How to Know When You're Ovulating

Host: Hello, we're answering questions on sexual health. I'm joined by Dr. Catherine Hood. Hello! Dr. Catherine Hood: Hello. Host: Catherine, we have got a question here from a woman, who says she is trying to conceive but how can I tell when I'm ovulating? Dr. Catherine Hood: I think the first thing to say is, sometimes it's not as easy to conceive as many people think. If you watch films and television you probably think that one role in the haze is enough to get you pregnant. Well, that's not the case. It can take normal couples up to a year to actually achieve pregnancy. I think that the first thing to say is, don't panic. Obviously, it's important to know when you're ovulating and that's when the egg is released from the ovaries and around that time, sort of 48-72 hours around the time, that's when you're most fertile, almost likely to get pregnant. Now a simple guide is you tend to ovulate 14 days before your period is due. Host: That with your regular period. Dr. Catherine Hood: Exactly! Now this means, if you have a regular four-week cycle, it falls in the middle, sort about day 14, if you count day 1 is being the first day of your period. Now if you have a 5-week cycle then it's day 21 because it gets 2 weeks before, so it's not quite in the middle. And I think that's why a lot of women get --, Host: So, it was 14 days before, not 14 days after. Dr. Catherine Hood: Exactly, yeah; 14 days before your next period is due. Now that must be very simple but lot of women can't predict it that closely because they have slightly irregular periods that varies months to months. Host: So, you must write it down, you must get hold of the diary and write down when your period is and then you kind of count. Dr. Catherine Hood: And you could kind of work it out, but if you do have an irregular cycle, that could be quite difficult. To be honest the general advice is have sex every two to three days throughout your cycle; in that way, you're not going to miss when you might suppose to --. Host: But we both know, don't you, that when you're trying conceive, you can become obsessed about when am I ovulating and you can buy these kits, like pregnancy tests. Talk us through those. Dr. Catherine Hood: And these basically detect the hormone in the urine, which is one of the hormones that trigger ovulation. So when that hormone rises, you know you're going to ovulating in the next 48 hours. So you got little line, this is the time to have sex. Host: And it's this stick that you just go to the loo, you stick it on your urine stream and it tells you. Dr. Catherine Hood: You know for a lot women, that's great, a lot of love using it. But I think the downside sometimes is that, it's very stressful trying to get pregnant and sometimes overlooking, and doing too many things, actually adds to the stress because then your pressurize your partner to have sex now, and it can cause a little bit of annoying feel. So great for some women; for other women, just sex every 2-3 days throughout your cycle and you won't miss the time. Host: That is definitely the best advice doing it, of course, harder. Thank you, Catherine. Well, if you have a similar problem we hope we might have given you some help, but remember, it's always best to go and see your own doctor for medical advice. Thanks for watching, we'll be back with more health questions and answers.