When and how often should I have sex if I want to get pregnant?
As a couple the decision to have a baby together is the ultimate expression of love and faith in your relationship. Unfortunately, the reality of getting pregnant is not always as romantic as the intention. Only about two-thirds of couples manage to get pregnant within a few months. While this is perfectly normal, and definitely nothing to worry about, it is frustrating and can cause stress and worry.
Maybe you have done some research on how to get pregnant faster. There are loads of tips out there and people are always very free with advice. You may have read that the ideal way to get pregnant is to have sex every second day, on the other hand lots of sex means lots of chances, right? So why not have sex every day, just to be sure.
Good intentions do not get you pregnant faster.
First of all: you and your partner can have sex as often as you want, it is an expression of your love for one another and love knows no boundaries – and it is none of our business! However, if you are trying to get pregnant please keep in mind that sometimes less is more. A lot of sex can in fact reduce fertility. This is because sperm needs a certain amount of time to reproduce after ejaculation. The more sex you have the less sperm is in the semen and therefore less is available to fertilize an egg. On the other hand, the longer it is since the last ejaculation the higher the risk of malformed or low-quality sperm. Sex every second day is ideal and absolutely sufficient to get pregnant quickly. It also reduces some of the performance pressure and the feeling of constantly “having to do it” which can take the romance out of a relationship.
In theory every time you have sex you could get pregnant, practically however, for a pregnancy to happen several factors have to coincide. Thankfully these can be influenced – and determined – to a certain degree.
How you can get pregnant more quickly
The factors over which you can have an influence are the durability of the sperm and the fertile window during which the egg can be fertilized. If you get these two most important aspects right, then the chances of a pregnancy are very good.
Knowing when you ovulate is important because your fertile window only lasts a few days. The egg released at ovulation can be fertilized from about 72 hours before ovulation and up to 24 hours after ovulation. This “fertile window” is extended by the fact that shortly before and during ovulation the environment inside the uterus is very sperm-friendly and sperm can survive in your vagina for up to 5 days! This means you have up to 5 days per cycle where you are at your most fertile and pregnancy is likely – assuming there are no other limiting factors, like low sperm or egg quality or not enough lining on the womb to allow implantation.
Since ovulation does not always take place on exactly the same day every cycle it is important to narrow down your fertility window - if you want to get pregnant as quickly as possible. This way you can ensure that your sex is not only loving but also effective!
Know your cycle - and your fertile window
If you are planning to get pregnant one of the first things you can do in preparation is to get to know your own cycle better. Download the femSense app for free, choose the “Get Pregnant” mode and start tracking your cycle today. Know how long your cycle is, what symptoms you experience and when your predicted fertile days are. The more you know about your own body and your menstrual cycle the better prepared you are for when sex is no longer “just for fun” but to achieve a goal.
When you make the decision to have a baby you will already know when your fertile window is predicted. The femSense sensor patches measure your body temperature 24 hours a day to identify your ovulation, your most fertile time. If you know exactly when you are ovulating you can plan sex for that day. It really is that straight forward – if you know when you ovulate you will get pregnant quicker.
In short: the best days to get pregnant are the 2 days before and the day of ovulation. Knowing this fertile window can help you plan the best days to have sex to get pregnant. For example, having sex 2 days before ovulation and again on the day of ovulation, or the day before ovulation and again on the day after. That way fresh sperm should meet a new egg and that might just be a match made in heaven.
Of course, that is just the biology, every pregnancy is a little bit of magic!
