop breast feeding. Birth control pills and hormone problems have also been identified as causes of skipped periods. Missed periods are also common when a woman approaches the menopause stage.
Women who are trying to get pregnant often try to look for pregnancy symptoms before missed period which indicate that conception has taken place. Apart from barely perceptible implantation pain and mild spotting which a majority of women do not experience, there are no definite easily recognizable indications that appear once the egg is fertilized.
For women who are trying to conceive a baby, a missed period after ovulation is an encouraging and hopeful sign that pregnancy may have occurred. Fertility experts ask women to take their body temperature first thing every morning and plot it on a graph to pinpoint ovulation as it is the period when conception is most likely to occur. It is quite possible that a pregnancy test may turn up negative despite fertilization and implantation of the embryo, particularly when it is done early. A missed period after pregnancy test with negative results may mean that you need to a consult a doctor after a reasonable period of waiting. Stress, hormonal disorders, training for vigorous sports, and sudden weight loss may also lead to missed periods.
Read more articles from the Pregnancy Signs and Symptoms Category.
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