Can I keep a child if my contraception fails?

Many young couples have just gotten married and are busy with their careers, so they will naturally take contraceptive measures during their sexual lives because this can prevent unwanted pregnancies. However, contraception is not 100% accurate and there is a high probability of contraceptive failure. If pregnancy occurs after contraceptive failure, whether the child can be kept or not still needs to be decided after examination.

The couple was extremely conflicted: if they got pregnant after the birth control pills failed, would the child be affected by the drugs? Can I still have it?

See if it is an "all or nothing" period

Among couples of childbearing age, many will actively prepare for pregnancy, but unexpected pregnancies are also not uncommon. Due to insufficient preparation, many problems arose for this unexpected child. Among them, children’s health is the issue that prospective parents are most concerned about.

During pregnancy, drugs can directly pass through the placental barrier and have adverse effects on the embryo. The hormone components in contraceptives are usually artificially synthesized hormones rather than natural hormones. These artificially synthesized sex hormones may have certain effects on the fetus, such as feminization of male fetuses or masculinization of female fetuses, reproductive tract malformations of female fetuses, and testicular hypoplasia of male fetuses. In addition, contraceptives can also indirectly affect embryonic development by affecting the mother's endocrine system and metabolism, such as causing spontaneous abortion.

So does it mean that a child conceived after taking birth control pills cannot be kept? The effect of drugs on the embryo is closely related to fetal age. In the early stage of implantation, that is, within 2 weeks after fertilization, the fertilized egg has not yet come into direct contact with the maternal tissue and is still in the fallopian tube or uterine cavity secretions. Therefore, the use of drugs during this period has little effect on the embryo. Clinically, this period is also called the "all or nothing" period. That is, if the medication is used during this period and the medication is highly toxic, the fertilized egg will not be able to implant and will not be able to continue to develop into an embryo; if the medication does not affect the implantation of the fertilized egg, then the medication will have little effect on the embryo. However, after the late blastocyst implantation, that is, two weeks after fertilization, the embryo has established a connection with the mother through the villi and placenta. If pregnant women take medication at this time, the drugs may interfere with the normal differentiation of embryonic or fetal tissues and organs. Whether you can have a child after birth control pills fail depends on whether the medication is taken during the "all or nothing" period.

Contraceptive pills have the risk of failure, so you should be mentally prepared

Why can I still get pregnant after taking birth control pills? Currently commonly used contraceptives include short-acting contraceptives, long-acting contraceptives and emergency contraceptives. Their ingredients are mostly compound preparations of estrogen and progesterone, or low-dose or strong progesterone. The contraceptive principle is that it can inhibit ovulation, or change the quality of cervical mucus, hinder sperm penetration, thereby hindering fertilization or inhibiting endometrial proliferation and causing poor secretion, which is not conducive to the implantation of the fertilized egg. But it should be noted that the success rate of any contraceptive measure is not 100%. Among them, failure to take medication as prescribed: such as missing short-acting contraceptives or having unprotected sex again after taking emergency contraceptives, is the main cause of contraceptive failure; secondly, improper storage of contraceptives resulting in drug ineffectiveness, absorption disorders due to gastrointestinal reasons, or certain medications taken at the same time interfering with the efficacy of contraceptives are also causes of contraceptive failure.

Contraceptive pills are not a panacea. Even if they have a 99% success rate, you must be mentally prepared for the 1% possibility of failure.

To continue the pregnancy, some tests must be done

As we all know, artificial abortion causes considerable harm to women's bodies. Therefore, regarding the issue of whether pregnancy must be terminated after contraceptive failure, both couples must go to a regular hospital for consultation and refer to the reasonable suggestions made by experienced doctors based on the specific situation to minimize the risks.

If you choose to continue the pregnancy, pregnancy monitoring should be strengthened. Generally speaking, congenital defects can be detected early through screening and the birth of children with congenital defects can be prevented. The specific contents are: In the early pregnancy, it is recommended to have a blood test for stage I Down syndrome screening at 7 to 13 weeks of pregnancy, and to do NT at 11 to 13 weeks of pregnancy to assess the risk of chromosomal abnormalities; due to a history of exposure to adverse drugs, it is recommended to perform amniocentesis at 18 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, draw amniotic fluid for fetal cell culture, and perform fetal chromosome karyotype analysis to understand whether there are any chromosomal abnormalities; prenatal diagnostic ultrasound is required around 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy to observe the fetal structure and understand whether there are any developmental abnormalities.