How to get pregnant
Menstruation: start of the cycle
You can get pregnant each month on particular days of your cycle. Your cycle starts on the first day you lose blood through your vagina. This is called menstruation.
Your cycle lasts about 28 days.
- Some women have a shorter cycle and others a longer one.
- The cycle lasts between 25 and 35 days.
- Some women have an irregular cycle. Every month, their cycle differs in length.
- The length of a woman’s cycle can change during her lifetime. During puberty, the cycle is often more irregular.
Woman standing. The focus is on the internal sexual organs.
Menstruation: start of the cycle
Ovulation
About 14 days before your next menstruation, ovulation takes place. This is when the egg cell leaves the ovary.
After ovulation, the egg cell is transported to the uterus via the fallopian tube. About 4 to 5 days after ovulation, the egg cell arrives in the uterus. The uterus gets ready for implantation of the egg cell.
Ovulation: a ripe egg cell leaves the ovary
Transportation of the ripe egg cell to the uterus via the fallopian tube
Fertilisation of an egg cell
You can get pregnant if a sperm cell fertilises the egg cell. This can happen through sexual intercourse with a man. When a man ejaculates during sexual intercourse, sperm cells can enter your vagina. You get pregnant if:
- One sperm cell enters the egg cell and fertilises it, and;
- the fertilised egg cell is able to implant in the mucous membrane of the uterus and start to grow there.
Before he ejaculates, a man may already lose a bit of fluid that might contain sperm cells. Withdrawing the penis before a man ejaculates is therefore a less reliable method of contraception.
If you are pregnant, you do not menstruate. However, some women may lose some blood in the first months of pregnancy.
You can get pregnant around 6 days each month. The egg cell lives for 1 day and a sperm cell lives for 5 days. You are fertile for about 5 days before ovulation and 1 day after ovulation. In the following days, up to the days before your next ovulation, you are not fertile. However, it is difficult to determine when ovulation will take place and therefore difficult to know when the fertile days are.
A man ejaculates inside the woman’s vagina. The sperm cells swim towards the ripe egg cell.
Fertilisation: one sperm cell enters the egg cell and fertilizes it.
Implantation of the fertilised egg cell in the mucous membrane of the uterus
Menstruation: not pregnant
If the egg is not fertilised, the uterus will expel the egg and the mucous membrane. You have your menstrual period: blood leaves your body through your vagina. The menstruation lasts 3 to 7 days. A new cycle starts at that moment.
Menstrual period: the egg is not fertilised. A new cycle starts.
Contraception
If you do not have a wish to have children at the moment, use contraception.