Women's Fertility

The regularity of your menstrual cycle determines how often an egg is ovulated.3

By tracking and pinpointing ovulation, you can increase your chance of conceiving.

4 ways to tell you’re ovulating

There are 4 techniques to help recognise your most fertile time, including signs you’re about to ovulate.

  1. Monitor your temperature – Charting your basal body temperature (BBT) over a few months will allow you to predict the day you’re ovulating. Your BBT, taken with a basal body thermometer, is the baseline reading you get first thing in the morning when you’ve just woken up.

    Women with a regular menstrual cycle will notice a small drop in BBT at ovulation (about 0.2⁰C) followed by a quick rise due to the release of progesterone to prepare the lining of the uterus. You’ll know you have ovulated once your BTT has risen by 0.5⁰C, so it’s important to have sex just before this time.

    A fertility calendar can help you track this temperature fluctuation so you have an idea of when you might be ovulating in future months.3
  1. Buy a home ovulation test kit – The holistic fertility kit, conceiveplease™ Fertility Kit, provides everything you need when preparing for conception, including an ovulation test kit. The kit helps pinpoint your date of ovulation 24-to-48 hours in advance, by looking at levels of luteinising hormone.3
  1. Monitor your cervix – As oestrogen production changes throughout the menstrual cycle, so too will your cervical mucus secretions. The amount and consistency of your cervical mucus may indicate ovulation and can be tracked on a fertility calendar.3
  1. Look out for secondary fertility signs – Your body may send you a signal when it’s ovulating, including:
    1. Ovulation pain – one-sided lower pelvic pain that occurs in about 1-in-5 women;
    2. A heightened sense of smell and taste;
  • Increased sex drive; and
  1. Larger breasts, fluid retention, bloating and acne following ovulation.3 

Factors affecting female fertility

  1. Age is the single most important factor affecting a woman’s fertility. Starting around age 32, a woman’s chances of conceiving decrease gradually, but significantly.10 Women are born with a limited number of eggs which decline in quality and quantity with age.3,10
  2. Female fertility can also be affected by weight; and
  3. Poor nutrition. 

 

 

3. Conceiveplease™ Getting pregnant naturally.
10. Your fertility. For women. Available at: http://yourfertility.org.au/for-women/age [last accessed September 2015].

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