Missed pills and unprotected sex - could I be pregnant?

Author: Aunt Vadge
Qualified Naturopath | BHSc(N)

Last reviewed: June 30, 2026

Hi Aunt Vadge,

If I had sex on the 27th, 28th, 29th, 1st, 2nd and 5th (Oct/Nov), and he came in me every time, but I started my period on the 2nd and ended on the 5th — what are the chances I’m pregnant? I’m on the pill, but I forgot to take it on two of the nights.

Thanks,
Worried

Hello Worried,

I’ll be straight with you, because unlike a lot of pregnancy worries this one carries a real risk worth acting on: missed pills plus ejaculation inside you means the pill may not have been protecting you. So the time-sensitive thing comes first.

If your most recent unprotected sex (the 5th) was within the last five days, emergency contraception is your immediate move, and the sooner the better — the morning-after pill is over the counter (levonorgestrel works best within 72 hours, ulipristal acetate up to 120), and a copper IUD fitted within five days is the most effective of all and becomes your ongoing contraception into the bargain.

If you’re in that window, please go today; this is the one step that can actually change the outcome.

The reason the risk is real here is worth understanding. Missing pills breaks the protection — especially two, and especially near the start of a pack, right after the hormone-free days, when your levels are already low and ovulation can sneak through.

Sperm survive about five days, so sex spread across several days around those missed pills widens the window considerably. And your ‘period’ doesn’t clear you: bleeding on the pill is a withdrawal bleed, a response to the hormone drop, not a true period, and it doesn’t guarantee you’re not pregnant.

Once you’ve sorted the urgent question, the rest is straightforward. Follow the missed-pill instructions in your particular pill’s leaflet (they vary by brand), and use condoms as backup until you’ve taken seven active pills in a row.

Take a pregnancy test from about two weeks after the last unprotected sex (or from the first day of a properly missed bleed) for an accurate result.

And if forgetting turns out to be a pattern, it’s worth thinking about a method that doesn’t rely on remembering a daily pill — an IUD or implant — so a busy week can’t catch you out again; an alarm helps in the meantime.

None of this is to frighten you. It’s to put the power back in your hands while there’s still time to use it.

Take care,
Aunt Vadge

This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice.