How to get pregnant

Now that you are ready to get pregnant, we have a few tips to help you.

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 the menstrual period.

Your cycle lasts about 28 days.

• Some women have a shorter cycle and others a long 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.

About 14 days before the start of your next cycle, 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.

You can get pregnant if a sperm cell fertilises the egg cell. This mostly happens through sexual intercourse with a man. When a man ejaculates, sperm cells enter your vagina. You get pregnant if:

• One sperm cell enters the egg cell and fertilises it, and;
• The fertilised egg cell can 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 have menstrual periods. However, some women may lose some blood in the first months of pregnancy.

You can get pregnant around six days each month. The egg cell lives for one day, and a sperm cell lives for five days. You are fertile for about five days before ovulation and one day after ovulation. In the following days, up to the days before your next ovulation, you are not fertile.

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 menstrual period lasts 3 to 7 days. A new cycle starts at that moment.

If you do not want to have children at the moment, use contraception.