Fertile days are the days a woman is most likely to get pregnant.

See also: Infertility

Basal body temperature

When trying to conceive a baby, many couples plan intercourse around days 11 - 14 of the woman's 28-day cycle. However, it is often difficult to know exactly when ovulation is going to occur. Doctors recommend that couples who are trying to have a baby have intercourse between days 7 and 20 of a woman's menstrual cycle. Studies have shown that having intercourse every other day or every third day works just as well as having intercourse every day in order to become pregnant.

Remember that the sperm can live inside a woman’s body for 3-5 days. However, a released egg only lives for 4 to 12 hours. The highest pregnancy rates have been reported when fertilization occurs within 4 to 6 hours of ovulation. So don't wait until you think ovulation has occurred to have intercourse.

If you have an irregular menstrual cycle and are not sure when or if you are ovulating, an ovulation prediction kit can help. These kits, which can be bought at most drug stores, check for LH (luteinizing hormone) in the urine.

Images

Ovulation

Uterus

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Pregnancy Prevention

Review Date: 03/30/2010
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Susan Storck, MD, FACOG, Chief, Eastside Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Redmond, Washington; Clinical Teaching Faculty, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington School of Medicine.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)