a Childbirth
How Do I Get Pregnant?
How do I get pregnant? If you have tried for some months or years to get pregnant, you might have a concern that something biologically might not be working. If you suspect that you and you partner might have a problem with fertility, understanding the cause and eliminating it is your primary concern.
In four of every five cases of infertility, the problems are related to just three reasons:
1. Sperm problems
2. Fallopian tubes problems
3. Ovulation problems
You need to be aware that 1 in every 3 cases of infertility are related to sperm problems. Besides, every second couple with infertility issues have problems both with ovulation and sperm. So the male factor does have a role. Many people are surprised to learn that it is fertility is not a female land alone. When you are serious about having a baby, you and your partner need to make tests and be completely clear about the cause. That's why taking preconception care and visiting a doctor before getting pregnant is the first step in your journey.
Here is the distribution of causes of infertility:
Distribution of infertility causes in developed countries:
| Infertility cause | WHO 1988 |
France 1989 |
Geneva 1991 |
| Female cause only | 35% |
33% |
50% |
| Male cause only | 25% |
20% |
27% |
| Cause found in both | 24% |
39% |
20% |
| No cause found in both | 16% |
8% |
3% |
Another research shows that 30% are sperm related problems, 25% are related to the Fallopian tubes, 25% to ovulation, 50% both to sperm and ovulation, 5-10% to the cervical mucus and cervical position, 10-15% are not explained.
If you are already making a baby, and it does not seem to happen as fast as expected, you might start asking these questions:
How are his sperm?
Do I have ovulation?
Are my fallopian tubes open?
It is easy to check the vitality and fertility of the sperm with a sperm analysis. It is a very easy and painless procedure. It is fair for male partners to make this little effort before making the lady go through invasive tests and drug regimens.
How do I get pregnant if not by ovulation, This is the condition really when everything else is ok. The truth is that even healthy and fertile women sometimes might not ovulation for various reasons from stress and illnesses, to breastfeeding and other just normal and natural conditions.
You can understand if you ovulate and when by:
1. Checking your cycle. If your cycle is regular and its length is between 21 and 35 days, you are most probably ovulating.
2. Tracking your basal body temperature by fertility charting. You can use the fertility chart tool to help you do that with ease. More info about how to chart your basal body temperature can be found here.
3. You can also learn to understand the signs of the cervical mucus and record these two in the fertility chart. If you notice how the cervical mucus changes you will know when you are about to ovulate which is the key in finding the answer to your question: "How do I get pregnant?"
Using ovulation prediction kits (OPK). OPK are considered the most reliable methods of detecting ovulation. A positive OPK predicts ovulation more than 80%.
How the tests can help you eliminate any cause:
1. Sperm analysis -- it provides information about the sperm count and the quality of the sperm.
2. Progesterone level -- this is a blood test which indicates if there is an elevated progesterone level a week after expected ovulation -- this confirms if there is ovulation
3. Pelvic ultrasound exams. It is done before and after ovulation and shows if a follicle is developed and how.If the follicle disappears, it is supposed that there was ovulation.
4. Endometrial biopsy is done about 10 days after ovulation. It confirms that ovulation happens.
And finally, to check the fallopian tubes is made patency. It is done with hysterosalpingogram (HSG). This is an X-ray test. Dye is injected into the uterus and the fallopian tubes and through a video scan is seen if the fallopian tubes are open as the dye will fill them. The HSG test shows if the fallopian tubes are open and if the cavity of the uterus has a normal shape.
