TTC: Timing To Conceive

It’s a question that I get asked on a weekly basis - “What days should we be trying on?” A recent study from Yale University researchers found that about 60 percent of women thought that they were most fertile in the two days after ovulation. Unfortunately, those women were wrong. So, as it turns out, there’s also a lot of misinformation about when women are at their fertile peak.

Women are most fertile during a 6 day window that ends the day after ovulation. Outside that relatively short window, your chances of falling pregnant are generally lower than 5%. If you’re ovulating on cycle day 14, the best time to try is from cycle days 10-15. If your partner’s semen analysis returned low, or just above normal results, try every other day during this period. If he’s got super swimmers, you can try as often as every day, but more than that won’t increase your chances.

Here’s the take home message - If you’re cycling regularly, don’t wait for a positive ovulation predictor kit (OPK) reading or a jump in basal body temperature (BBT) before starting to try, you might be missing most of your fertile windows. Do your best to anticipate ovulation and try to conceive before it actually occurs. Sperm will live in the female reproductive tract for several days, and you want them to be waiting to fertilize when the egg is released.

If you’re not cycling regularly, anticipating ovulation can be a bit tricky. Keep track of physical changes like BBT and cervical fluid - these can be good indicators of ovulation, especially when used in conjunction. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may help to regulate ovulation, which can make your cycles more predictable and increase your chances of conceiving.

If you have questions about how acupuncture and herbal medicine may work for you, don’t hesitate to contact us today.