Ovulation calculators help pinpoint a woman’s most fertile time of the month so she can try to conceive a baby.
These calculators can be found online on pregnancy and parenting websites, and some health websites. They are a useful tool for anyone trying to get pregnant and wanting to know when would be the optimum time to have sexual intercourse.
But they are not magic! They need the woman to be able to input some accurate information about their menstrual period in order to give out the key dates.
Ovulation calculators can be very accurate for women who have regular periods at regular intervals.
A woman with irregular periods will be unable to pinpoint accurate dates to feed into the calculator and therefore establish an accurate ovulation cycle. These women would be best having sex at least every other day to cover all possibilities and check for fertility peaks in other ways.
But if you already know how long it takes for you to have one complete menstrual cycle then the calculator will work fine for you.
Your menstrual cycle is from the first day you begin to bleed until the day before you start your next period. A typical period is 28 days.
The time a woman actually ovulates (releases an egg) may vary every month, but for most women the time of ovulation until the next period (called the luteal phase) is the same length from month to month. This luteal phase can last from 10-16 days but is usually around 14 days.
Some ovulation calculators work by simply taking a woman’s typical cycle length (say 28 days) and subtracting their typical length of a luteal phase (10, 14, 16 days etc). It then gives her the dates on a calendar that she would be the most fertile. Others simply request a woman’s usual cycle length and the date of her last period.
These “most fertile” dates which are given by the calculator, will usually be three days pre-ovulation and one day post ovulation, but some calculators will give a bigger span of dates to increase the odds of pregnancy.
But getting pregnant is not an exact science and any couple trying to conceive should have intercourse a couple of days early and a couple of days after the calculated dates of ovulation.
You have to take into consideration the fact that sperm is still active in the uterus for 72 hours after intercourse, but the woman’s egg is only viable for 24 hours once it is expelled from the ovary and will die unless it is fertilized.
You’ve heard the saying “a watched kettle never boils?” Well in much the same way a woman who is stressed about conceiving can also hinder it from happening and no amount of ovulation calculation will help. Try to do something relaxing around ovulation date. Have a massage, a romantic evening or a trip away. Being stress-free will help keep everything on track!
When an ovulation calculator doesn’t work:
• For women who have periods shorter than 28 days apart or longer than 32 days apart.
• For women who usually have irregular cycles.
What else can I do to increase my chances of conceiving?
If you know that some time in the next couple of years you will want to start trying for a baby, start charting your menstrual cycle on a calendar. This will make it easy for you to input the correct dates into the ovulation calculator thereby giving you a much more accurate prediction.
There are other ways of checking your most fertile times. Checking cervical fluid, taking your basal body temperature, or checking cervical position can all confirm ovulation dates.
In addition, if you are trying for a baby, keep trying. Don’t stop having sexual intercourse because you have “missed your fertile window of opportunity” you could keep trying right up until your period arrives as there is always a chance that you’re about to ovulate and potentially conceive.
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