When is the best time to get pregnant in a woman's cycle?
Getting pregnant is all about
timing. Having sex as close as possible to the moment of ovulation
(when an egg is released from your ovaries) is the best time to get
pregnant and will give you the best chance of a successful
conception.
Your egg usually lives for just 12 to 24 hours, but sperm will
live inside you for anything from a few hours to seven days, with
one to three days the optimum time.
The best time to get pregnant is in the first few hours after
your ovary releases an egg (ovulation), so to optimise your chances for
conception, you can plan intercourse so that ovulation occurs when
the greatest number of sperm are alive and swimming towards the
fallopian tube.
If you have sex the day before ovulation, there's a good chance
that lots of sperm will have made it to your fallopian tubes, ready
for the release of the egg.
Under the right conditions, the
best-swimming sperm can swim through the cervix into the womb in
around two minutes - a feat worthy of Grant Hackett, when you
consider their size and the distance they have to travel.
But because a small number of sperm are long-living, having sex
up to six days before ovulation can also result in pregnancy.
The most important information you need to have, if you are
planning to have a baby, is a good understanding of your own cycle
- and when you are likely to ovulate.
What biological changes happen in my body around the best time
to get pregnant?
From puberty until menopause, the body of a fertile woman will
go through a regular cycle (averaging 28 days) where it prepares
for pregnancy.
If conception does not occur shortly after ovulation, the
unfertilised egg passes out of the body - and the whole process is
repeated, getting ready for the next egg.
Following menstruation, your body's hormone levels begin to
rise. As the days progress, the walls of your uterus thicken and
become engorged with blood, preparing for the implantation of a
fertilised egg.
There is also a change in vaginal mucus; as the time of
ovulation nears, the mucus becomes thin, stretchy, slippery and
clear (a bit like an egg-white) and goes through chemical changes
designed to help sperm to swim rapidly towards the fallopian
tubes.
Ovulation normally occurs at the same time each month,
theoretically in the middle of your cycle, so in a stock-standard
28-day cycle, ovulation will (in theory, again) occur on the 14th
day after menstruation.
Around 20 percent of women are thought to experience ovulation
pain, where they can feel anything from a slight twinge to
strong painful cramps around the time of ovulation.
The increased levels of the hormone progesterone will cause a
rise in your body's basal (resting) temperature of
anything from around 0.2 degrees Celsius to 1.6 degrees, just after
ovulation, to create a more receptive environment for
implantation.
This slightly elevated body temperature happens after the
ovulation. Most fertility experts think it's not likely you can
fall pregnant once your temperature has risen - it's often only
useful to give you an idea about when ovulation occurred.
You will still have a higher basal temperature until your
progesterone levels drop around 10 days later, triggering
menstruation.
The rise in your body's temperature combined with the changes in
cervical mucus are important indicators of the stages of your
body's cycle.
What ages offer the best time to get pregnant? Is peak
fertility the same for men and women?
Fertility in
women is all about the eggs. Most women are in their main
reproductive period from the ages of 20 to 38, with the first seven
years the most fertile years of this life stage.
But while women are physically capable of carrying a baby well
into their forties (and even fifties), their chances of releasing
eggs that will sustain a successful pregnancy will generally
decline after the age of 35.
Between the ages of 20 and 27, our eggs and our fertility levels
are at their peak. But up to the age of 35, while egg quality will
decline slightly, women are still in a period of high fertility.
Each year after 35, however, there is a significant decline in the
quality of the eggs.
Peak fertility for
men is normally early to mid twenties, but while men do
experience age-related fertility decline, it is not as universal as
that of women.
When high-profile men father children in their seventies and
beyond, it's often - wrongly - assumed that men remain fertile as
they age, despite significant research to the contrary.
From thirty, a man's levels of the hormone testosterone
(necessary for the maturation of sperm) begin to reduce slowly.
After the age of forty, men's testes start to shrink and the
quality and quantity of the sperm that they produce slowly declines
over time.
But while biologically, the best time to get pregnant may be in
your early twenties, this is often not a practical option for many
prospective parents who need a few more years to complete their
education, establish job security, meet a suitable partner - or
just enjoy a carefree existence for a little longer.
In the end, the best time to get pregnant is as often about when
you are emotionally ready, as it is about your biological
readiness.