You’re Least Likely To Conceive Right After Ovulation
You are least fertile when you are farthest from the time you start ovulating.
So, right after ovulation, in the days just prior to your period are when you are least likely to become pregnant.
It’s possible, but not very likely, to get pregnant during your period, particularly if you have a short menstrual cycle and ovulate early.
If you have sex the day after your period ends it is possible to get pregnant, because there’s potential for the sperm to still be present when you begin ovulating about a week later.
What This Study Adds
The timing of the fertile window is highly variable, even among women who regard their menstrual cycles as regular
More than 70% of women are in their fertile window before day 10 or after day 17 of their menstrual cycle
There are few days of the menstrual cycle during which some women are not potentially fertile
Regarding the second assumption, the evidence for fertile days after ovulation comes from studies using crude measures of ovulation . With more precise measures, the fertile window does not seem to extend beyond the day of ovulation., It follows that women reach their fertile days earlier in the cycle than suggested by current guidelines. For example, women with regular 28 day cycles are most likely to be potentially fertile on days 8-15 of their menstrual cycle .
Can You Get Pregnant Right After Your Period
You are moving into your fertility window, so yes, you can get pregnant right after your period. On a typical cycle that occurs every 28 to 30 days, the fertility window is usually between Day 11 and Day 21. Remember, sperm can live up to 5 days. If your period lasts for 5 to 7 days, and you have sex right after that, you are approaching your fertility window.
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How We Calculate Your Fertile Window
This ovulation calendar estimates when you will ovulate based on the date of your last menstrual cycle and the average number of days between your periods. First, we count back 14 days from the start date of your next expected period to calculate the date you’re most likely to ovulate. Then, we calculate your fertile window, which can extend a few days before ovulation and possibly up to one day after. Just note that this is not an exact science menstrual cycles can vary from woman to woman and month to month . And, if you have irregular periods, that might make it tougher to pinpoint your fertile window.
How Can A Woman Get Pregnant On Her Period
Its easy to mistake vaginal bleeding for the beginning of a period. Its possible you could bleed during ovulation when youre most fertile. This could easily be mistaken for a period. Having unprotected sex at this time dramatically increases your chances of becoming pregnant.
For the average woman, the ovulation cycle is somewhere between 28 and 30 days. This means that if you have sex while on your period, you wont likely ovulate until several days later.
But women with a shorter cycle wouldnt have the same amount of time between having their periods and ovulating.
Another consideration is that a mans sperm can live inside a woman for up to 72 hours after ejaculation. Toward the end of your period, your chances of becoming pregnant will increase.
If youre curious about your ovulation patterns, you can track the number of days between your periods. This includes when you start your period, and then when you start your period again.
Over several months, you can identify a pattern to determine roughly when your ovulation cycle occurs.
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Can I Get Pregnant Just After My Period Has Finished
Yes, although it’s not very likely. If you have sex without using contraception, you can conceive at any time during your menstrual cycle, even during or just after your period.
You can also get pregnant if you have never had a period before, during your first period, or after the first time you have sex.
There’s no “safe” time of the month when you can have sex without contraception and not risk becoming pregnant.
But there are times in your menstrual cycle when you’re at your most fertile, and this is when you’re most likely to conceive.
Can You Get Pregnant On The Last Day Of Your Period
If you stop bleeding on Day 6, have sex on Day 7 and ovulate on Day 11, its possible the sperm from Day 6 will be waiting in your fallopian tubes for conception. Your chances of conceiving right after your period increase each day after your bleeding has stopped. If you are trying to conceive this is a good time to have sex. Increase your chances of conception by having sex every other day for the next 14 days.
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Changes In Body Temperature
When youve just ovulated, your body temperature may increase very slightly, by about half a degree Celsius. If youre using temperature as a means of keeping track of when you are most fertile, you need to use a special thermometer to take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. If you record the readings every day using a graph or a spreadsheet, its possible to learn your pattern over time. The time when you are most fertile is 2 to 3 days before the rise in temperature.
When Are You Most Likely To Get Pregnant
It is 5 days before ovulation because sperm can survive up to 5 days in the reproductive tract and still fertilise the egg. It is 1 day after ovulation because the egg can only survive for 1 day if fertilisation does not occur.
As if this wasnt a short enough time frame, most pregnancies actually result from sex on the 2 days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself, reducing the peak times of the fertile window to 3 days only.
This short time frame means that couples who focus sex during their fertile window have significantly higher pregnancy success rates. They are also more likely to get pregnant quicker than couples who do not time sex in this way. This therefore leads to the question how do I know when my fertile window is?
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Having Sex Throughout The Month
While some women feel empowered by tracking ovulation, others just feel anxious and overwhelmed by it all. Whatever method of ovulation tracking you choosechecking your temperature every morning, using ovulation detection strips, checking your saliva for ferning, checking your cervical mucus, or all of the abovepaying close attention to your cycles and ovulation signs can be emotionally exhausting.
If timing sex for ovulation is causing anxiety, you can instead just rely on regularly timed sex. In these cases, experts suggest having sex every week, about every other day. Following this schedule, you’re bound to have sex at least once during your fertile window, even without tracking your cycle.
Aim to have sex at least three to four times a week, throughout your cycle. There is a theory that semen may be helpful to the developing embryo. This means that sex after ovulation, and after you’ve conceived in fact, may help your pregnancy “stick.” Another good reason for more sex.
Difficulty Pinpointing Your Fertile Days
Timing your ovulation can become tricky since it may not happen on the same day or same time every month. The length of your cycle may change from month to month as well.
To start with, you will need to do some careful record keeping over a period of at least 3 to 6 months to have a more accurate idea of when you ovulate.
Even if you have charted your cycles for a few months and are fairly confident in the job of being your ovulation predictor, your ovulation may come earlier or later than predicted. This is because ovulation can be thrown off if you:
- Are sick.
- Have an imbalance in your hormones or irregular cycles.
- Are taking certain medications .
- Are having a disruption in your normal routines.
- Are drinking alcohol or smoking.
- Are have experienced a 10-15% increase or decrease from a normal level of body fat.
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Take A Prenatal Vitamin
Pavone recommends that women who are attempting to conceive start taking a prenatal vitamin even before becoming pregnant. This way, a woman can find one that’s more agreeable to her system and stay on it during pregnancy, she said.
Another possibility is to take a daily multivitamin, as long as it contains at least 400 micrograms per day of folic acid, a B vitamin that’s important for preventing birth defects in a baby’s brain and spine, Pavone said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges women to take 400 mcg of folic acid every day for at least one month before getting pregnant, to help prevent birth defects.
Getting a head start on folic acid supplementation is a good idea because the neural tube develops into the brain and spine three to four weeks after conception occurs, before many women may realize they’re expecting.
Using Ovulation Calculators And Kits
Ovulation calendars and kits can also help you predict ovulation.
Ovulation calendars are available on websites such as www.yourfertility.org.au, and use the date of your last period and the length of your cycle to predict when you are likely to be most fertile.
Home ovulation predictor kits are available from pharmacies. You use the kit a few days before your predicted ovulation day, to test for a rise in the level of a hormone called luteinising hormone in your urine. A positive result indicates you will ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours.
A blood test, which your doctor can order, can also detect ovulation by measuring levels of the hormone progesterone.
If you are trying to get pregnant, there are also a number of other things you should consider, such as taking folate, maintaining a healthy diet and making sure your vaccinations are up to date.
For more information and support, call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby on 1800 882 436.
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Dr Sarah Jarvis Gp And Clincal Director Of Patientinfo
Its not as easy as you might think to find out exactly when you most likely to get pregnant because you dont always ovulate 14 days after your last period. You ovulate 14 days before the first day of your next period. If your cycle is regular 28 days, that means two weeks from the first day of your cycle, is when you will be most fertile but if your cycle is 5 weeks then it will be 3 weeks from the first day.
Your partners sperm can survive from 3 to possibly 5 days and your egg can survive for about 1 day. That means your most fertile period is from 3 to 5 days before you ovulate until about 1 day afterwards. If your cycle is really regular, just count back 14 days from the first day of your period and you know when is your most fertile day.
Question: When It Comes To Fertility When Are My Most Fertile Days Can I Become My Own Ovulation Predictor
We all know from our sex education classes that to become pregnant, a sperm must meet and fertilize an egg.
Timing becomes the greatest issue because an egg is available to be fertilized for only about a 12 to 24 hour period each monthbasically, right as or after you have ovulated. This is the time of your most fertile days: the days that you are most likely to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex.
Once you can become your own ovulation predictor, you can have a better sense of your fertility and figure out when your most fertile days are. If you are you don’t wish to become pregnant , these are the days that you need to be most careful.
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What Can I Do To Get Pregnant
If you want to get pregnant, its a good idea to talk to your doctor. Many doctors will advise a few lifestyle changes if youre trying for a baby, such as taking a folic acid or prenatal vitamin supplements, avoiding alcohol, quitting smoking, and trying to maintain a healthy weight. You may also want to use an ovulation test to help you identify when your most fertile days are. You can see our range of ovulation tests and fertility monitors here to help you maximize your chances of conceiving.
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When Does Conception Take Place
Conception starts at the moment of fertilisation, when the sperm penetrates the outer shell of the egg, and an embryo is formed. Over the next four to six days the embryo moves down the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it implants in the uterus lining and hopefully continues to grow. To check if you are pregnant, you should wait two weeks after ovulation before undertaking a pregnancy test.
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A Womans Most Likely Time To Get Pregnant
During the phase of Ovulation is the most likely time to get pregnant. Ovulation usually lasts for only 1 day and occurs in the middle of the cycle of menses.
This is usually anywhere from 12-16 days since the womans last period. It is 14 days if the womans experiences her period every 28 days, and 15 days if the woman gets her period every 29 days, and 16 if a womans cycle is 30 days and so forth.
Because the life of sperm can live from 1-days, a woman can get pregnant for up to 5 days after she ovulates.
More On Calculating Your Fertile Days
If you are relying on knowing when you are most fertile to avoid getting pregnant, the process is always the same:
- You need to determine the how many days each of your monthly cycle lasts.
- You need to predict the day that you will ovulate .
- Once you know this day, count backwards 6 days, and abstain from any unprotected sex for these six days .
- Then, do not have any unprotected sex for the entire day after the day that you ovulated.
That may be easier said than done. This goes back to our earlier discussion about how the length of your cycle may change from month to month.
So this is not a reliable birth control method unless you have been able to predict when you will ovulate and that you have fairly consistent cycles. Calculating your most fertile days is not limited to a perfect 28 day cycle. You can still determine when you are most fertile no matter how long or short your cycles are.
The key, however, is that your cycles are reliably that long. This means that is you have a 35 day cycle, you tend to have a 35 day cycle every month, and you have charted this to make sure.
Generally speaking, most women consistently have cycles that last 26 to 32 days. This means that ovulation is likely to occur between days 12 and 18. When counting the days of a menstrual cycle, you should count the the day that your period starts as Day 1.
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Tracking Your Period Can Help You Understand Your Cycle
Tracking your cycle may give you a better idea of how long your periods usually last and when you will ovulate. For example, some apps track symptoms like changing body temperature or cervical mucus that can help you pinpoint when you are ovulating in any given month.
Another possible sign of ovulation is mid-cycle spotting which can occur when estrogen levels dip. However, there are a number of other reasons for why you might bleed in between periods including the following:
- Birth control. Hormonal birth control can lead to mid-cycle breakthrough bleeding, especially when youre using a new prescription or missed a dose.
- An infected or inflamed cervix. Sexually transmitted infections as well as chemicals from a douche, spermicide, or tampon can irritate the cervix and cause bleeding.
- Implantation. If an egg is fertilized, it will attach itself to the endometrium within a week, causing light spotting.
Tracking your cycle carefully can help you recognize when bleeding between periods is normal for you, or is a reason for you to talk with your doctor. Youll also be able to determine whether or not its actually your period.
There are many women who think that any vaginal bleeding is menstruation, Copel says. A risky assumption if they have unprotected sex because it could lead them to incorrectly estimate when their fertility window falls.
Are There Specific Sex Positions To Conceive A Boy Or A Girl
Theres no scientific proof. But a lot of traditional methods! Some believe that sex with the woman on top will lead to a girl, while sex with the man on top will produce a boy.
A lot of speculation has been going on for ages about finding the best sex position to get pregnant fast. But the truth is, its more about how you get ready for it and when you have sex rather than what you choose as sex positions to conceive. Keep following the guidelines, be creative and sincere with your partner. And if youve been trying to make a baby for over a year without success, consult your GP. In case you have irregular periods or are over 36, you can make an appointment even sooner.
References
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