All About Ovulation

The Inside Story to Help You Conceive

By Kelly Burgess

A. This can be a problem if you are tracking ovulation either from a desire to get pregnant or in an effort to avoid pregnancy. What happens with the menstrual cycles is that it will always come about 14 days after you ovulate, so you can always predict retrospectively when you ovulated. The problem is that doesn't help you when you're trying to time intercourse to achieve pregnancy. Fortunately, there are other methods such as Basal Body Temperature (BBT) charting, cervical mucous tracking and more and more high-tech gadgets to help pinpoint ovulation.

Q. Is it dangerous to not ovulate?

A. No! In fact, data [says] that ovulating constantly, unlike in the past when women spent much of their adult lives either pregnant or breastfeeding and ovulated much less frequently, actually increases the risk for ovarian cancer. Things that suppress ovulation (more pregnancies, more breastfeeding and birth control pills) may actually reduce that risk.

Q. If birth control pills suppress ovulation, why do you have periods on birth control pills?

A. You don't have to have a period when taking hormonal contraception. Most companies have it built into a pack because people feel reassured by it. There's no medical reason a period has to occur.

Q. What is the connection between PMS and ovulation?

A. PMS can only occur after ovulation, because the symptoms that are associated with PMS – among them breast tenderness, bloating, mood changes, etc. – are caused by release of the hormone progesterone. PMS can start immediately after ovulation or may appear only in the few days before a woman's period. Again, birth control pills will also control PMS symptoms.

Want to see more?

• Should You Use an Ovulation Predictor Kit?: Pros and Cons of the OPK
• Fertile Signs: Scientific and Subtle Ways to Know You're Ready to Conceive
• Fertility Awareness: What You Should Know and Why You Probably Don't
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!