Ovulation:

• Ovulation (the release of one or more eggs from an ovary) occurs within a 24 hour period and only once during a menstrual cycle.

• Day one of menstrual bleeding is the first day of the cycle.

• The time interval from day one to ovulation may vary.

• The time interval from ovulation until menstruation is about two weeks.

• Ovulation will occur early in a short cycle and later in a long cycle.

• Observing the cervical mucus symptom gives information about being potentially fertile or infertile on a day by day basis.

• The fertility and infertility patterns ahead of ovulation vary from woman to woman.

• Once released from the ovary, the ovum (egg) lives for 12-24 hours, unless fertilised.

Periods:

• The average amount of menstrual blood lost in a period is 3 to 5 tablespoons.

• A period usually lasts from between 3 and 7 days.

• Some women have pain around ovulation (Mittelschmerz).

• Any bleeding between periods must be checked by your doctor.

• Women living together often find that they have their periods at the same time.

Sperm:

• It takes about 70 days for a sperm to be produced but there is always plenty of fully grown sperm at any one time.

• The sperm is about a hundred times smaller than the female egg. It is 1/25mm long and 1/250mm wide.

• The sperm is made up of three parts, a head containing the sex genes, a middle which gives them energy and a tail for swimming.

• On average man produce around 150-1000 million sperm everyday.

• The top speed sperm are able to swim through the cervix into the womb in about two minutes with the right type of conditions

• Sperm cells need suitable cervical mucus to survive and reach the ovum in the Fallopian tube.

• Sperm cells may live for 3-5 days on average in suitable cervical mucus but up to seven days if the conditions are right. At infertile times they will survive in the vagina for only an hour or two.

Fertilisation:

• It takes about three hours for the sperm to fully enter the egg.

• The egg can be fertilised by sperm that have been ejaculated up to seven days before.

• The egg has special places on the outside coat that attract the sperm.

• It takes a couple an average of 3-6 months to conceive, if they are having sex regularly.

Conception:

• It is about 8-10 days after ovulation the embryo starts to embed itself in the womb wall and pregnancy begins.

• An average pregnancy lasts 280 days.