The question of whether it is possible to get pregnant the first time worries virgins, since the first sexual intercourse is often spontaneous. Medical statistics state that the probability of such a conception is 5-6%. The prognosis is calculated based on the average length of a healthy woman’s cycle - on average it is 28 days. Fertile days, during which eggs move through the fallopian tubes a little, are 2-5, so the likelihood of unprotected contact on these days is extremely low.
In addition, fertilization is possible without penetration, so before entering into a relationship, you need to think in advance about preventing unwanted pregnancy.
How long does it take to get pregnant?
Many couples believe that as soon as they stop using protection, pregnancy will immediately occur. However, this is not always the case. As a rule, a healthy couple needs several months of regular sexual intercourse to conceive a baby. In 60% of cases, pregnancy occurs within six months after the spouses stop using contraception. If, after a year of regular sexual activity, pregnancy has not occurred, then this is a reason to consult a doctor and check your health.
Some women conceive after just one unprotected intercourse, although such cases are quite rare. What is the probability of getting pregnant the first time within one month? For a healthy woman it is approximately 10%.
Change in basal temperature
The chance of getting pregnant the first time is low, but it exists. The main thing is not to miss the moment. It is necessary to monitor fluctuations in a woman’s basal temperature (BT). It is measured in the rectum. BT changes due to a reaction to the production and amount of progesterone. The graph shows a clear separation of the 2 phases.
In the first half of the cycle (2 weeks), the temperature is 36.3-36.8. Then it increases to more than 37. This means that the egg is ready and has left the ovary. The temperature remains above 37 until menstruation, then drops again. If a temperature jump is not observed, difficulties with ovulation can be assumed.
In this case, the difference between the average BT of the first phase and the average BT of the second phase is considered normal to be at least 0.4 -0.5. Many factors influence basal temperature. They are recorded in the schedule.
This:
- sleep less than 5 hours;
- malaise;
- taking medications;
- intimacy shortly before temperature recording.
To make the measurement process successful, prepare the thermometer in advance, in the evening. Designate a location for the thermometer near your bed. If you use a mercury device, place it only in a case. There is less hassle with electronics.
It is not recommended to chart your basal temperature when traveling to countries with a different climate. It will be incorrect. Since changes in climatic conditions always affect the menstrual cycle.
Baby planning stage
To increase your chances of getting pregnant the first time, you must follow all the rules at the stage of planning a child. Women's health plays a huge role in successful conception. Gynecology and a consultation with a therapist is what every girl needs to undergo before stopping protection. Perhaps the doctor will prescribe some additional examinations and tests to make sure that the body is ready for the upcoming pregnancy.
It is also advisable for a man to check his health, since the quality of sperm plays a huge role in the process of conception. Complete renewal of sperm in the male body occurs in eight weeks. Therefore, during the two months preceding unprotected sexual intercourse, a man should lead an active and healthy lifestyle, eat right, exercise more and walk in the fresh air.
Is it possible to get pregnant successfully without visiting a doctor and changing your lifestyle? In most cases, yes, but for your peace of mind and to increase your chances of successful conception, it is better not to neglect these tips.
Why do unsuccessful attempts occur?
One failed attempt is not a cause for concern. There are many medical studies explaining the reasons why a woman cannot get pregnant the first time.
It is physically possible to fertilize an egg only for several days in a month. Ovulation, which occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle, releases a mature egg into the fallopian tubes and gradually delivers it to the uterus.
Sperm can be active for 2-5 days. Therefore, it is possible to get pregnant 5 days before ovulation and 2 days after it. However, in reality, only every tenth girl can get pregnant the first time.
There are factors that interfere with the rapid onset of pregnancy, but at the same time do not signal infertility:
- sexual intercourse happens too rarely or too often - in the first case, the sperm will be of poor quality, and in the second there will not be time to accumulate;
- age of the man or woman. The older a woman is, the fewer eggs she produces. Ovulation does not occur in every cycle. As the carrier ages, male sperm become less mobile and there are also fewer of them;
- infections and inflammations in the female genital organs and pelvic area, as well as in the male genitourinary system;
- A man's history of rubella or mumps reduces the quality of his sperm. Diseases of the pelvic organs of women who are not completely cured cause difficulty in the patency of the fallopian tubes;
- complications caused by injury or abortion;
- physiological problems with ovulation or male ejaculation;
- analgesics, antibiotics, antidepressants and a number of other medical substances have a bad effect on the possibility of conception;
- the woman’s weight is too high or low;
- the presence of bad habits in both or one of the partners. These most often include smoking, alcohol, drugs - including drinking coffee;
- poor immunity, low levels of vitamins in the body;
- stress and neurosis.
Knowing about these most common reasons, you can reconsider your lifestyle, start eating better, take a course of vitamins and exercise. An additional examination by a doctor will help determine a more precise reason why you cannot get pregnant the first time.
What you should know when preparing for pregnancy
In addition to health problems, various factors can prevent you from getting pregnant, which should be taken into account at the preparation stage. The age of the spouses is of considerable importance in this matter. According to research, the ideal time for a woman to have her first child is between 20 and 25 years old, when the likelihood of getting pregnant for a couple increases. As girls age, ovulation occurs less frequently, and in men, sperm activity decreases.
The onset of pregnancy is influenced by excess or insufficient weight of the spouses, unhealthy diet, in which the body receives insufficient amounts of vitamins, and taking medications, especially antibiotics. Alcohol abuse and smoking in women reduce the likelihood of conception by almost 3 times.
The position in which spouses have sex also matters. According to doctors, the easiest way to get pregnant is in the missionary position. At the same time, immediately after sexual intercourse, it is better for a woman not to get up or take a shower immediately. It is advisable to lie down with your legs elevated for at least some time. It should be remembered that saliva reduces the activity of sperm, so it is better to refrain from oral sex for a while.
Examination by a doctor as an important part of pregnancy planning
Examination of the female body for the presence of pathologies is very important when planning pregnancy. One of the main ones is an ultrasound examination, which determines the shape and position of the uterus, the patency of the fallopian tubes (a painful procedure), as well as the period of ovulation. At the same time, not only the woman should undergo examination. Men should have semen samples tested for sperm activity. If both partners are healthy, then the percentage of conception on the day of ovulation is high.
On what days of the cycle does it become possible to get pregnant?
Many couples wonder when they are most likely to get pregnant. In order to determine the most successful days for conception, it is necessary to calculate when a woman ovulates. For girls with a clear menstrual cycle, this will not be difficult. Ovulation usually occurs 12-16 days before menstruation.
For women whose periods are irregular, determining which days they are most likely to get pregnant is a little more difficult. In modern medicine, there are several ways to find out about the onset of ovulation. You can buy a special test at the pharmacy that will tell you when you should try harder to conceive a baby. Some women regularly measure their basal temperature, and the moment it starts to rise is a signal for them to take action.
In addition, some changes occur in the body, by which ovulation can be determined. These days, the amount of mucus in the cervical canal increases, and its consistency changes slightly. Some women experience pain in the right or left side when the follicle bursts. Some people do not pay attention to these signs, while others listen to their body, thereby increasing the chances of pregnancy.
Pregnancy at the beginning of the cycle
Many women claim that their pregnancy occurred at the very beginning of the cycle, when ovulation was still far away. In fact, this opinion is erroneous, since conception can occur a maximum of 48 hours after the rupture of the follicle.
Spermatozoa have great vitality. On average, they remain viable for 5-7 days. This is precisely what can explain the onset of pregnancy if sexual intercourse took place immediately after the end or even during menstruation.
When is it most likely to get pregnant?
To assess the likelihood of conception, it is necessary to understand how and when we become pregnant. Fertilization occurs when a mature egg and sperm meet in the fallopian tube. And, if there is usually no big problem with obtaining sperm, then with eggs everything is more complicated. Normally, in a woman, one cell matures in one cycle and remains capable of fertilization for only 2-3 days. In order for pregnancy to occur, it is necessary to have unprotected sexual intercourse during this period.
However, everyone has heard about unexpected pregnancies that occur even when this is not medically possible, for example, during menstruation. This is due to the characteristics of the body in some women. Sometimes young eggs begin to show activity characteristic of the ovulation period immediately after menstruation. It also happens that two cells mature during one cycle. But such accidents have virtually no effect on the statistics.
Most doctors agree that a woman's maximum fertility during ovulation lasts for 48 hours. With a standard cycle length of 28 days, the probability of conception this month is 11%. But in approximately 50% of cases, fertilization does not occur for reasons related to sperm quality and other circumstances. Therefore, after some adjustments, we get about a 5-6% chance of getting pregnant from the first month of planning.
It should also be taken into account that it is not always possible to get pregnant even after the sperm has penetrated the egg. For pregnancy to occur, the fertilized egg must be implanted into the wall of the uterus. But very often this does not work out and the fertilized cell simply comes out along with the menstrual flow. This may be due to both the woman’s health status, for example, the thickness of the epithelium in the uterus, and defects in the fertilized egg itself.
Is it possible to get pregnant after ovulation?
Some women use the calendar method as a means of contraception. Subsequently, they are surprised by the onset of pregnancy, because unprotected sexual intercourse occurred several days before the expected menstruation. How is this possible?
In such cases, most likely there was a cycle disruption. Fertilization even two days after ovulation is impossible, since the egg loses its viability. For some reason, even women with a regular cycle sometimes experience disruptions. Ovulation shifts by several days, and pregnancy can occur despite the fact that sexual intercourse took place a couple of days before the start of menstruation.
How to get pregnant the first time: sex positions
There is an opinion that the onset of pregnancy quickly depends on the position. This theory is considered largely false , since pregnancy can only depend on the day on which sexual intercourse took place.
If a woman is diagnosed with a bent uterus , then the position can help for deeper penetration of seminal fluid. In this case, in order to get pregnant faster, it is recommended to regularly have sex in a position where the woman is on all fours and the man is behind. Then the deepest penetration occurs. After ejaculation, the woman should lie down for several minutes with her legs raised up, it is best to use the “birch tree” position.
Pregnancy “on withdrawal” of oral contraceptives
Most women taking hormonal birth control pills are interested in what is the likelihood of getting pregnant the first time after stopping them. Here, a lot will depend on the duration of taking contraceptives, the woman’s age and her state of health.
As a rule, when taking hormonal drugs for a short period of time, the likelihood of becoming pregnant immediately after stopping them increases. Doctors use this technique in some cases to treat infertility. During the three cycles following stopping the pills, the chances of successful conception are higher than before starting to take them.
A few words about unwanted pregnancy
So, we found out that it is quite possible to get pregnant the first time, but how to avoid it? Naturally, first of all, we should not forget about contraception. These can be either barrier methods or oral hormonal drugs. Their choice is related both to the age of the fair sex and to her gynecological history.
Those. in order to select an adequate and effective contraceptive method, the gynecologist needs to know whether the patient has had pregnancies, how many, how long ago and how each pregnancy ended. In addition, information about the presence of previous inflammatory and infectious diseases, surgical interventions, and allergies is also important.
Since the first sex becomes “younger” and quite a lot of teenagers enter into intimate relationships, it is necessary to have conversations with children about the fact that at a young age you can get pregnant for the first time quite easily and how to behave in order not to get pregnant.
If an unwanted pregnancy does happen, before taking extreme measures and going for an abortion, think - in your hands is the life of a small, albeit not yet human, but already living creature, and perhaps preserving it will be a more correct step.
The likelihood of becoming pregnant for a woman who has been taking hormonal contraceptives for a long time
If a woman takes birth control pills for several years, it may take considerable time for her reproductive function to recover. Very often, oral contraceptives are prescribed by girls independently, and the instructions may not always be followed. In order for hormonal pills to have the least harm on women's health, gynecology recommends consulting a doctor before starting to use them.
If you have been taking contraceptives for more than a year, you should take a break for several months. Neglect of this rule can result in a woman struggling with infertility for many years.
The woman's age also plays a significant role. Until the age of 22-23, a girl’s body recovers quite quickly after taking hormonal medications. After 30 years, a woman’s reproductive function can return within a year, and after 35 years, this period increases by another 2 times.
What is the probability of getting pregnant the first time for a particular woman? It is impossible to give an exact answer to this question. Compliance with all recommendations and a positive attitude will definitely help you find out the good news as soon as possible.
