Pregnancy is a sensitive event in a women’s life. In medical terms, it is the development of one or more embryos. It normally takes about nine months for the embryo to take the shape of a baby. There are many issues related to the pregnancy period. Some of the more important ones are as follows:

The Three Trimesters

The pregnancy stage is spread over a period of three trimesters. The first trimester is usually marred with the risk of a miscarriage. This means the death of the embryo due to natural and other reasons. The probability of such eventuality in this period is very high. In the second trimester, the embryo makes the usual progress in development. The third and final trimester deals with the fetus learning to survive the pregnancy period and getting ready to enter the world.

How Does Pregnancy Happen?

The process begins with the release of the male sperm inside a woman during sexual intercourse. The sperm unites with the female egg and the subsequent fertilization leads to pregnancy. A woman conceives as soon as the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterine lining. The implantation is followed by the release of the chorionic gonadotropin hormone. This results in the activation of the corpus luteum in the ovary, which leads to an increase in the level of progesterone. This explains the symptoms usually encountered during pregnancy. The first day of the last menstrual cycle is used to calculate the due date of the delivery.

Due Date

It is the date when a pregnant woman is expected to deliver the baby. On an average, the human pregnancy period lasts for about 40 weeks. However, the exact duration of the conception period varies and depends on a number of factors.

Premature Baby

Generally, a baby is born within a couple of weeks of the due date. However, if it is born before the completion of 37 weeks of conception, the baby is considered premature. Likewise, if the birth date is 43 weeks after the mother conceived, the baby is considered post mature. Interestingly, only as many as 10 percent babies are born on the exact due date.

There are a number of emotional and psychological changes that take place inside a woman’s body during the pregnancy period. This is in addition to the physical bearing that she has to undergo. You need to be in constant touch with your doctor at all times. You need to observe the rapidly occurring changes taking place inside your body, especially in the last pregnancy week. It’s a tough time to contend with. But, it’s only after you have endured the pains of pregnancy that you get to enjoy the pleasure of motherhood.

Many new mothers call the first period after pregnancy “horrifying”. And after nine whole months of period-free life, you really don’t want them to resume, do you? Whatever you may experience, there are certain things you need to be aware of regarding your first period after pregnancy.

How Breastfeeding Affects Your First Period

Breastfeeding will affect your first period after pregnancy. Pregnancy Breastfeeding has a huge affect on the ovulation cycle. If you choose not to breastfeed the baby, you can expect your menstrual cycle to begin only two months after the delivery. However, even if you are breastfeeding, your period may resume at the similar time about two months after childbirth. But with some women, it begins to ovulate again once they stop breastfeeding all together.

Prolactin Affect On Periods

When your body is producing milk, your pituitary glands will produce more of the hormone called “Prolactin”. It is known to suppress the ovarian functions. The increase in Prolactin affects each new mother differently. Some women will not experience irregular cycles while breastfeeding, while some will find that they are ovulating one month and not the next. Do not take stress even if your periods happen to be irregular after the delivery, it’s normal. However, if you are still confused or concerned, you can always consult your doctor for more information.

Pregnancy After Delivery

If you fail to get pregnant after the delivery, there is nothing to get confuse with the lack of ovulation cycle and the inability to become pregnant again. You need to understand that breastfeeding is not a form of contraception. The sensation of the baby sucking the nipples sends a message to the brain to suppress the hormone that stimulates ovulation. The effectiveness of this suppression depends on the strength and frequency of the sucking. Thus, for breastfeeding to work as a means of contraception, the baby would have to nurse literally twenty-four, seven.

While having your first period after pregnancy is traumatic to some but a bummer to some who enjoyed not having to worry about it for nine months. It should not be a “horrifying” occurrence, chalk the differences when you begin to ovulate again up to all of those subtle nuances you now know your body is capable of.