Many couples when trying to have a baby want to know what they can do to increase their chances of success while they’re trying to conceive. There are a few basic principles about fertility that should help you along in the process. The best thing to do if you’re trying to have a baby is track is your cycles. Most women have a cycle that is 25 to 35 days in length, and if that’s the case with you chance are you’re ovulating midway through your cycle or about 12 to 16 days before your next period is going to start. It’s all about timing intercourse with ovulation. Ovulation is when a woman’s body releases an egg that can then be fertilized by sperm if things are timed just right. If that happens then you get pregnant. You’re most fertile for six days out of each month, five days leading up to ovulation, and on the day of ovulation. The reason why there is that five day window beforehand is because sperm can live inside a woman’s reproductive tract for three to five days. Six days out of each month there is a possibility that you could get pregnant. If you don’t want to think about it all just start having intercourse on the day your period ends and continue with this every other day for about 7 to 14 days depending on how long your cycles are. The longer your cycle, the longer you should continue with this. The shorter your cycle probably the sooner you can stop, 7 to 12 days might be long enough. This should help things to be timed just right. That time between ovulation and when your next period is going to start is very nerve-racking. Unfortunately there is no way to know if you actually got pregnant until you miss a period. If that day comes when your period never starts take a home pregnancy test and if it’s positive, congratulations! If it’s negative it might just be because you took it a little bit too soon. Wait another week or so and if your period still hasn’t started then take another test and hopefully at that point it’s positive for you. If it’s still negative, or you have regular cycles, or if you’ve been trying for more than a year to conceive, talk with your doctor and they can determine if treatments are warranted to help you in your dreams to have a baby. Good luck with everything and if you have any other questions for me in the future feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/IntermountainMoms and recommend us to your friends and family too.

Learn more about licensing this video for content marketing or patient engagement purposes: http://www.nucleushealth.com/

Ovulation is the part of the menstrual cycle where the ovary releases an egg to be fertilized during conception, or sloughed off during a woman’s period. This video, created by Nucleus Medical Media, depicts in exquisite detail: follicle development within the ovary, the movement of the fimbriae over the ovulation site before ovulation, the bursting of the egg from the ovary in a rush of fluid, delicate quality of the ciliated fimbriae and its movement to pick up the egg after ovulation, peristalsis of the fallopian tube to move the egg toward the uterus. Ovulation must take place in order for a woman to get pregnant, preceding the meeting of the male sperm during fertilization.

This animation was a finalist in the 2010 SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival.

Written by Mary Beth Clough
Directed by Thomas Brown
Animated by Thomas Brown and Stephen Boyd
Music composed by Daniel Brown

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