A woman is usually fertile around ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs between 12 to 15 days before your menstrual period begins. You need to keep track of your ovulation if you are trying to get pregnant or trying to prevent pregnancy. You increase your chances of conceiving if you increase the frequency of sex before or right when you ovulate. You should also note that  sperms can live from 3 to 5 days in a woman’s reproductive tract. It is therefore possible to get pregnant if you have sex 2 to days before ovulation.
 

 

When is  woman most fertile ? 

Fertility and age

 
Fertility decreases as a woman get older. A woman is most fertile between the ages of 19 to 26 after which fertility starts to decrease with each passing year. Between the ages 27 to 34 , a woman’s chances of getting pregnant are 40% less than those who are under the age of  26.  At age 35 and older, a woman has only about 30% chance of getting pregnant.

Ovulation and fertility

 
There are various ways to help you keep track of ovulation.
 

Calendar (rhythm) method

This method works best for  people with regular menstrual cycles. With this method, you can track the length of your cycle and be able to calculate your estimated ovulation period.  Your most fertile period will be anywhere before 3 to 5 days before ovulation. This method is however not accurate due to the fact that factors such as stress, and lifestyle habits may affect the menstrual cycle.

Standard days method SDM

This method is for women who have regular menstrual cycles between  26 and 32 days. A colored string of beads (CycleBeads) is used to keep track of your cycle. Count each day as  one bead. The red bead is the first day (day 1) of your period.  A dark brown bead marks day 26 and the last brown bead before the red bead is day 32. It is important to choose another method  to calculate your fertile period if you have a variable menstrual cycle.

Basal body temperature (BBT) method

Basal body temperature is the lowest temperature a healthy person has during the day. Hormones cause the BBT of a woman to fall 1 to 2 days before ovulation and then rise 1 to 2 days after ovulation.  It is best to take your BBT every morning before getting out of bed. You can track your BBT for  a few months to enable you predict your fertile window.

Cervical mucus method (Billings method)

The amount, texture and appearance of cervical mucus changes during the menstrual cycle. Just before ovulation, the cervical mucus is thin, clear and stringy and increase in quantity. Right after your period, this mucus is thick, cloudy and sticky and reduced in amount.

Hormone monitoring

This method uses a hormone ovulation kit to predict the most fertile days of your cycle. The test checks the level of luteinizing hormone LH in urine. You can use a dipstick or test strip and dip it into urine. You can then  read the level on the strip or put the strip in a small computer unit that shows the level of LH. This is the most reliable method available today.

Combined (symptothermal) method

This uses some of the other methods  all together to predict your fertile window. You can monitor your cervical mucus for changes, measure your BBT and use hormones monitoring. You can also watch out for signs of ovulation such as breast tenderness, bloating , mood swings and breast tenderness.