Page 2 | Accidental pregnancy

Chocolateisnice · 2023-04-27T13:21:41+00:00

I see quite a few threads where people have said their contraception failed so are now pregnant. I don't understand how so many people have failed contraception, is it due to people just not being careful enough or do they really have that high failure rate?! Just intrigued... if you have had failed contraception, how did it fail?

WithyouFromDuskTilDawn · 27/04/2023 15:06

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:03

I know the outcome is the same, and in reality it doesn't matter how it happened. I was just curious if there were a lot more pregnancies due to failed contraception or human error. Like I said, absolutely no judgment at all, I am just curious.

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Weird that you made the comment about infertility though.

Original poster

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:07

WithyouFromDuskTilDawn · 27/04/2023 15:06

Weird that you made the comment about infertility though.

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I have a couple of friends who are currently going down the IVF route and one spoke about this the other day and just got me thinking.

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thehonscupboard · 27/04/2023 15:09

I suddenly couldn't feel the strings on my coil so used condoms until I was reassured by a gynaecologist that it was still there. Baby conceived two weeks later. I was breastfeeding and my periods hadn't started again so weren't missed. When I eventually found out I was pregnant and had to tell people, it really wound me up if they assumed I'd not taken the pill correctly.

Mismatc · 27/04/2023 15:11

I got pregnant on the mirena coil, it happens!

There are many contraception fails which are human error. Playing devil’s advocate, you could argue that it isn’t great contraception if it is so difficult to achieve good protection. Therefore, it is kind of the fault of the contraception.

I wonder more about “contraception fails” when one member of the couple actually aims to get pregnant without the consent of the other. I know a couple of people who have told me that they have done this. That said, I do also think that a man should take control of his fertility and also take measures if he is sure he would not like children.

WaltzingWaters · 27/04/2023 15:16

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:00

Oh wow!! See this is the first story I have heard where everything was done properly and still resulted in a pregnancy.
I hope everything worked out for you

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I am still in disbelief about it and think back about if I did anything wrong 😂 It’s the first one with three fails that gets me.

We decided to keep it despite being a new relationship. Ended in a miscarriage. It was devastating but ended out for the best really. The second pregnancy was not far from when we’d wanted to start trying anyway, he’s now a gorgeous happy 1 year old. It did mean I had to cancel my dive trip which sucked. But he’s so worth it! (Even though my friends saw a school of hammerheads on that trip!)

Original poster

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:17

thehonscupboard · 27/04/2023 15:09

I suddenly couldn't feel the strings on my coil so used condoms until I was reassured by a gynaecologist that it was still there. Baby conceived two weeks later. I was breastfeeding and my periods hadn't started again so weren't missed. When I eventually found out I was pregnant and had to tell people, it really wound me up if they assumed I'd not taken the pill correctly.

Oh wow! See this is definitely a contraceptive fail, not human error!! It would frustrate me too if they assumed. Hope all is OK now!
I remember a doctor at my 6 week post partum check up telling me I can't get pregnant when breastfeeding!! Absolute madness that he told me that!!

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Original poster

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:18

WaltzingWaters · 27/04/2023 15:16

I am still in disbelief about it and think back about if I did anything wrong 😂 It’s the first one with three fails that gets me.

We decided to keep it despite being a new relationship. Ended in a miscarriage. It was devastating but ended out for the best really. The second pregnancy was not far from when we’d wanted to start trying anyway, he’s now a gorgeous happy 1 year old. It did mean I had to cancel my dive trip which sucked. But he’s so worth it! (Even though my friends saw a school of hammerheads on that trip!)

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Oh I am sorry for your loss. Lovely to hear that you have a healthy and happy one year old!!

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Original poster

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:20

Mismatc · 27/04/2023 15:11

I got pregnant on the mirena coil, it happens!

There are many contraception fails which are human error. Playing devil’s advocate, you could argue that it isn’t great contraception if it is so difficult to achieve good protection. Therefore, it is kind of the fault of the contraception.

I wonder more about “contraception fails” when one member of the couple actually aims to get pregnant without the consent of the other. I know a couple of people who have told me that they have done this. That said, I do also think that a man should take control of his fertility and also take measures if he is sure he would not like children.

Very good point about people wanting to get pregnant and not being totally honest with their partner. I actually know someone who did this too, they 'accidentally' missed some pills!

OP posts:

thehonscupboard · 27/04/2023 15:38

It was a big, big shock but I'm happy it happened now. I kept saying variations on 'I haven't felt this tired/sick etc. since I was pregnant.' And 'if I didn't have a coil I'd be taking a pregnancy test because I feel almost as bad as I did when I was pregnant..' . Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so shocked.. My husband had a couple of close friends who were struggling with infertility at the time and felt awful telling them.

Emmamoo89 · 27/04/2023 21:19

GameOfBumps · 27/04/2023 14:55

Often it is human error, but sometimes shit happens. Condoms split, pill isn't absorbed due to stomach bug/vomitting from alcohol consumption, patch falls off, coils fall out or move slightly. Even tubal ligations have a decent fail rate if things reconnect/clips come off etc.

Then you have human errors such as forgetting to take a pill or when next coil/implant/injection due. Lack of education where people think pull out is a form of contraception or 'I can't get pregnant because I'm breastfeeding'.

End of the day, whether its contraceptive or human error, the outcome is the same and I don't really care which one as long as they're not trying to sue over it 😂.

Chances of pregnancy in the first 3 months of breastfeeding is zero and then less than 2% between month 3 and 6. Can't remember what the hormone is called but its still pretty high till 6 months. Then lowers after 6 months.

TheNachtzehrer · 27/04/2023 21:25

I got pregnant with an IUD in place. It was still exactly where it was supposed to be. It just... didn't stop me getting pregnant.

Contraception does fail, even when used as it's supposed to. Not that often, but it does.

GameOfBumps · 27/04/2023 21:40

Emmamoo89 · 27/04/2023 21:19

Chances of pregnancy in the first 3 months of breastfeeding is zero and then less than 2% between month 3 and 6. Can't remember what the hormone is called but its still pretty high till 6 months. Then lowers after 6 months.

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Thanks for proving my point because that is categorically incorrect. You can get pregnant as little as 3 weeks after giving birth even when breastfeeding. The chances of conception are lower in the first 6 months providing SEVERAL other things inaddition to breastfeeding are true (including but not limited to exclusive breastfeeding, no pumping, no giving baby a dummy, baby wakes up frequently in the night to feed in addition to regular feedings during the day). Even if you exclusively breastfeed, baby sleeping longer stretches at night can result in fertility returning even if your period hasn't returned.

Plus, even if all of the conditions are met, 2 in 100 women will still get pregnant. Breastfeeding is not birth control alone, and I have known a couple of people with 2 kids less than 12 months apart as a result of believing that.

dwightschrutebeets · 27/04/2023 22:30

Tbf to me the condom broke, took the MAP and jr didn't work. Went on to have an abortion. It really was an accident and a really shitty one

dwightschrutebeets · 27/04/2023 22:32

Chances of pregnancy in the first 3 months of breastfeeding is zero and then less than 2% between month 3 and 6

@Emmamoo89 this is absolutely not true.

zorrodrt · 27/04/2023 23:06

I have gotten pregnant twice with failed contraceptive
1st one was condoms (must have broke)
2nd I had the coil in (god knows how that happened)
Bottom line is nothing is 100% guaranteed

fyn · 27/04/2023 23:10

I got pregnant whilst using the patch. It had worked well for years but they did used to lose their stickiness sometimes, I’d just replace them if they did. I guess one wasn’t attached sufficiently!

DifferenceEngines · 27/04/2023 23:23

If you google, you can find "real world" contraception failure rates and "perfect use" failure rates.

There are posts here that take on a tone of blaming people for human error contraception failure rates. That's unrealistic. People aren't robots, and don't do things perfectly. I would argue that for the pill, designing something that relies on a person doing something the same way every day is a design failure.

And of course, when this predictable failure happens, a woman is blamed, not the imperfect product!

Whataretheodds · 27/04/2023 23:27

Chocolateisnice · 27/04/2023 15:00

Oh wow!! See this is the first story I have heard where everything was done properly and still resulted in a pregnancy.
I hope everything worked out for you

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But there are plenty. A friend got pregnant on the implant.

What is your point?

Tookeffort81 · 28/04/2023 07:52

Whataretheodds · 27/04/2023 23:27

But there are plenty. A friend got pregnant on the implant.

What is your point?

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Well I wouldn’t say “plenty”, as otherwise the UK’s Regulatory Agency wouldn’t issue a license for it to be prescribed in this country!

GameOfBumps · 28/04/2023 10:11

Tookeffort81 · 28/04/2023 07:52

Well I wouldn’t say “plenty”, as otherwise the UK’s Regulatory Agency wouldn’t issue a license for it to be prescribed in this country!

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Why not? Even something 99.9% effective when used correctly will still mean 1 in 1000 will get pregnant. Considering there's 30 million women in the UK, probably about 10 million can get pregnant and 3.1 million are on the pill. If 1 in 1000 women get pregnant that are using the pill thats over 3000 women. That's a lot of pregnancies, but 99.9% effective is still very good and certainly better than contraception not being approved. You're just dealing with very high numbers.

Tookeffort81 · 28/04/2023 10:30

GameOfBumps · 28/04/2023 10:11

Why not? Even something 99.9% effective when used correctly will still mean 1 in 1000 will get pregnant. Considering there's 30 million women in the UK, probably about 10 million can get pregnant and 3.1 million are on the pill. If 1 in 1000 women get pregnant that are using the pill thats over 3000 women. That's a lot of pregnancies, but 99.9% effective is still very good and certainly better than contraception not being approved. You're just dealing with very high numbers.

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3000 pregnancies.

that’s double the size of my child’s school

you honestly think that stat is “plenty”?

it seems absolutely tiny to me!!