When to have sex?

***VIDEO***

For a healthy pregnancy to develop we’ve already seen that a number of important factors have to be working well for implantation to happen. There are obviously a number of points where this process could break down leading to failure of implantation, embryo creation and conception, then not occurring.

In this lesson, we want to address some of the key issues that prevent a pregnancy from happening. Such as a lack of sperm, unreliable ovulation, ineffective timing of intercourse, dysfunction of the fallopian tubes, and hormonal imbalances that can prevent successful implantation.

Timing of Sex

 It may seem really simple, but the timing of sex is really important to successful fertilisation of eggs, and we’re going to look at this as an important factor in successful embryo creation. Many people use a number of different methods including tracking their cycle body temperature, and changes in the vaginal mucus to predict when ovulation is happening.

This can be successful, but trying to pick the exact window to have sex can also be inaccurate. There’s a short window following ovulation in which the egg must meet the sperm for successful personalization to occur. It’s important that sex happens in 72 hours prior to ovulation, ensuring that sperm is in the genital tract, in the fallopian tube, ready to meet the egg as it’s collected from the ovary.

Sperm can live up to five days in the genital tract, and so the most successful approach is to ensure that sex happens in the three days before ovulation occurs.