could i be pregnant?

Hi Anon,

Thanks for your question! The brown discharge you experienced could be caused by a few things:

Breakthrough of Menstrual Flow
Menstrual flow often consists of several layers, which include old blood, endometrial lining, nutrients etc. All these layers are discharged together as menstrual flow. However, at times only a layer of nutrients may be discharged before the actual menstrual flow. This causes the brown discharge before period.

Contraceptive Pills
It is a well established fact that contraceptive pills interfere with the hormones in the body. They regulate your menstrual cycle by changing the levels of the hormones involved in menstruation and pregnancy. However, if you fail to take the pills as per the prescription, then you might get a brown discharge before period.

Implantation Bleeding
Implantation bleeding or implantation spotting is an early sign of pregnancy. It is an indication that the fetus has implanted itself in the uterine lining, called as endometrial lining. While the fetus burrows itself inside the lining, it leads to rupture of the lining. This causes implantation spotting which is either pink or brown in color. However, implantation spotting is very light and occurs for about 2 - 3 days. It occurs after 6 to 12 days after ovulation or a week prior to your impending period.

For what it's worth-- it sounds like you may have had this brown blood due to that missed pill that was taken late. Pregnancy tests will not provide an accurate result until your period has been late or is about to be late.

All the best!
Rosa