The issue of conception and pregnancy is of interest to many people who have an active sex life. So, some wish to quickly acquire offspring. Others believe that the time has not yet come for this event. Quite often couples use the calendar method of pregnancy protection. Safe days in this case are calculated according to a certain scheme. This is what will be discussed later. The article will tell you about which days are safe from pregnancy, as well as how to correctly calculate them.
Principle of conception
Before determining pregnancy-safe days, you need to learn something about fertilization. How does it usually happen?
A man, subject to good health, is almost always ready for conception. In his body, sperm are regularly produced, which, falling into the female body, merge with the egg. When does this happen? The female cycle is divided into several parts. In addition, each of them cannot be called fertile. So, during and after menstruation, estrogen is produced. This hormone helps the follicle grow, and also stimulates the growth of the new endometrium. A few days before the alleged ovulation, luteinizing hormone is released. It allows the follicle to burst and release the egg. Next comes the time of progesterone. This substance contributes to the further transformation of the endometrium and the progression of pregnancy if it occurs.
After the fusion of the male and female cells, we can talk about pregnancy. However, the fetal egg should descend into the uterus and securely fix there for further development.
Calendar method of pregnancy protection. What days are considered dangerous?
The safest days (there will be no pregnancy) are the farthest from ovulation. To determine them, you need to know the dates at which sexual intercourse can lead to pregnancy.
Ovulation occurs in the female body regularly. This usually happens once a month. Less commonly, the process starts twice or thrice. It is believed that in a healthy woman, ovulation may not occur approximately twice a year. This means that part of the cycles will not lead to conception, even during sexual intercourse on any day.
The female egg is capable of fertilization within 12-48 hours. If contact occurs immediately after ovulation, then there is a high probability of conception. Male cells are able to live in the body of a representative of the weaker sex for about a week. Depending on the health of the man, this period varies from 3 to 10 days. From this we can conclude that dangerous days are considered about a week before ovulation and 2-3 days after it. Let's try to find out which days are the safest for pregnancy. It is worth noting that much depends on the duration of the female cycle.
In a long cycle
Safe days for pregnancy are pretty easy to calculate. To do this, you just need to know the duration of the female period. A long cycle is when its duration is 35 days. This is an absolute norm and does not require medical intervention.
The second phase of the female period lasts an average of 12 days. Sometimes this interval can be in the range from 10 to 16 days. To understand when ovulation occurs, it is necessary to make an elementary calculation. From 35 days you need to subtract the length of the second phase. The result is 23. This suggests that it is on the 23rd day after the onset of menstruation that the follicle opens. Given the viability of male cells, the following can be said. Safe days in the long female period will be 1-14 days and 26-35. In total, it is 23 days.
Normal cycle
What are the days safe from pregnancy in the average cycle? Usually this period lasts 28 days, or four weeks. In this case, the opening of the follicular vesicle occurs on the 14th day. Remember that the duration of the second phase is always the same. Only the length of the first part of the cycle can change.
So, the egg comes out exactly in the middle of the month. Add to this day two days in which the cell is able to take the sperm. The result is the following data. From the 17th to the 28th day, a woman is very unlikely to become pregnant. Do the same with the first part of the cycle. From the middle (ovulation day), subtract the sperm viability. A safe period will be from 1 to 7 days. Based on this, we can conclude that there are only 18 safe days in the average cycle.
In women with a short period
What are the days safe from pregnancy when a woman has a cycle of 21 days? Let's try to make a calculation.
The second phase is about 12 days. Using arithmetic transformations, we get that the egg leaves the ovary on the 9th day. To this day, add the life span of the female gamete. From this it turns out that days safe from pregnancy are the period from the 12th to the 21st. What can be said about the first phase? Everything is a bit more complicated here. It is only 9 days. Sperm, as is already known, can wait up to 10 days in the female body. From this we can conclude that there are simply no safe days in the first part of the short cycle. Upon contact, conception can occur any day. So, in a short cycle, the number of safe days is only one week.
Special cases
As you already know, twice a year, every woman can have anovulatory cycles. During these periods, the egg simply does not exit the ovary. Doctors say that in this case, the reproductive organs rest. Anovulatory cycles are the absolute norm. In this case, no contacts will occur that can occur from the first day of the cycle to the end of the pregnancy. However, a woman cannot foresee that it is precisely this period that she will have anovulatory.
It is worth mentioning separately about the cycles of the fairer sex, which are in the lactation period. There is no ovulation during breastfeeding. It was always considered so. However, with the development of medicine, it became known that the follicles in this period still mature. Moreover, they can be torn or undergo reverse development. So, during breastfeeding, a woman’s cycles are irregular. Based on this, it can be concluded that days safe from pregnancy are almost impossible to calculate.
The opinion of doctors
Doctors say that the calendar method of protecting against unwanted conception is very unsafe. To be insured against conception, you must have regular cycles that never fail even for 1-2 days. However, this is almost impossible.
Doctors say that safe days in women can shift strongly in one direction or another. All due to the fact that the body of the representative of the weaker sex is highly dependent on emotional experiences. Any event can lead to a malfunction of hormonal production and a violation of your calculations.
Finally…
You now know how to calculate pregnancy-safe days. Remember that this method is completely unreliable. Approximately 30 out of 100 women who were protected in this way turned out to be pregnant.