Fertile period is the period during which conception is most likely to occur, usually 10 to 18 days after the onset of menstruation.
Every month, hormones from the pituitary gland stimulate the ovaries to release an egg or ovulate. This often happens around the 14th day of the menstrual cycle, although exact timing may vary among women.
Once the egg is released, it travels the fallopian tube. If you need to become pregnant, it is the time to consider. The egg has about 24 hours to unite with the sperm, since sperm cells can survive in the reproductive tract for 2 to 3 days. So it is best to have regular sex during the days leading up to ovulation.
Methods to check ovulation
- Keep an eye on calendar: Use a simple calendar to mark the day your periods begin each month and track the number of days each period lasts. If you have a consistent 28-day cycle. Ovulation (link to ovulation calculator) is likely to begin about 14 days after the day your last period began.
- If your periods are long, subtract 18 from the number of days in your shortest cycle. When your next periods begin, count ahead this many days. The next week is a reasonable guess for the fertile days.
- Basal body temperature: Normal body temperature is measured every morning using a thermometer. The ovulation is indicated by rise of temperature.
- Cervical fluid: Changing pattern of cervical mucus throughout the cycle is an excellent indicator of fertility. The cervical fluid becomes wet and has an egg white-quality during fertility period.
- Cervical position: Check your cervix daily or when you are experiencing the ‘’egg white type’’ of fluid and fertility is assumed when the cervix changes from being low, thick and closed to being high (sometimes you can’t even reach it) and open.
- Try ovulation monitoring kit. It tests the urine hormones that are seen during ovulation.
- Saliva ferning test: During ovulation, due to increased estrogen levels which in turn increases sodium chloride level in the saliva causing fern pattern.