Is your ovulation always on day 14 of your cycle?
Hi, I am Roeliene, chairwoman of Sensiplan-Nederland, 59 years old, married and mother of three adult children. When I was 20, I heard about the sympto-thermal method of Rötzer from a friend. We found it super interesting and then taught it to ourselves from this book. We mapped out our cycle in a notebook on graph paper! Later I met people from the sympto-thermal method Sensiplan (a more reliable method) and became a consultant. The knowledge about the cycle has brought me a lot personally and it is my great desire that all women and men in the Netherlands will gain this knowledge. As far as I am concerned, it is just as basic knowledge as reading and arithmetic, after all, it concerns your own body!
Moodies gives us as Sensiplan consultants the space to take you into the world of the female cycle in a number of blogs. This first time I will kick off with 'ovulation', what can we learn about it?
The ovulation
The concept of 'ovulation' is familiar to everyone. You assume that there is an ovulation and a menstruation in every cycle, but did you also know that the basis of your cycle is actually your fertility ? We often don't think about that.
Each cycle, a whole bunch of eggs mature in your ovaries. When the time is right, your body chooses the best egg, which is allowed to continue growing until ovulation occurs, so that this egg can possibly be fertilized. If the egg is fertilized, it goes through one of the two fallopian tubes to the uterus, while dividing cells, where the starting embryo can implant itself in the uterine wall to continue growing into new human life.
Every cycle your body does a lot of work! It builds up the uterine lining with nutrients, so that a fertilized egg can nest in it. If no implantation takes place, the built-up uterine lining comes out again with the menstruation. For every new life, a 'bed' is made every cycle, as it were, with the building up of the uterine lining. And if no fertilization takes place in that cycle, the uterine lining is shed with the menstruation and the whole process starts again.
If the egg is not fertilized, the egg cell is simply absorbed into the body. So it is not the case that the egg comes out with the menstruation, as many people think.
How many ovulations do you have in your life?
At birth, as a woman, you have approximately 400,000 eggs in each ovary, so approximately 800,000 in total! Of these, approximately 400-450 will mature fully in your life. So you will ovulate approximately 400-450 times in your life.
When does ovulation occur?
Many people think that it is always on day 14 of the cycle. That has also been told in biology books for a long time. It is not true!
The exact answer is: 12-16 days before your period. So you can only look afterwards when ovulation in your cycle approximately took place. You never know exactly, then you would have to do an ultrasound every month.
Women's cycle lengths can vary considerably. Cycles in the same woman can also be very different in length. About half of women have a 4-9 day difference in cycle length. And about the other half have a difference of 10-18 days or even more! Only about 3% of women have a difference of 1-3 days in their cycles. This means that if you want to 'calculate' when you ovulated approximately, you will often end up on different days, with a margin of 5 days.
Can you only get pregnant on the day of ovulation?
An egg can only be fertilized for 12-18 hours. That's less than a day! But for fertilization you need sperm cells. These can live much longer, even up to 5 days. That would mean that you are really fertile for about 6 days per month. Only those fertile days are not on fixed days, but they change per cycle. So never use a calculation method to determine your fertile days!
Ovulation and hormonal contraception?
Ovulation and menstruation means you are fertile. But there are times in life when you would rather not be fertile, if you do not want to have children together.
The idea behind hormonal contraception is to change your hormone balance so that ovulation no longer occurs or no uterine lining is built up, meaning that implantation in the uterus cannot occur.
- The pill and also the ring, patch and rod ensure that ovulation usually does not occur, so fertilization cannot occur. Because little uterine lining is built up, the bleeding is often light, it is then not actually called menstruation , but withdrawal bleeding.
- The hormonal coil ensures that no implantation in the uterine lining takes place, because the uterine lining is not built up. With the hormonal coil, ovulation usually does take place, so that the egg can be fertilized. The fertilized egg cannot implant and then dies. With a hormonal coil, you usually do not have a withdrawal bleed.
Ovulation and methods that take into account fertile days?
These methods (also called natural methods or fertile days method) take your own cycle into account. You keep track of your ovulation and the build-up of your uterine lining, including your menstruation. These methods are about determining the fertile and infertile days in the cycle. To observe what happens. On the fertile days, you do not have sex or use a condom.
One method determines the fertile days in the cycle much more accurately than the other. The reliability varies enormously. Most apps cannot always determine ovulation and the associated fertile days completely correctly. As you read above, there can be a very large margin in the time of ovulation. That actually makes all apps and cycle computers less reliable as contraception.
If you want to use a natural method with high reliability, it is wise to choose the sympto-thermal method Sensiplan, which is currently the most reliable method to map your cycle with the fertile and infertile days and just as reliable as the pill. This method requires a learning period of three cycles with a Sensiplan consultant, so it is an investment in time. But after that it takes little effort and you will benefit a lot from it, also when you want to have children in the future. You will then know very well how your own cycle is structured and when you ovulated!
 This blog was written by Roeliene, chairwoman of Sensiplan-Nederland. Sensiplan is a sympto-thermal method for family planning/contraception that provides insight into the fertility cycle. The method is scientifically substantiated. With an interactive course, clear study material and personal guidance by certified consultants, it helps women and couples make conscious choices. Safety and health are central. |
