When is the Best Time to Get Pregnant?

The best time to get pregnant is when there is financial stability, when the body is healthy and when both partners are comfortable and ready to raise a child. 

You're most likely to get pregnant if you have sex within a day or so of ovulation (releasing an egg from the ovary). This is usually about 14 days after the first day of your last period, if your cycle is around 28 days long.

An egg lives for about 12-24 hours after being released. For pregnancy to happen, the egg must be fertilised by a sperm within this time. If you want to get pregnant, having sex every couple of days will mean there are always sperm waiting in the fallopian tubes to meet the egg when it is released.

Sperm can live for up to seven days inside a woman's body. So if you've had sex in the days before ovulation, the sperm will have had time to travel up the fallopian tubes to "wait" for the egg to be released. It's difficult to know exactly when ovulation happens, unless you are practising natural family planning, or fertility awareness. 

About video: Discover why it's recommended that women have children between the ages of 18 and 35 with help from a labor and delivery nurse in this free video on pregnancy and conception.