Baby Making

Generally, women ovulate 14 days before their next period, in a normal cycle of 23 to 35 days. Cycles shorter or longer than the normal range may require special consultation with experts. Every woman may also experience variation in the number of days in her cycle from month to month. As the egg survives for only 12 to 24 hours after ovulation, whilst the sperm have life spans of two to three days, the question is usually the timing of intercourse in relation to ovulation.

There are a few tried and tested methods available which may help a woman predict ovulation. However, it must be cautioned that due to the differing nature of a woman's body, more than one method may be needed to find out which works best for you.

Charting of Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

Using a basal body thermometer, available at most pharmacies, chart your body temperature at rest every morning. This means it is the first thing you should do before even getting out of bed.

A woman's BBT will be significantly lower the first two weeks of her menstrual cycle, ranging from 97.0-97.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Immediately after ovulation, the existence of progesterone rises the temperature by at least 0.4-0.6 degrees until her next menstrual cycle begins. The rise in temperature is an indicative of ovulation.

BBT may be affected by lack of sleep, fever or having had alcoholic drink the previous night. Charting BBT may be useful to understand a woman's cycle prior to trying to conceive. Using this method with other methods may increase the couple's chances of conceiving.

Monitoring of Cervical Mucus (CM)

A woman's cervical mucus is affected by levels of estrogen during the first half of her cycle. It changes consistency from sticky to slightly creamy to thin, watery and stretchy. When this thin, stretchy consistency increases, it is likely you are ovulating. Checking your mucus throughout the day helps to identify the texture of your CM. Once the watery CM appears in abundance, having intercourse every day or every other day is recommended for conceiving, until this consistency of CM no longer appears.

However, it is likely that CM may be affected by other factors such as infection and diet. Again, using this method as one of a few methods may provide a better indicator of ovulation.

Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs)

Available at pharmacies, the basic concept of the OPKs, such as this one from Clearblue, is to recognise the surge of the ovulation-inducing hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH) in urine. This indicates that ovulation will occur within 24 to 36 hours. By following the directions on the package, it is usually recommended that couples have intercourse on the day of the surge and the following day. Although it is fairly accurate and easy to use, it does not necessarily work for everyone.