Ovulation facts 8-10: Problems and solutions
8. So when should you have sex?
Current recommendations from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists are that you should avoid timed intercourse and instead have sex several times a week around the time of ovulation. This is thought to be the best way to have a good chance of pregnancy. So don't get hung up about having sex on the day you ovulate, and don't assume you are ovulating on the 14th day of your cycle. Just have lots of sex in that week around ovulation and make sure you keep it about having fun rather than obsessing over making a baby - our sex tips might help.
9. Can ovulation be painful?
Some women get a sharp pain in their lower abdomen, called Mittelschmerz, as the ripe egg is released by the ovary. Rarely women may lose a small amount of blood when you ovulate too.
10. Why can it be so difficult to get pregnant?
Humans just aren't very fertile as a species. You only have a one in three chance of conceiving every month - and that's just when you're a healthy twenty-something. As you get into your thirties those chances become less with fertility dropping rapidly after 35 years in women.
Read more on fertility, ovulation and conception
Ovulation date calculator
Eat to get pregnant
How to boost your fertility
Boosting male fertility
Having problems conceiving?
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By Julia Shaw
