Ovulation, fertile days, menstruation — we hear about them often. But do we really have enough knowledge about female fertility? Some aspects of a woman’s cycle are not as clear and obvious as they might seem. Here, you'll find the 14 most important facts worth knowing about female fertility.
Menstrual Cycle
Fact 1. A normal, healthy menstrual cycle can last between 21 and 35 days.
Fact 2. The menstrual cycle is divided into 4 phases: menstruation, the follicular phase — the phase of egg maturation, ovulation, which is preceded by fertile days, and the last luteal phase — starting after ovulation and lasting until the next period. During ovulation, the follicle ruptures, releasing an egg. The luteal phase begins after ovulation and lasts until the next period. During this phase, progesterone levels increase, and the lining of the uterus thickens to prepare for embryo implantation.
Menstruation
Fact 3. Menstrual bleeding usually lasts from 3 to 6 days. Ovufriend statistics show that the average duration is most often 4 days! The heaviest bleeding occurs on the first and second days of the cycle.
Fact 4. The volume of menstrual blood during one cycle is usually between 10 and 80 ml, which equals 1-6 large spoonfuls of fluid. An ordinary pad or tampon can hold about 5 ml of blood.
Ovulation, Fertile Days
Fact 5. Ovulation typically occurs about 10-16 days BEFORE the expected start of the next period. Therefore, the timing of anticipated ovulation should be counted from the end of the cycle, not its beginning. An ovulation calendar can be helpful — download the OvuFriend Fertile Days app - GooglePlay i Appstore
Fact 6. You can learn that your body is preparing for ovulation by observing your cervical mucus, i.e., the mucus seen on underwear. Due to the hormone estrogen, several days before ovulation — during the fertile days — mucus increases, becomes transparent, stretchy, and resembles raw egg white.
Fact 7. Ovulation occurs only once during a cycle.
Fact 8. Usually, only one egg is released during ovulation, and it’s rare to ovulate with two or more eggs — multiple ovulations are less common.
Fact 9. Ovulation does not always happen alternately from the left and right ovaries. It’s not predetermined which ovary will mature an egg. Sometimes, follicles begin to mature in both ovaries, and an egg can be released from each.
Fertile Mucus
Fact 10. The presence of fertile mucus and positive ovulation tests do not confirm that ovulation has actually occurred. They only indicate that the body is preparing for ovulation. Confirmation can come from a rise in body temperature caused by increased progesterone levels in the blood, which raises overall body temperature. Elevated body temperature persists until the end of the cycle.
Egg Cell, Fertilization
Fact 11. The released egg survives an average of 12 to 24 hours. The older a woman is, the shorter the lifespan of the egg cell generally is.
Fact 12. Fertilization can occur from intercourse both about 3 days before ovulation and on the day of ovulation. Intercourse on the day of ovulation maximizes the chances of conception.
Female Fertility
Fact 13. In every healthy woman, there can be one or even two anovulatory cycles annually — cycles in which ovulation does not occur at all.
Fact 14. On average, from around age 30, female fertility begins to decline, and after about age 35, the ability to conceive drops quite sharply. This is related to the egg cells becoming of poorer quality, more frequent anovulatory cycles, and thus, it becomes harder to get pregnant.