Fertile Window: The Takeaway
Menstrual cycles can vary in length, meaning your fertile window might be slightly different every month. Tracking your cycle over time can increase your chances of predicting your fertile window accurately.
If youre trying to get pregnant, then knowing when your fertile window is may help you feel more in control of your family planning by giving you the best idea of when to have sex for conception. Alternatively, if you dont want to become pregnant, knowing when youre ovulating and how your hormones change could help you understand any symptoms you experience throughout the month.
If youre ever confused or worried about your menstrual cycle or fertile window, then you should reach out to your health care provider. They will be able to explain any symptoms youre experiencing and outline how your body changes throughout the month.
References
Abnormal Uterine Bleeding. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/abnormal-uterine-bleeding. Accessed 17 Aug. 2022.
Calculating Your Monthly Fertility Window. John Hopkins Medicine, 10 Mar. 2022, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/calculating-your-monthly-fertility-window. Accessed 17 Aug. 2022.
Infertility. NHS, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/infertility/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2022.
Monis, Carol N., and Maggie Tetrokalashvili. Menstrual Cycle Proliferative And Follicular Phase. StatPearls, StatPearls Publishing, 2021. Accessed 17 Aug. 2022.
Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle
Your menstrual cycle begins on the first day of your period and continues up to the first day of your next period.
You’re most fertile at the time of ovulation , which usually occurs 12 to 14 days before your next period starts. This is the time of the month when you’re most likely to get pregnant.
It’s unlikely that you’ll get pregnant just after your period, although it can happen. It’s important to remember that sperm can sometimes survive in the body for up to 7 days after you have sex.
This means it may be possible to get pregnant soon after your period finishes if you ovulate early, especially if you have a naturally short menstrual cycle.
You should always use contraception when you have sex if you don’t want to become pregnant.
Calculate Your Fertile Window
To calculate your Fertile Window, you need to determine what day you ovulate.To do this, you need to know the length of your menstrual cycle . To calculate this you should note how many days have passed from the first day of bleeding in your last period, to the first day of bleeding in your next.From this figure, subtract 14 days from the end of your current cycle to determine the day you ovulate.If you have irregular menstrual cycles, or your cycle length varies from month to month, it will be difficult to calculate your ovulation date. Ovulation urine tests may be useful, and you should consider seeking further advice from your GP or a Fertility Specialist.
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Calculating Your Monthly Fertility Window
Your fertility window is the time during your menstrual cycle when youre most likely to get pregnant. For most people, its the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation. Calculating your monthly fertility window can help you target the optimal time to have sex if youre trying to conceive. However, natural family planning is a less reliable form of contraception and does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.
Can You Get Pregnant Right Before Your Period De Lunes Founder Explains
Courtney Mayszak, RDN, LDN, Co-founder of De Lune | September 5, 2020
Can you get pregnant right before your period? This is a frequently-Googled period question, the answer to which hinges on hope or relief depending on whether or not youre aiming to conceive.
So lets break it down. But first lets clarify some words:
- Getting pregnant = sperm + egg. Pregnancy starts when your egg fuses with a sperm cella process called fertilization. Its not technically considered a pregnancy until the fertilized egg nestles into the lining of the uterus and starts growinga process called implantation.
- Right before = sometime during your luteal phasethe 10 to 16 days between ovulation and your period, when PMS happens.
- Your period = the shedding of your uterine lining, indicating that no fertilized egg has cozied into it, and you arent pregnant.
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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.1,2 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 .
How Many Days After Your Period Can You Get Pregnant
A female can get pregnant at any time during her menstrual cycle. The likelihood of pregnancy is highest during ovulation, which is typically days 10-14.
Intermenstrual bleeding can occur between periods. To pinpoint the start of a menstrual cycle, a female must correctly identify their actual period.
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How To Use Fertility Prediction
If you want to use fertility prediction to avoid pregnancy, the process is always the same:
- Determine how many days each monthly cycle lasts
- Predict the day of ovulation by charting signs in your body and counting back 14 days from the first day of your period
- Count back six days from ovulation, and abstain from unprotected sex for these six days
- Do not have any unprotected sex for the entire day after the day you ovulated
Since your cycle may change from month to month, tracking it is not a reliable birth control method.
Has Anyone Got Pregnant While On Their Period
While it’s extremely unlikely, the simple answer is yes. Women are not able to conceive whilst on their period, but sperm survives within the female reproductive system for up to five days. This means that a tiny fraction of women do have a small chance of becoming pregnant from unprotected sex during their period.
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How Long After Your Period Are You Fertile
Ascertaining the fertility levels of a womans body after her period can be tricky. The fertility of a woman changes with the changes taking place inside her reproductive system as a result of menstruation. The fertility window after a monthly period may be different for different women. However, generally, it is not quite plausible to get pregnant right after your periods.
According to experts, a woman is most fertile on the 14th day before the beginning of her next period. Thus, from the 14th to the 21st day since the last period, the fertility window of a woman is the most prominent. This is again based on the standard analysis of the menstrual cycle as one that is 28 days long. It is equally significant to acknowledge that there are women who have shorter menstrual cycles that last for only 22 days. In such cases, the fertility window after her period will be slightly different.
Generally, women who have shorter menstrual cycles, tend to be fertile well before the 14th day of the next cycle. She can be fertile as soon as 5 to 7 days after the completion of her last period. In this case, she will be fertile from the 7th to the 14th day of the cycle.
In Summary:
| From the 7th to the 14th day |
How Can One Get Pregnant Fast
Experts say the best way to get pregnant fast is to have sex once a day, every other day, during the fertile window right before and after ovulation. If you have sex too often, your partner’s sperm count may be reduced, and if you don’t have enough sex, the sperm may be old and unable to swim as fast.
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What Does This Tool Help You Learn
This interactive tool estimates your peak fertility period, also known as your fertile window. This is when you are most likely to get pregnant. Do not use this tool to prevent pregnancy.
In the tool, you will enter the typical length of your menstrual cycle, and you will click on the first day of your last menstrual period.
- To know how long your cycles are, track the number of days on a calendar for 2 or 3 months or cycles. Your menstrual cycle begins with the day your period starts and ends the day before your next period starts.
- If you do not know the number of days in your menstrual cycle, you can use 28 days. This is the average length of a menstrual cycle. But if your cycle is longer or shorter than that, or if it is not always the same length, this tool will not predict your fertile window very well.
Fritz MA, Speroff L . Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, 8th ed., Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Fertility Awareness And Family Planning
Some women use fertility awareness as a method of natural birth control. One of the tools used is something called the Standard Days method. This establishes that if you have a period that is between 26 to 32 days long, days eight through 19 will be your most fertile days. However, this method is most effective when you have regular menstrual cycles.
If a woman has a regular period and uses the method perfectly, less than one to five women out of 100 will become pregnant. However, the key words here are perfect use. The typical use rate is different. Typical use means that the methods may be done incorrectly or measured inconsistently. In the first year of this typical use, 12 to 24 women out of 100 will become pregnant.
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How Can You Prevent An Unwanted Pregnancy
Luckily, you can prevent unwanted pregnancy by using some of the widely available and highly effective contraceptive options out there. Some of the most effective forms of birth control include:
- Birth control pills are 90 to 99% effective when used properly
- IUDs come in hormonal and non-hormonal versions and are 99% effective
- Implants are approximately 99% effective
- A birth control shot is up to 94% effective
- A vaginal ring is about 91% effective
- The birth control patch is also 91% effective
Further methods of birth control include barrier protection such as condoms, diaphragms, and a birth control sponge. These are all effective approximately 70 to 80% of the time when used properly. Fertility awareness methods, withdrawal, and other ânaturalâ birth control measures are not as likely to be effective and have a higher chance of failure.
If you arenât currently using any form of contraception and you donât want to become pregnant, you should speak with a healthcare provider about the best options for your situation.
Does birth control affect fertility when you stop taking them? Not necessarily. Once you stop contraceptive use, it will not delay or negatively affect your ability to conceive.
Period Tracking And Logging Sex
Women who use Natural Cycles take their temperature every morning and record it in the app. The method works by identifying a rise in body temperature just before ovulation. This means Natural Cycles can tell you when you can and cant get pregnant, so you will know your own fertility whilst on your period, or any day of your cycle, for that matter. On top of this, you will also know where you are in your cycle, meaning you can plan for your period, PMS or when to do a self breast exam.
If you are looking for a hormone-free birth control option that learns your unique cycle, then Natural Cycles could be the solution youve been searching for.
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How Do I Know If Im Not Ovulating
No Rise in Basal Body Temperature After ovulation, BBT elevates and stays elevated. If you dont notice an uptick in BBT during a cycle, ovulation may not be happening.
Is it possible to conceive one week after your period?
Women can positively conceive a baby only after ovulation and successful fertilization. The process occurs ten days after their menstrual cycle. Thus, the possibility of getting pregnant right after you have your monthly period is too low. Spotting a week after your period cannot be linked to early miscarriage.
What Do The Results Tell You
Your fertile window is up to 6 days long, once a month. It includes:
- The day you ovulate. This is when you have the best chance of becoming pregnant.
- The 5 days before ovulation. This is because sperm can live in a womans body for 3 to 5 days after sex. When an egg is released, one of these sperm is ready to fertilize it.
If you want to become pregnant, try to have sex every day or every other day from your first fertile day to your last fertile day.
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What Date Did I Get Pregnant
Typically women ovulate about two weeks after their menstrual cycle starts, so the best way to estimate your due date is to count 40 weeks, or 280 days, from the first day of your last menstrual period. Another way to do it is to subtract three months from the first day of your last period and add seven days.
When To See A Doctor
Women who track their fertile window with the aim of getting pregnant should see their doctor for preconception planning.
As well as identifying barriers to conceiving, a doctor can advise on the use of folic acid or prenatal supplements to encourage a healthy pregnancy.
Most couples who engage in frequent, unprotected sex will conceive within 12 months.
Women under 35 years of age should see their doctor if they do not conceive after a year of trying. Those over 35 years of age should seek medical advice after 6 months of trying to conceive.
Anyone who has irregular cycles or does not appear to ovulate should also speak to their doctor. There may be an underlying medical cause that is preventing ovulation and conception.
Ovulation predictor kits and fertility monitors are available for purchase online.
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Right After Your Period
Its unlikely youll start your fertile window so early in your cycle, and therefore itd be really rare to get pregnant right after your period.
Again, you usually dont ovulate until around the middle of your cycle so the days right after your period would most likely not fall into your 6-day fertile window.
There are a few different ways to figure out when youre in the baby-making phase .
What If I Have Irregular Periods
If you have irregular periods, meaning that your periods are outside of the 2135-day window or if your cycle intervals vary by more than seven days each month , you should speak with your Gyn/OB or a fertility specialist. This irregularity may be due to a hormone imbalance and could make it more challenging to get pregnant using natural family planning methods.
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Fertility After Your Period
Ovulation happens 14 days after the first day of your period. But since some cycles can be extremely irregular, its best to take note of these adjustments:
If your average cycle length is 28 days, ovulation occurs on day 14.
If your average cycle length is 35 days, ovulation occurs on day 21.
If your average cycle length is 21 days or less, ovulation occurs on day 7.
Please note that the most fertile days are within your ovulation period, specifically, the three days leading up to your ovulation and the day you actually ovulate. These days are the best days to try and conceive or get pregnant.
If you have extremely unpredictable, irregular cycles, figuring out your average cycle length, let alone your fertile period can be challenging. If you really want to get pregnant, having sexual intercourse every other day can help your chances of getting pregnant.
If you are reading this article to prevent pregnancy, the first seven days including your period days are considered a safe window where the egg has not dropped to the fallopian tubes, therefore making it inconducive for pregnancy.
If this is all proving to be too confusing, you can use an ovulation tracker, ovulation calendar, or ovulation calculator, which are all available online. Alternately, there are ovulation prediction kits that are available in most pharmacies. Similar to pregnancy tests, these kits use your urine samples to track your fertility.
Mild to severe cramps in the lower abdomen or lower back.
How Long Does Sperm Stay In A Woman’s Body
But the odds that sperm in a tub of water will find their way inside a woman’s body and cause them to get pregnant are extremely low. When sperm are inside women’s body, they can live for up to 5 days. If you’re a man and you have sex even a few days before your partner ovulates, there’s chance they may get pregnant.
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When To See A Fertility Doctor
If youre having intercourse twice a week for a year and you arent getting pregnant, its unlikely that timing is to blame. Something else could be at play and you should see your doctor to tackle the challenge together. If you are 35 or older, see a fertility specialist after 6 months of trying to get pregnant.
You should also seek care if you know you have polycystic ovary syndrome or irregular periods. For example, if youve been taking birth control for years and dont get your period within three months after you stop taking it, make an appointment. Otherwise, you could waste time collecting data with an ovulation kit and be nowhere closer to conceiving.
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