Definition
A woman’s fertile days are the days in the menstrual cycle when fertilization of an egg can take place. This phase of the cycle is also known as the “fertile cycle phase” or “fertile window”. After ovulation, the egg is located in the outer third of the fallopian tube, where it can be fertilized by a sperm for about 12-18 hours. However, the woman is not only fertile during these 12-18 hours, as the sperm in the cervical mucus of the uterus are capable of surviving for about five days, so that one can speak of a fertile period of about six days.
When are the fertile days?
With the beginning of a woman’s menstrual cycle, her fertile phase of life also begins. She is then susceptible to pregnancy. The cycle follows a certain pattern in which it passes through various phases.
In order to understand when the fertile days in the menstrual cycle occur, it is important to take a closer look at how the cycle proceeds. The first day of menstruation marks the beginning of the first phase of the cycle, the desquamation phase. The old lining of the uterus is shed.
Then, under the influence of the estrogen produced by the ovary, the new endometrium matures (proliferation phase). At the same time, the egg follicle matures in the ovary, which contains the egg cell that will later be important for fertilization (follicular phase). Under the influence of other hormones, maturation processes take place, which ultimately lead to ovulation.
About 12 to 18 hours after ovulation, the egg can be fertilised by a sperm. Sperm can survive for about 5 days in the cervical mucus of the uterus. About 5 days before and 2 days after ovulation, the egg can thus be fertilised.
As already mentioned, the egg cell is also capable of surviving for a few hours, so fertilisation can also occur shortly after ovulation. Not every woman ovulates on the same day of her cycle. In 60% of cases, ovulation does not occur until after the 14th or 15th day of the cycle. In such a cycle, the fertile days would be expected to occur between the 10th of November and the approximately 18th day. However, it is not possible to narrow this down, as ovulation can vary greatly.
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