Understanding your ovulation cycle

Working out your ovulation cycle

If your health and nutrition MOTs are up to scratch, then it’s time to learn more about when your body releases your egg – otherwise known as your ovulation cycle. This helps you know the time when you’re most fertile.

• When do you ovulate?: Your periods happen around every 23 to 35 days and you're most likely to ovulate roughly two weeks before your period, although it varies, woman to woman. Most women have a 28-day cycle and ovulate around day 14.
• Ovulation signs: When you're ovulating you might notice your vaginal mucus increases and becomes gluey or like egg white.
• Recording your temperature: Important ovulation signs also include clear changes in your body’s temperature. You can predict your ovulation cycle by taking your temperature. It drops just before and rises after ovulation has taken place but you need to record it at the same time every morning, before drinking, eating or getting out of bed.
• Buy a predictor kit: You can buy ovulation predictor kits at large chemists and most large supermarkets. They contain sticks that you use to test your urine, a bit like a pregnancy test.
• Have sex regularly during your fertile period: When you think you’ve spotted all your ovulation signs, it’s time to have plenty of sex! This will boost your chances of conceiving, especially as sperm can survive for up to 7 days so are more likely to connect with the egg, which only survives unfertilised for up to a day.