Tracking your ovulation

Understanding ovulation is key when you’re trying to conceive as it helps you to keep track of your fertility, writes Hannah Chira

Keeping track of your ovulation will help you tell the perfect and ideal time when your body is most fertile. For women trying to conceive, timing intercourse around your ovulation can greatly increase your chances of conception.

It is also especially useful for women with irregular period or endometriosis, who often don’t ovulate.

So what is ovulation? This is the process in which a mature egg is released from the ovary, pushed down the fallopian tube, and is available to be fertilised.

At this time, the lining of the uterus has thickened to prepare for a fertilised egg, such that if conception does not occur, the uterine lining as well as blood will be shed. The event of shedding of an unfertilised egg and the uterine wall is known as menstruation.

Tracking it

A woman’s monthly cycle is calculated from the first day of her menstrual period until the first day of her next period. On average, a woman’s cycle normally is between 28-32 days, but some women may have much shorter cycles or much longer ones.

Ovulation is calculated by starting with the last day of your  menstrual period known as the last menstrual period (LMP) or by calculating 12-16 days from the next expected period.

Most women ovulate anywhere between day eleven to day 21 of their cycle, counting from the first day of the LMP. This is what is referred to as the “fertile time” of a woman’s cycle, because sexual intercourse during this time increases the chance of pregnancy. Ovulation can occur at various times during a cycle, and may occur on a different day each month.

It is important to track your cycle using a calendar or the various tools available online to help you do this.