Getting pregnant is all about timing – fertility experts state that any couple looking to conceive a child should be aware of their own fertile window. During this time the chance of successful conception is higher than at any other time of the month.

An egg has the ability to stay alive for no more than around 24 hours, while a sperm can live for as long as a week following ejaculation. It is important to understand your menstrual cycle as well as other techniques when having sex to boost your chances of conception.

When to Have Sex to Conceive a Baby

The general guideline suggests that having sex a day or two prior to ovulation is the most effective time of the whole month. However, it’s never easy to know precisely when ovulation will take place and the last thing you want is to end up living your life with something of a formal ‘sex schedule’ that takes all of the enjoyment out it. As such, a common sense approach is to have sex once every two or three days throughout the month – this way you are guaranteed to make use of the fertile window.

Because sperm is able to survive for longer than the egg, it’s a good idea to have sex ahead of ovulation in order to ensure there is sperm already in the fallopian tube when the egg arrives.

Understand the Menstrual Cycle

In order to make the most or your fertile window and thus stand the highest chance of successful conception, you need to know exactly when ovulation will take place. This can depend on a variety of factors, including how regularly you have your period and how long your menstrual cycle lasts.

Menstrual cycles have the potential to last as long as 36 days, though in some women are no longer than around 22 days. More often than not, a period occurs just under two weeks after ovulation.

For a menstrual cycle of around 28 days – considered the average length – ovulation is most likely to occur toward the middle of the cycle. Women with longer menstrual cycles may not ovulate until around 14 days after the end of their period, while those with shorter cycles can ovulate just a few days after their period ends.

Of course, most women experience menstrual cycles that are different some months from others, which in turn means that their fertile window will also be different in accordance with the variations of their menstrual cycle.

What Are the Signs of Ovulation?

The answer to this question differs greatly depending on the individual. While some women can tell you exactly when they are ovulating, others don’t notice a single change or symptom whatsoever. Nevertheless, once you know the signals to keep an eye out for, you stand a much greater chance of detecting them and becoming familiar with your fertile window – examples of which include:

• Tenderness of the breasts
• Abdominal discomfort
• A slight increase in discharge from the vagina, often of a more viscous texture
• A very slight temperature increase, usually no more than 0.5 to 1 degree Fahrenheit. It is unlikely that this will be detectable without a reliable thermometer.

Check out This Ovulation Calculator

Rather than relying on guesswork alone, you might also want to try out a helpful online tool that can make pinpointing your fertility window much easier.

http://www.babycenter.com/ovulation-calculator

What If I Have an Irregular Cycle?

There’s a common misconception that suggests it will be much more difficult for a woman to get pregnant if her cycle is irregular. This isn’t the case however as while it may indeed be more difficult to predict her fertile window accurately, having sex every two to three days still means that by the law of averages you will hit your fertile window perfectly every time. Of course, the longer the cycle the fewer the ovulations per year, which in turn leads to decreased odds of conception in accordance with the number of eggs released.

There are ways and means to predict ovulation even in case of the most complex of menstrual cycles, but in order to avoid a sex life that ends up being controlled by an infuriating timetable the regular sex approach is by far the most agreeable.

Which Sex Positions Boost Conception?

Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t really any sex positions that massively increase the chances of conception – you can fall pregnant no matter how you go about it! Of course, it always helps if gravity is working in the sperm’s favor and the closer you can get the sperm to the cervix in the first place, the better.

Rear-entry position is considered one of the best in decreasing the length of the journey the sperm has to make. The same also goes for standard missionary position sex as once again the sperm is deposited close to the cervix and has less distance to travel.

Any variations on these two are perfectly suitable to try, which include the right-angle position or the knees on chest position where the woman pulls her legs in close to her chest which can allow for deeper penetration.

In terms of positions to avoid, experts often single out any examples where the women goes on top for the simple reason that gravity can cause more sperm to escape the vagina.

Should I Lie Down in Bed Afterwards?

Some swear by it and others advise no such thing, but in any case there’s no harm in trying. Regardless of whether you lie in bed afterwards or not, there will still be millions of sperm doing their thing and so it won’t make the biggest difference to your chances of conception either way.

Watch a video for tips to increase your chances of getting pregnant: