Calculating your most fertile days
THERE are only about six days in each month when a woman can get pregnant if she has sexual intercourse. Knowing exactly when these days are, based on your cycle, can go a long way in helping you to get pregnant, or knowing when to avoid sex if you are trying to avoid pregnancy.
Consultant obstetrician-gynaecologist Dr Mandi Elliot explained that a woman can only get pregnant if sperm is present on the day in the month when an egg is released from her ovary — ovulation day.
“A woman with a regular cycle ovulates two weeks before the next period starts,” she explained. “So for someone with a regular 28-day cycle, that would be day 14 (counting the first day of the menses as day one), or someone with a regular 30-day cycle, it would be day 16, and so on.”
Ovulation doesn’t last long though, as the egg dies within a day after it is released from the ovary if it is not fertilised.
“An egg is only available to be fertilised for a 12-24 hour period,” Dr Elliot said. “However, sperm can survive for up to five days, so conception is possible if there was unprotected sex from around day 10.”
A woman is therefore most likely to get pregnant if she has sex on the day she ovulates, or the five days leading up to that day. This is called her fertile window.
But how will you know when these days are for your cycle? By tracking it, says Dr Elliot.
“Most women do not have a 28-day cycle and that’s perfectly normal,” she reassured. “There are subtle, variable signs that one is ovulating. Some women may experience abdominal pain when ovulating, others an increase in sex drive. Monitoring of cervical mucous has also been done as it becomes more stretchy and mucoid during that time.”
Dr Elliot says, too, that monitoring of basal body temperature is an objective way to determine ovulation, but this would require you to take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. And because your temperature will only increase slightly after you have ovulated, it is easy for you to miss your ovulation day.
Thankfully, there are more modern ways to track your ovulation, as Dr Elliot points out.
“There are many reliable apps that can be downloaded to calculate it for you once you record the first day of your period,” she said. “Ovulation predictor kits are also available at most pharmacies. You start testing your urine a few days before you expect to ovulate and a positive result means you will ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours.”
Once you have figured out the days you are most fertile, you and your partner will know the best time to roll in the hay (or when to avoid it). If you’re trying to get pregnant, Dr Elliot recommends that you get busy once per day on your fertile days, once your partner’s sperm is normal.
She added, too, that improving your health can improve your chances of conceiving.
“There is a definite link between reproductive health and overall health. Therefore a good diet, regular exercise, management of stress, ensuring a healthy weight and proper sleep all aid in ensuring regular ovulation and hence improving fertility,” she said.
— Candiece Knight
