14 Conception & Pregnancy Myths Debunked

There’s a rumor floating around the internet that 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant…again. Her newborn, Maddie Briann, is just three months old. This rumor originated from the National Enquirer so I think we need to wait for a more reputable publication before we start calling this rumor a fact.

However, I wanted to bring this up because the article states Jamie Lynn didn’t realize she needed to use protection since she is breastfeeding. Apparently she thought you couldn’t get pregnant while you are breastfeeding. This made me realized there are a lot of these pregnancy myths out there that teenagers believe. And we need to debunk them right now.

1. Myth: You can’t get pregnant the first time you have sex.
   Fact: If you are ovulating it doesn’t matter if it’s the first time or the 100th time you’ve had sex, you can still get pregnant. You get pregnant when the sperm fertilizes the egg. Neither the sperm nor the egg care how many times you’ve had sex previously.
2. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you’ve never had a period.
   Fact: You may ovulate 14 days before your first period so it is possible to get pregnant even if you haven’t had a period yet.
3. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you are too young.
   Fact: Even if your body is too young for the stress of a pregnancy it’s still possible to get pregnant. If you have ovulated, you can get pregnant. As I said, some girls ovulate a couple of weeks before their very first period. Even girls as young as 10 or 11 have become pregnant.
4. Myth: You can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding.
   Fact: While breastfeeding may delay ovulation and your period, you can still get pregnant. As I stated above, you won’t get your first period post-baby until two weeks after you ovulate. So you will release an egg before you get your first period.
5. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if penetration only occurs for a few seconds.
   Fact: Any time there is direct contact between a penis and your vaginal area there is a chance of pregnancy even if your partner did not ejaculate. Either abstain from contact or use protection every single time.
6. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you don’t have an orgasm.
   Fact: An orgasm has no impact on pregnancy. If your partner released sperm, it can travel to the egg and fertilize it…regardless of whether or not you had an orgasm.
7. Myth: If the guy ejaculates several times before sex you won’t get pregnant.
   Fact: The number of times a man ejaculates does not decrease your chance of pregnancy. Each ejaculation contains about 300 million sperm, and only one is needed to fertilize an egg.
8. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if the guy pulls out.
   Fact: This is referred to as the withdrawal method and it is NOT a very effective form of birth control. Even if your partner pulls out he may still leave some pre-ejaculation. Most guys have no control over it and don’t feel it coming out. Pre-ejaculation does have sperm in it and can result in pregnancy.
9. Myth: You only get pregnant on the 14th day of your cycle (the 14th day after your period starts).
   Fact: You do not ovulate on the 14th day AFTER your period starts. You ovulate 14 days BEFORE your next period starts. If you have a 28 day cycle then you will ovulate around day 14. However if you have a 35-day cycle then you will ovulate around day 21. And if you have a 23-day cycle you will ovulate around day 9. Most women do not have perfect cycles and cannot predict with exact certainty when they will ovulate. Plus sperm can live in a woman’s body for 3-5 days.
10. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you have sex while you have your period.
    Fact: It is still possible to get pregnant if you have your period. Sperm can live for almost a week and if you have a short cycle that month you could ovulate early and indeed get pregnant.
11. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you douche after sex.
    Fact: Sperm are very fast swimmers and can reach the egg before you get the chance to “clean up.” Plus using a douche may actually thrust the sperm into your cervix quicker. Do NOT rely on douching or washing up as your form of birth control.
12. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you go to the bathroom immediately following sex.
    Fact: Your body works naturally to suck the sperm up into the cervix and to the egg, so going to the bathroom with not “flush” it out. (Sorry, bad pun had to be used.)
13. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you have sex standing up.
    Fact: It doesn’t matter what position you’re in. The sperm can swim in any position and your body naturally pulls the sperm to the egg. You can still get pregnant if the sperm meets the egg.
14. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you have sex in water.
    Fact: While you won’t get pregnant by just swimming in a pool that somebody ejaculated in (eww), you can still get pregnant if you have sex in the pool (or hot tub or bathtub or whatever). If there is penetration and ejaculation (or pre-ejaculation) where the sperm “swims” to the egg you may get pregnant.

Plus, as if that wasn’t enough, Snopes has some additional myths I had never heard. Aspirin? Sneezing? Where do people come up with these things?

I highly encourage teens to abstain from sex. But if they decide to have sex they need to use protection EVERY SINGLE TIME. It is possible to get pregnant if you have sex no matter how many times you’ve had sex, what position you are in or what you do following sex.

And since we are on the subject, teens should also be using condoms to avoid STDs. The pill will not protect you from herpes or gonorrhea or many other STDs.

Now go make sure your teen is informed.