When should I take a pregnancy test if I have a late period?

Dear Extra worry,  

It's unlikely that you could have gotten pregnant without having any semen come into contact with your vaginal canal. However, if you still have the maybe baby blues, you can take a urine pregnancy test as soon as you miss your period to find out. It’s common for stress and fatigue to impact the menstrual cycle, so your finals frenzy might be the more likely culprit for your late period. If stress is impacting your diet or physical activity, that could also play a role in delaying your period. Read on to learn more! 

When should you take a pregnancy test?  

Urine tests can detect pregnancy as soon as you miss your period, and sometimes even earlier. Pregnancy tests work by detecting the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which you produce when you’re pregnant. Your body starts producing HCG six to ten days after conception. Some tests can detect pregnancy as early as possible. However, you’re more likely to have an accurate result if you wait until you’ve missed your period, when there is a greater amount of HCG. Taking the test with your first pee of the day also increases the chance of an accurate result, since your urine is more concentrated when you first wake up. 

Can you get pregnant without having penetrative sex?  

It’s very unlikely to get pregnant without having penetrative sex, but if semen somehow came into contact with your vagina, it is possible. This might happen if your partner ejaculated on your vulva or inner thighs and it dripped into the vagina before being cleaned off. It’s also possible to transfer semen if a finger or sex toy penetrated the vagina after touching semen. However, there’s a fairly low chance that either of these situations would lead to pregnancy.  

Can stress and fatigue delay your period?  

You mention that you’ve been dealing with stress and fatigue because of finals. These are both cycle saboteursstress and poor sleep are commonly associated with irregular menstrual cycles.  

When the body’s stressed or fatigued, it produces a hormone called cortisol. If you have consistently high levels of cortisol, it makes it harder for the body to release enough luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Both hormones are necessary for the regular progression of your menstrual cycle and for triggering your period. So, if something’s impacting your body’s production of LH and FSH, it could result in a delayed or missed period.  

What else can cause a late or missed period?  

Other factors can also cause a late period, besides pregnancy, stress, and fatigue. These include:  

• Intense physical activity.
• Undernourishment, including from an eating disorder.
• Increased consumption of processed foods and fried food items.  

List adapted from VeryWell Health and Healthline 

You might be dealing with some of these triggers because you’re stressed, which only adds fuel to the fire. For example, it’s common for people to change their diet or eat more irregularly during stressful periods. Other people sweat it out for stress relief and might over-exert themselves during times like finals. If you’ve noticed that your stress has caused any changes in your eating or exercise habits, that could also be impacting your delayed period.  

Waiting on a late period is no fun, especially when you’re already stressed. Taking a pregnancy test the first day of your anticipated period might help you kick your extra worry to the curb.  

Best of luck flow-ing forward!