Women who have a regular menstrual cycle can easily find out when their next fertile period will be just by using the date of their last period.
Calculating when the next fertile period will be is a technique widely used by women who intend to increase their chances of becoming pregnant, but it can also be used to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, since it is during this period that a woman is at greater risk of becoming pregnant if she has any relationship unprotected sex.
If you have an irregular menstrual cycle, here’s how to find out when the fertile period of the irregular cycle is.
What is the fertile period?
The fertile period is an interval of days during which a woman is more likely to become pregnant, since the mature egg has already been released and can be fertilized by sperm.
Understand better what the fertile period is and what happens during this phase.
How is the fertile period calculated
Usually the fertile period takes place between 3 days before and 3 days after ovulation, which tends to happen in the middle of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Thus, women who have a regular cycle can easily calculate their fertile period by finding, on the calendar, the day that will mark the middle of their menstrual cycle and calculating 3 days backward and 3 days forward.
For example, a woman with a regular 28-day cycle, where the first day of her last period was on day 10, will find that the middle of her cycle (14 days) will be on day 23, as day 10 marks the first day of the cycle. This means that the fertile period will be the period of 7 days which comprises the 3 days before until the 3 days after that day, ie the period from 20 to 26.
Is it possible to calculate the fertile period of an irregular cycle?
For women with an irregular menstrual cycle, the fertile period is more difficult to calculate as the middle of each cycle cannot be identified. However, there are some ways to try to predict, with less accuracy, the fertile period in cases of irregular periods.
One of the most used ways is to write down the duration of each cycle for a year and then subtract 18 days from the shortest cycle and 11 days from the longest cycle. The period of days between the results indicates when the fertile period should occur in each cycle. Because it is less accurate, this method also offers a longer period of days.
Learn better how to calculate the fertile period of an irregular cycle.
Are there signs that the woman is in the fertile period?
Although they are difficult to identify, there are some signs that may indicate that the woman is in her fertile period. The main ones include: the presence of a clear, egg-white discharge, slight increase in body temperature, increased libido and easy irritation.
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