How often should you try to conceive

If you are part of a couple that has been trying to conceive but haven’t had any early success you might be wondering what changes you can make to your sex life.

Couples often ask themselves when should we have sex?

The most recent guidelines on fertility in the UK from NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) advise couples to have intercourse every 2-3 days.

The most recent guidelines on fertility in the UK from NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) advise couples to have intercourse every 2-3 days.

Most couples will get pregnant within a year if they have regular sex and don't use contraception.

So you can have sex up to 5 days before ovulation or 1 day after and still get pregnant.

Have sex near the time of ovulation.

One strategy is to have sex every other day starting either right after the end of your period or the week before you expect to ovulate.

Also, how often should we be trying? Let’s take a closer look to see how important these factors are when trying to conceive. 

How often? 

The NHS suggest that it is optimal to have sex without contraception every 2 or 3 days.

This may be a surprise to some, as people often think, mistakenly, that having sex daily or multiple times a day is more likely to give you success. So, why is it that the NHS and doctors suggest every 2 or 3 days? 

Sperm count

You would imagine having sex daily or multiple times a day would increase the chances for the sperm to successfully fertilise the egg.

I recommend having intercourse every other day or every third day,” Dr. Shelly says.

However, sperm count can be significantly reduced by ejaculating daily. Abstinence has been shown to improve sperm count and sample volume when compared to daily ejaculation. Therefore, abstaining for a few days

when trying to get pregnant how often

how many times should i try to get pregnant