Ovulation monitoring

Once you learn how to recognise your body's signs of ovulation, monitoring it may make planning your pregnancy a little less stressful.

Although there are many different kinds of ovulation predictor kits available, most work by measuring the level of lutenising hormone (LH) in your urine. Lutenising hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland to stimulate ovulation.

LH levels rise about 24 to 36 hours before ovulation takes place so, to use these kits effectively, you do need to have a basic knowledge of your approximate time of ovulation. One way to do this is to work out the length of your average menstrual cycle To help work it out, count day one as the first day of your period and the last day as the day before your next period begins.

If, for example, your menstrual cycle is 28 days long, simply subtract 17 days. So, 28 days minus 17 days brings you back to day 11.

Each month, you would start using the ovulation predictor kit on day 11 and continue testing each day until a positive test result come back.

A positive result means that you are going to ovulate within 24 to 36 hours.

Remember, even if you have been trying to conceive for a while, don't let sex become pressured, or chore-like each time your predictor kit says that the time is right. A taste of relaxed romance will be much more fun.

Find More

This article was written by Claire Halliday for Kidspot. Sources include Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne.

Must reads

KidSpot-2