How Soon Can you Get Pregnant After your Period

Although, it is said that a woman is most fertile and likely to get pregnant when she has intercourse around the time she is ovulating, yet, there have been numerous cases, when women have become pregnant, any time during their menstrual cycle, after having sex. A woman in her productive years can get pregnant, on any day, if she has not used a contraceptive while having intercourse. Of course, there are some days, on which she is much more likely to conceive. These are the days when she is or is just about to ovulate.

How Long After Your Period Can You Get Pregnant

Let us start with understanding the process of ovulation. Every month, a woman's ovaries release a mature egg. This egg is available for fertilization for about a day. If during this time, the egg fertilizes with a viable sperm, the egg travels to the uterus and gets itself implanted in the lining of the uterus. However, if the egg does not get fertilized, the body sheds it as well as the lining of the uterus. This shedding is what is known as menstruation. So, does this mean that a woman is likely to get pregnant only for that one day when she is ovulating? Let's see...

Researches have shown that the sperm can remain active in a woman's body for as long as five days. This means that even if a woman has intercourse a couple of days before or after she is ovulating, she can become pregnant. There have also been some rare cases, when sperms have remained active in the body of a woman for as much as seven days! This shows that one can not really pinpoint an exact time when a woman can conceive. Another problem in determining the exact days when a woman is likely to conceive is that calculating the ovulation days can be a bit of a problem. Women's bodies are different, the length of their menstrual cycles is different, it means that the days when they are ovulating, will not be same either. Here is how ovulation days are generally calculated..

Ovulation Calculation
The menstrual cycle of a woman can vary anywhere between 22 to 35 days. Ovulation in a woman starts around 14 days before her periods are due. So, to calculate the days of ovulation in a woman who has a 26 day cycle, if you take the first day of her periods as day 1, she will start ovulating on (26-14) i.e. 12th day. A woman who has a 28 day cycle will start ovulating on (28-14) i.e. 14th day, the one with a 30 day cycle will start ovulating on the (30-14) i.e. 16th day (The first day of her periods being day1). Likewise, a woman can calculate the most fertile days during her menstrual cycle and then have intercourse on these days to get pregnant. Researches have shown that there are even higher chances of conceiving if a woman has sex two to three days before she begins ovulation. So, having sex on these days, will increase the chances of getting pregnant manifold, although, as mentioned earlier, she can get pregnant during and immediately after her periods too.

The main reason why a woman can get pregnant any time during her menstrual cycle, could have a lot to do with the fact that there are lots of factors which might cause a change in the days she is ovulating. If the woman is on some medication or is under stress, it can alter the length of her cycle and thus change the days when she is ovulating. Thus, it can be rightly said, if you are not trying to conceive, always make it a point to use a contraceptive while having sex and if you are trying to get pregnant, have sex on every alternate day, irrespective of whether you think you are ovulating or not.