Ovulation, when does it occur? When is the best time to get pregnant? What are the stages of ovulation? Dr. Elena Zannoni, gynecologist and head of conservative and endoscopic surgery at the Humanitas Fertility Center, explains how to recognize ovulation in a video.
What are the stages of ovulation?
The common belief that the menstrual cycle is characterized only by four or five days of flow is not entirely correct. The menstrual cycle is defined as the period from the first day of menstruation to the arrival of the next cycle. A normal menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and it is divided into two phases, the proliferative period and the secretive period.
The proliferating period begins with menstruation and ends with ovulation. The secretion period begins with ovulation until a pregnancy develops or, if not, with the beginning of a new menstruation.
When does ovulation take place?
Ovulation occurs about 14 days before the next menstrual cycle. In a regular cycle of 28 days, ovulation occurs on day 14.
How do I recognize ovulation?
The cervical mucus, having exhausted the menstrual blood, begins to become more evident and clearer.
In the two to three days before ovulation, mucus is particularly evident. Immediately after ovulation, however, the mucus becomes thicker and whiter until the next cycle.
The greatest possibilities of conception are concentrated in the days of the peak of fertile mucus, that is, when it is more transparent.
How to recognize when you are fertile?
The fertile period can be distinguished by the change in the cervical mucus or by soreness in the lower abdomen, even if they are not characteristic symptoms of every woman.
There are sticks available on the market to detect, through urine, the peak of luteinizing hormone (a hormone that stimulates ovulation in women) that precedes the period of greatest fertility.
