When are women most fertile?

ADOLESCENCE MENSTRUATION CONTRACEPTION FERTILITY PREGNANCY PRIVACY MENOPAUSE DISEASES

By YEET | MAGAZINE Published 0940 GMT (1740 HKT) May 28, 2021

Highlights / contraception / Menstrual Cycle / Fertility / Menstrual / Getting

Pregnant Women are fertile for only 4 to 5 days per month, while an average normal menstrual cycle is 28 days. The first day of the menstrual cycle is the first day of your period. It is also the day when the next cycle of egg production begins . When it is ripe on the fourteenth day, the egg will come into contact with a sperm, which may lead to possible early pregnancy.

(Periods)

Reproductive capital
determined from birth

From birth, a female baby has one to two million ovarian follicles housed inside her ovaries . From the period of sexual maturity ( puberty ), these will evolve into eggs .

These follicles are the treasure that will allow a woman to ensure her fertility . Their number, however, will decrease relatively quickly over the years, even if the woman normally only produces one egg per month. From the age of 30, female reproductive capacity decreases.

The middle of the cycle, peak of fertilization potential

The menstrual cycle prepares the female body for possible fertilization . It is influenced by hormones , production of which is provided by two glands in the brain, the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland , which direct the body to release an egg , around the 14 ^th day of the cycle. At the same time, the ovaries also produce hormones, estrogens, responsible for preparing a fertile ground for fertilization , since they increase the cervical mucus , located just at the entrance to the cervix . This mucus will house the sperm which reach it, to release them little by little, during 48 to 72 hours, towards the ovum. Even if they are in the millions, only one of the sperm will enter the egg and lead to fertilization . The egg can then begin to migrate to the uterus , where estrogen has helped thicken the endometrium , to facilitate nesting of the embryo.

To know your fertile period , you first need to know the length of your menstrual cycles, that is, the number of days between the first day of menstruation and the first day of the following periods . Most often, the cycle lasts 28 days. Suppose it lasts 30 days. We subtract 14 days to find out the day of ovulation , ie day 16 (30 days - 14 days). We know that fertility begins 72 hours before ovulation (i.e. three days, so day 13 in our example). It increases until the day of ovulation (day 16) and then stops. The fertile period is therefore quite short in humans.

Limits of fertility

Nature is such that, spontaneously, each ovulation cycle has only a 20% chance of leading to pregnancy .

Age is also a crucial element in determining fertility. Up to the age of 30, a woman's fertility is maximum . Then it decreases, and this phenomenon increases from the age of 35. This decrease is due to the number and the quality of the eggs which decrease.

Finally, circumstances specific to each person's living conditions may have an influence. Periods of stress, overweight, underweight, tobacco consumption, fatigue are not favorable elements for optimal fertility .