If your period is regular, this ovulation calculator can help you find out the days you’re most likely to ovulate. It uses the first date of your last menstrual period and the number of days between your periods. The ovulation dates are an estimate. The best time to have sex is a few days before and the day that you ovulate. The more often you have sex during this time, the more likely you are to get pregnant. Show
If your periods are irregular, there are other ways you can find out when you’re ovulating to help you get pregnant. Talk to your provider. If you'd like to keep track of your menstruation cycle, ovulation, and most fertile dates, please sign in and use our Ovulation Calendar from your desktop. Error
The menstrual cycle is what your body goes through to get ready for pregnancy. This cycle is the time from the first day of your period (first day of bleeding) up to the day before the start of your next period. Ovulation usually happens during the second half of the cycle. This is when an egg is released from one of your ovaries. To get pregnant, the egg needs to be fertilised by the sperm. Ovulation doesn’t happen every month for every woman. There are some conditions that may interfere with ovulation, such as endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). If you are not getting a monthly period and are trying to get pregnant, speak to your doctor. How long is the menstrual cycle?Women’s cycles can vary in length and from month to month, but the average is around 28 days. It’s normal to have regular cycles that are longer or shorter than this (from 21 to 41 days). It doesn’t matter how long your cycle is, most women will ovulate around 10 to 16 days before the start of their next menstrual cycle. Can I get pregnant at any time during my cycle?Yes, but it’s unlikely you’ll get pregnant just before or just after your period. You are most fertile when you ovulate, so this is when you’re most likely to get pregnant. Understanding your cycle and knowing more about what is happening month during the month, can help you learn the best days to get pregnant. Find out more about ovulation and fertility, including top tips for finding your fertility window. You can also use our ovulation calculator to find out more. What if my cycle is irregular?It can be more difficult to get pregnant if you have irregular periods because you may not ovulate regularly. There are many possible causes of irregular periods, which may affect your fertility. For example: Having irregular periods does not mean you won’t get pregnant and there are things you can do to boost your chances of success. See your GP if your periods have stopped, you’re missing monthly periods or you have irregular periods and are struggling to get pregnant. I’ve been using contraception. Will this affect my cycle?This depends on what type of contraception you’ve been using. If you’ve been taking the pill, your period may be irregular when you first come off it, so try to give yourself up to 3 months for your natural menstrual cycle to get back to its ‘normal routine’. The first period after stopping the pill is known as a ‘withdrawal bleed’. The next one after this is your first natural period. The contraceptive injection can also affect your cycle. Your periods may change and become irregular, heavier, shorter, lighter or stop altogether. This can carry on for some months after you stop the injections. If you use the contraceptive implant your fertility will return to normal as soon as it is taken out. How soon can I get pregnant after coming off the pill?You can get pregnant as soon as you come off the pill but if you’re trying to get pregnant, it’s a good idea to wait until you’ve had a natural period. This will give your body time to adjust and give you a chance to make sure you’re ready for pregnancy. Make use of our pregnancy planning tool to see what else you can do. My menstrual cycle is still irregular. Has the pill affected my fertility?It’s unlikely the pill has caused any fertility problems, but it can sometimes cover up problems you already have, such as missing periods or PCOS .This is because the pill prevents the ovaries from releasing an egg (ovulation), so although it’s normal to experience period-type bleeding on the pill, you don’t have a ‘real’ period. Contact your GP if you’re still having irregular periods 3 months after stopping contraception. Can I use my menstrual cycle to predict my due date?Yes. You can work out how far along your pregnancy is (and therefore when the baby is due) by counting from the first day of your last period. This can be confusing because you probably didn’t get pregnant until around 2 weeks later, after you ovulated. Even if do you know the date you got pregnant, this is counted as day 14 of your pregnancy (if your cycle is 28 days), not day 1. Your pregnancy is calculated from your last menstrual period because every time you have a period this is the body’s way of getting ready for pregnancy. It also gives healthcare professionals a standard to follow because it’s very difficult to know exactly when the sperm fertilised the egg. If your period is irregular or if you’ve recently been on the pill it will be harder to try and work out your due date. The most accurate way to work out your due date is to have an ultrasound scan when you’re around 11 to 14 weeks pregnant. This is used to see how for along you are and check your baby’s development. I’m pregnant but have some bleeding. Is this my period?Implantation bleeding sometimes happens in pregnant women around the time their period would have been due. Implantation is when the developing embryo plants itself in the wall of your womb. An implantation bleed is very light bleeding (spotting) that is usually pinkish and sometimes brown. Not everyone will have an implantation bleed. It’s common to have light bleeding or ‘spotting’ without pain before 12 weeks. This isn’t often serious, but you should contact your doctor, midwife or Early Pregnancy Unit immediately to be checked, just in case. Find out more about bleeding in pregnancy.
To find out your next fertile dates, you just need to select the date of the first day of your last period, adjust your average cycle length and click 'submit’. Your cycle length is the number of days between your periods, counting the first day of your period until the day before your next period starts. You will then receive your upcoming fertile dates over the next 4 months. This is just a guide to help you understand when you may be most fertile. What if my periods are irregular?You may have irregular periods if you can’t count your cycle and work out within a day or 2 when your period is due. This can make it harder to identify your ovulation date. But there are other ways of working out when you may be ovulating, such as changes in vaginal mucus, ovulation testing kits or measuring your temperature. There is more information about this below. We have more information about understanding your menstrual cycle. When is the best time to conceive?To increase your chances of getting pregnant, you need to get your fertile eggs and sperm together as often as possible. You’re the most fertile on the few days each cycle around ovulation, which is when an egg is released. During an average menstrual cycle, there are 6 days when sex can result in pregnancy. This is often called the ‘fertile window’ and includes the 5 days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. Some people get pregnant very quickly but for some people it can take a little longer. We have more information about how long it takes to get pregnant. How does the menstrual cycle work?
Read more about how pregnancy works. Conception and sexRegular sex (every 2 to 3 days) is all most people need to conceive. If you’re under 40 and have regular sex without using contraception, you have an 80% chance of getting pregnant within a year. To boost your chances of conceiving, aim to have regular sex throughout your cycle so you know that there should hopefully be good-quality sperm waiting for the time that the egg is released. Remember that if you've had sex in the 7 days before ovulation, it's possible to get pregnant because sperm can live inside a woman's body for up to 7 days and fertilise the egg when it's released. If you know when you ovulate each month, you can give yourself the best chance of getting pregnant by having sex in the days leading up to ovulation. Continue having sex during ovulation as you can still get pregnant. After this time, your fertile time will be over for that cycle. Taking a pregnancy test? Read about how pregnancy tests work. Looking for information about male fertility? Read our top tips to improve male fertility. How can I spot the signs of ovulation?Ovulation usually happens about 12 to 16 days before the start of your next period, so it helps to know your cycle length before you start trying to conceive. You may never have thought about when you might ovulate within your cycle, and if you have been using a hormone contraceptive such as the pill, you won’t have had a natural menstrual cycle for a while. As a first step, mark on your diary the dates that you bleed during a period. You can then count how many days from the first day of your period to your next period to work out the length of your cycle. If you want to work out when you ovulate, there are a number of things you can try, such as monitoring your cervical mucus changes and body temperature or using ovulation test kits. Cervical mucus changesThe cervix secretes mucus throughout the menstrual cycle, starting off sticky white and gradually becoming thinner and clearer. As your hormone levels rise to prepare your body for ovulation, you'll probably find that you start to produce mucus that is moist, sticky, white and creamy. This is the start of the fertile period of your menstrual cycle. Immediately before and during ovulation, the mucus becomes much thinner, slippery and stretchy. Sometimes people compare it to raw egg white. This thinner mucus is designed to help the sperm swim easily through it. It indicates that you are in your fertile phase, so this is the time to have sex if you want to get pregnant, but use contraception if you don’t! The last day you notice the wetter secretions is sometimes known as ‘peak day’. This usually happens very close to the time of ovulation. The mucus then returns to being thicker and sticky. After 3 days, you’re usually no longer fertile. TemperatureYou can also find out about your menstrual cycle by keeping a note of your temperature each morning when you wake up – this is sometimes called your basal temperature. A slight rise in temperature (around 0.2°C) for 3 days usually indicates that ovulation has taken place and your fertile time has ended. As this is only an indicator that you have ovulated, and doesn’t tell you when your fertile time starts, this isn't always very useful. You may need to monitor your temperature for a few months before you start to see a pattern. And remember that things like illnesses or infections may affect the readings. Using ovulation test kits (also known as ovulation predictor kits)Ovulation predictor kits are available from chemists and are quite easy to use. They work by detecting a hormone in your wee (urine) that increases when ovulation is about to take place. It is best to become familiar with your usual menstrual cycle to help figure out when you should start testing. If you have an irregular cycle, then an ovulation predictor kit (also known as an ovulation test) can help you identify the time of ovulation, but you will probably end up using a lot more of the test strips. There is also no evidence that using an ovulation predictor kit will improve your chances of getting pregnant naturally. Read more about apps, tools and kits for predicting ovulation. More information about fertilityWe have lots of information about fertility, which you may find useful. It includes information about how age affects fertility, fertility treatment options and IVF. |