The decision to have a baby is one of the biggest you'll ever make, and after making that step you'll want things to go as smoothly as possible.
Understanding your ovulation cycle is the first thing to get your head round. Use our ovulation calculator to work out when you're ovulating. Then there are 10 things about ovulation every woman needs to know.
Read through our step-by-step guide, but first take note of our fertility facts.
Fertility facts
* The average age for having a first baby in the UK is now 30.
* A woman in her early twenties has double the chance of getting pregnant compared to a woman in her thirties.
* Four out of 10 healthy couples in their thirties will take more than 12 months to conceive.
* The quantity and quality of your eggs decline with age. Women in their twenties generally have good quality eggs, but after 35 years the quality decreases.
* Every baby girl is born with all her eggs intact in her ovaries, around 300,000 to 400,000. When she reaches puberty an egg will be released each month.
1. What happens when you ovulate?
Every month your body prepares itself for a pregnancy, so each month you release an egg from your ovum. This usually happens mid-cycle, about 14 days into your cycle, but cycles do vary. One of your ovaries will release an egg one month and the other the next and the egg then travels down your fallopian tube to the womb. If it isn't fertilised by a sperm it's then shed with your womb lining during your period.
2. How long does your cycle last?
Every woman is different. The average cycle is 28 days. But many healthy, fertile women will have a cycle slightly shorter or longer than this so won't necessarily ovulate on day 14. So, if yours isn't spot on 28 days, don't worry. It doesn't mean there's a problem with your fertility. When you ovulate depends on the due date of your next period and not the previous one. Eg: If your cycle regularly lasts 31 days, you should ovulate on day 17. So if you have sex on your prime fertile days, between days 14 and 17, you have a good chance of falling pregnant. Confused? Try our ovulation date calculator.
3. What triggers ovulation?
It's all down to hormones. You produce Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) during the first part of your cycle that triggers your body to start the process of maturing eggs for ovulation. High levels of oestrogen are produced at this time that triggers a release of LH, Luteinizing Hormone, causing the mature egg to burst from the follicle. That is ovulation. Normally, only one egg will be large enough to burst through the follicle during ovulation.
4. How can you tell if you're ovulating?
If you learn to 'read' your body and get to know your cycle you should be able to tell when you're ovulating. The key is to look out for changes in your cervical secretions. After your period you can feel quite dry for a day or so and then get a sticky, whitish type of secretion. Then, when you start to ovulate the secretion from your vagina will change to a clear, sticky, mucus- like discharge. It's wettish and stretchy. like raw egg white, and normally quite noticeable, so start looking out for it. This is a sure sign you're ovulating.
5. Do ovulation prediction kits and temperature charts work?
Yes, they can be a useful guide. They can tell you when you're ovulating, but can be inaccurate on timing. Learning to read your body and pinpointing the fertile time in your cycle is cheaper and often more affective. Ovulation kits work by testing your urine for a hormone surge which occurs just before ovulation. By the time you get the result, the window of opportunity may have passed. Something called Basal body temperature (BBT) measurements used to be used but rely on the fact that your body temperature increases a very small amount after ovulation. Again, you may have already ovulated by the time you get this information, so it's too late to conceive.
6. How long do the egg and sperm live for?
An egg lives for about 12-24 hours after you ovulate, and sperm can live for five to seven days. Ideally, you need a lot of sperm on stand-by to pounce on that egg when it's released, so have sex in the days leading up to when you ovulate and a day after. You only release the one egg, but a single ejaculation from your partner will supply millions of sperm, so keep the supply up by having lots of sex.
7. Can you only conceive if you have sex on the day you ovulate?
No, that's a myth. Because sperm can live for up to a week after ejaculation, they may still be in your fallopian tube when you ovulate, and so able to fertilise an egg. Research shows that even if you have sex six days prior to ovulation you stand a good chance of conceiving. If you wait to have sex only on the day you ovulate you may miss your chance of pregnancy altogether.
8. So when should you have sex?
Current recommendations from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists are that you should avoid timed intercourse and instead have sex several times a week around the time of ovulation. This is thought to be the best way to have a good chance of pregnancy. So don't get hung up about having sex on the day you ovulate, and don't assume you are ovulating on the 14th day of your cycle. Just have lots of sex in that week around ovulation and make sure you keep it about having fun rather than obsessing over making a baby - our sex tips might help.
9. Can ovulation be painful?
Some women get a sharp pain in their lower abdomen, called Mittelschmerz, as the ripe egg is released by the ovary. Rarely women may lose a small amount of blood when you ovulate too.
10. Why can it be so difficult to get pregnant?
Humans just aren't very fertile as a species. You only have a one in three chance of conceiving every month - and that's just when you're a healthy twenty-something. As you get into your thirties those chances become less with fertility dropping rapidly after 35 years in women.
Julia Shaw
Good to know
A great online fertility and conception resource with an ovulation calculator, details of pregnancy symptoms including the early signs of pregnancy.
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