Yes you heard that correctly - we can only get pregnant for 6 days if our WHOLE cycle!
Why this was not drilled in to us when we were learning about sex + contraceptives I have no idea.!
When we ovulate our egg gets released and floats down to the uterus hoping that some fine hunk of a sperm will come along and fertilize her... If she gets stood up, she dies after 24 hours. (The sac that she is in will go on to make progesterone for us for the next 14 days until we get our period).
HOWEVER, sperm can live for 5 days! So if you have unprotected sex the 5 days BEFORE you ovulate - sperm can be floating around waiting for egg to show up and fertilisation can happen once they hook up.
If you have sex after ovulating, you have the same chances of getting pregnant, as having sex with a fruit or vegetable! This is very important for anyone who is hoping to get pregnant - make sure that you know your dates!
For most women, the tricky part is knowing when these 6days are, but if you have a regular cycle then it should be easy to work out. Ovulation usually happens 14 days BEFORE your period. A regular 28 day cycle will mean you ovulate around day 14 - so you should avoid having sex from day 9 to prevent pregnancy. However, if you have a 34 day cycle, you probably ovulate on day 20, so your fertile window is from day 15 - 20.
I recommend Natural Cycles to my clients. This is a non hormonal birth control that helps to either plan or prevent a pregnacy. It's amazing for helping you to track ovulation. You can watch my highlight on it on Instagram Here.
If you need a little more personalised advice on this, don’t be afraid to get in touch! I also have an online Seminar 'Making Up With Your Hormones' and I chat all things periods + Ovulation in this. ❤️