Sexual Health
Understanding & Coping With Emotional Triggers While Trying to Conceive (TTC)
2022-04-19
The time has come where you and your partner feel it is time to take your relationship to the next level - you are ready to become parents! Congratulations on reaching this milestone, here begins your journey to pregnancy, and eventually, parenthood.
What this means is that it is time to start taking your bedroom sessions a little more seriously. While it is important that you still aim to keep things fun and exciting, there are some things that you can do to ensure you are effectively working towards achieving your goals.
Today we are going to let you in on a few sexy tips for those of you who are trying to conceive naturally.
Before your next saucy rendezvous, it will help to take note of the best times to successfully conceive. To help you catch this period, you want to pay attention to what is known as the fertility window. A woman’s fertility window occurs over six days, this includes the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. These six days are when the chances of becoming pregnant are at their highest.
You ovulate between 12 to 14 days before your next period, so in order to track your ovulation, you will need to predict roughly when your next period is expected. If you are someone who often experiences irregular periods, fret not, as there are signs that you can look out for that indicate where you are in your menstrual and ovulation cycle - click here for more information on tracking your ovulation cycle.
You may have heard that limiting the number of times that you and your partner have sex can help save the available sperm. However, abstaining too much can have negative effects on the sperm’s motility - that is, its ability to swim and reach the egg for fertilisation.
Additionally, trying to only have sex within your fertility window and when you are ovulating can result in you missing your days of ovulation.
On the other hand, having sex daily (or multiple times in a day) with the sole purpose of becoming pregnant can cause the act to feel almost like a chore. This can often lead to either you or your partner not feeling like doing the deed when you are, in fact, at your most fertile.
We suggest you talk to your partner and try to find a balance that works for both of you. This may be difficult considering varying and potentially clashing schedules. However, try to schedule in time to be intimate throughout the course of the month, especially around your fertility window.
Note that being intimate can be so much more than just sex alone. Spend time with one another, go the extra mile to appreciate your partner, and remind yourselves how excited you are to create a life together. This helps you and your partner feel more connected as you try to conceive and reduces the likelihood of either of you viewing sex as a chore.
It is true that deeper penetration can help increase the odds of becoming pregnant, meaning that positions such as missionary and doggie-style are preferred. However, there is no science that suggests other positions are less likely to result in pregnancy.
What this means is that your favourite positions will work just as well when trying to conceive naturally. You shouldn’t have to be comfortable during sex in order to conceive! So we suggest letting yourselves enjoy this process, experiment (or don’t), whatever works for you and your partner will work just as well when you are trying to conceive naturally.
You may have heard that in order to improve your chances of becoming pregnant, you should elevate your hips to help the sperm reach the egg. Unfortunately, there is no scientific backing to this belief.
When the man ejaculates, the sperm shoots directly into the cervical mucus and fallopian tubes. Remember, they are built for swimming, meaning that regardless of your position afterwards they will still make their way towards the egg.
So while we do encourage a little bit of pillow talk to keep the romance alive during this period, if you are running short on time there is no reason you need to keep your legs propped in the air.
As much as we have encouraged keeping the romance alive, oral sex as foreplay can have a negative effect on your chances of becoming pregnant. Saliva can change the pH levels in your vaginal tract, therefore making it inhospitable to sperm.
As such, we recommend reserving your mouths for kissing (up above) and using a sperm safe lubricant and fingers to help with clitoral stimulation.
In short, yes, orgasms do increase your chances of becoming pregnant! Fertility experts believe that uterine contractions aid the sperm in reaching the cervix.
Additionally, the oxytocin and happy hormones that are released during an orgasm help reduce the stress you are undoubtedly feeling as you are trying to conceive. As we know, stress can affect your chances of becoming pregnant, so orgasms naturally rid you of one of the biggest obstacles you may be facing.
As for the male partners in this equation, men who are fully stimulated have been shown to ejaculate more. This means that more sperm is being released into the cervix, leading to a higher chance of a successful conception.
In conclusion, we suggest that you begin this journey by first taking the steps required to track your fertility window and figure out the days that you are ovulating. Next pencil in some time for intimacy, which as we’ve mentioned, is much, much more than sex alone.
Remember staying connected with your partner on your journey towards conceiving naturally helps you ensure that sex does not become a chore.
While no particular position has been shown to improve your chances of becoming pregnant, orgasms certainly do. So don’t forget to show your partner how excited you are to be on this journey with them. Having said that, remember that kissing should remain up above during this time and that you should most definitely, enjoy the ride.