Pregnancy After NuvaRing Removal: Chances & Timeline

Question
Two months ago, i forgot to put my nuva ring in on time, so i left it out all month. last month i put it in all month, but i took antibiotics periodically. I took nuva ring out on feb. 13, 2008. I started my period on feb. 16. i have not put the nuva ring back in since feb. 13. my husband and i have had unprotected sex the whole time, what are my chances of being pregnant. my next period is due on march 15th, however a baby is welcome.

Answer
Dear Brandy,

If the NuvaRing has been out of the vagina for more than three continuous hours during the 1st or 2nd week of use, contraceptive effectiveness may be reduced. If you had unprotected sex and did not use a back up method, you may have been susceptible to pregnancy.

If NuvaRing has been out of the vagina for more than three continuous hours during the 3rd week of the three-week use period, the woman should discard that ring completely. You then either have to insert a new ring immediately OR have your withdrawal bleeding and insert a new ring no later than seven days later. You are susceptible to pregnancy unless a back-up method of birth control is used until NuvaRing has been used for seven consecutive days.

Since you have had the NuvaRing out for approximately 17 days, I would say your chances of having conceived are fairly high if you have been having unprotected sex during the entire 17 days. I would suggest that you wait and see what happens with the next cycle. If the next period is missed or unusually short or spotty, I recommend testing the week after that. Although some tests claim accuracy on the first day of a missed period, I usually suggest that women wait until the week after a missed or spotty period before testing for pregnancy. This tends to minimize the incidence of false negative results and also avoids wasting money on a test for a simple delay of a period by a few days. When/if you test make sure to use 1st morning urine to get a concentrated sample for the most accurate results.

I hope this has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda