Increase your chances

Once you’ve decided to try for a baby, it's important to stay happy and remain unstressed to maximise your chance of a successful pregnancy.

“Have a happy sex life,” is fertility expert Professor William Ledger’s top tip. He says that some couples who experience fertility problems simply do not have sex enough to conceive a child. An understanding of a woman’s monthly fertility cycle will help.

When a woman ovulates, an egg is released from her ovaries and moves into the fallopian tubes. This is where conception will occur if the egg is fertilised by sperm.

Professor Ledger recommends a simple approach to when you should have sex if you’re trying to get pregnant:

If you’re a woman who has regular periods, call the first day of your period 'day one'. Day 10 is the earliest day you will ovulate.

Have sex at least every other day for eight days from day 10. That means there will always be sperm in the fallopian tubes on the days that an egg may be in there, giving you the best chance of conception.

A happy sex life

Don’t let awareness of your monthly fertility cycle become a source of stress or anxiety.

“Some people buy special kits, or use temperature charts, to try to monitor when they’re ovulating,” says Professor Ledger.

“But temperature charts can be hard to keep and aren’t always reliable. Both kits and charts can cause unnecessary anxiety without being much use.

“Knowing your exact day of ovulation is only useful if you want to time intercourse to the day. If you simply have sex every other day across the eight days that you could be ovulating, you’ll hit the right day. Aim for less stress and more fun. After all, it should be a happy time.”

Remember, nine out of 10 couples in which the woman is under 35 will conceive naturally within one year of regular unprotected sex.

“If you’ve been trying for a year or more and have not become pregnant, see your GP. If the female partner is over 33, or you’ve had problems before, such as an ectopic pregnancy or relevant surgery, seek help sooner," says Professor Ledger.

How long will it take?

Even if everything is working well, you have only a one in four or five chance of getting pregnant in each cycle. So, on an average it will take a couple in their early twenties about five cycles or months. Women in their early thirties will get pregnant, on average, after nine months.

One in 10 couples without any problems will take more than a year to conceive; one in 20 (5%) will take more than two years. Some couples will be lucky and get pregnant straight away, others will still be trying a year later and it still doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong.

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