As a couple with a problem getting pregnant, it is of the utmost importance that you fully understand what it takes to achieve a conception.

When a woman is ovulating and the egg is expelled from the ovarian wall it will be picked up by the waiting fallopian tube. Within seconds, the fimbria (the end of the fallopian tube) will snatch the egg up and draw it inside the tube. If an egg remains unfertilised it can live for up to twenty four hours, and after dying it will be absorbed by the body or it will disintegrate and come out with the menses. To put it in perspective, the size of the egg is about as big as a full stop – like this one.

If there is success and fertilisation occurs this will actually take place in the fallopian tube. This is against the popular misconception that fertilisation takes place inside the uterus. It can take even a couple of hours for the sperm to reach the egg in the fallopian tubes. Once an egg has been fertilised there are vibrating, tiny hairs called cilia which draw the egg back into the uterus. The fertilised ovum will reach its final destination and begin to burrow into the nutritious lining of the uterus after about one week of ‘travelling’ to reach there.

If you are experiencing a problem getting pregnant then you need to remember that there are three things that make a pregnancy happen, not just the sperm and egg – the third ingredient is a safe medium for them both to travel is, as without this conduit the vagina is a very hostile environment for the little sperms to tackle.

This medium which affords safe passage to the sperm and egg is an eggwhite-like cervical fluid which is especially fertile. It is this cervical mucus that is the safe passage of the sperm into the cervix and the waiting egg. This special fertile-quality cervical fluid is produced under the increasing levels of oestrogen during the first part of the menstrual cycle, with the optimum being produced during ovulation. In this type of cervical fluid, sperm can survive inside for up to five days – so it is entirely possible to have intercourse at the beginning of the week, and not become pregnant till the end of the week!

As it would be a total disaster for a pregnant body if the lining of the uterus were to disintegrate as it usually does in normal cycles, the body does an amazing trick and stops this from happening. When a fertilised egg burrows into the lining of the uterus, the body starts producing a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) which prevents this from happening. This hormone sends a message directly to the corpus luteum (fancy for the lining of the uterus) and tells it to keep on kicking for a while longer. This will continue on for a couple of months, or until the placenta is ready to relieve the corpus luteum of its job, after which it is the placenta which keeps the lining alive, whilst also providing the nutrients and oxygen that the tiny foetus needs to grow.

False -negative pregnancy tests occur when the test is done too soon, because it can take so long for an egg to burrow into the lining and start producing HCG, which is what is measured in a pregnancy test. If a woman is charting her cycle, and even charting her cervical fluids, then these kind of false-negative results are unlikely to occur, because she will know the rhythm of ovulation, and therefore will know more accurately when implantation has occurred.

When couples are having a problem getting pregnant it really is vital that they fully understand the process involved in getting pregnant, because unlike what our mums tell us as youths, for some getting pregnant is not that easy.

If there’s one thing a couple should do who have been labelled with ‘unexplained infertility’ it is to go on a ‘no doctors allowed’ hiatus and really learn about conception. This is because many doctors are far too quick to tell patients they are ‘infertile’ after just one year of trying – sometimes it just takes a better understanding of your bodies and your cervical fluid is one of the best indicators of when is the best time to get pregnant.

Doctors tend to focus on the basal body temperature for measuring fertile times and ignore the fundamental indications of the cervical fluid. If couples are serious about timing when is the best time to get pregnant then they cannot afford to ignore cervical fluid. For millions of couples around the world, doctors are unfortunately still prescribing the timing of intercourse be dictated by changes in a woman’s temperature. If you have been told that checking basal body temperature is actually a post-indication of ovulation and fertility, then at least that is half the story – however most doctors will still tell you to check your past cycles for a predictive indication of future fertile times. Couples are being misinformed by both prescribed methods!

Unfortunately finding when is the best time to get pregnant by keeping a temperature record may actually be impeding conception, as in most cases by the time a temperature increase is noted, the egg has already passed.

Tracking changes in temperature is of course a part of the conception puzzle, but the emphasis the medical profession gives it as a sign of fertility is misleading. Recording basal body temperatures can help determine if the phases of your cycle are long enough to let an egg be implanted into the uterus, or to determine if you are ovulating at all – it can even tell you if a pregnancy has been achieved. Be this as it may, basal temperature is not a good determinant of optimum fertility periods. Changes in cervical fluid provide a very accurate determinant of fertile times, so start checking! The ‘eggwhite’ cervical fluid, or the wettest type of fluid and vaginal sensation is the indicator for the most fertile period.

Chances of conception can be increased by paying attention to your cervical fluid. Of course the most important first step is to know what it is you are looking for. The qualities of cervical mucus , such as colour and consistency can change a lot during the menstrual cycle. Couples can find the best time for conception if the woman understands and tracks these changes.

Directly after the menses have finished, there is usually not much cervical fluid produced. In most women for the first half a week directly after the period there will be little mucus produced, if any at all. The chances of conceiving depend largely on the presence of cervical mucus, so no mucus, no pregnancy. The stage after this one, and preceding ovulation is one where there is a sticky consistency to the cervical mucus and it is a cloudy or white colour. During this phase there is normally also less mucus. A couple of days prior to ovulation the cervical mucus changes to a moist, sticky consistency like a lotion or hand cream. Usually the colour at this stage will be creamy or white.

The best conception time is ovulation. When a woman is ovulating, this is when there is the highest production of cervical mucus. During ovulation the cervical mucus takes on the colour and consistency of an eggwhite which is why this time is called the time of ‘eggwhite cervical mucus’. When the eggwhite stage comes, this is the time when the chances of conception are highest.

By taking notice of the changes in your cervical mucus, you can track your cycle more accurately, and always know where you are in your cycle. If you note these changes over a couple of months, the times of your ovulation will be very easy to determine, and so will the best times for trying for a baby.