How often to have sex to get pregnant

Trying for a baby is not only extremely exciting but can also be a lot of fun. It’s a time in your life when you get to have TONS of carefree sex! Who wouldn’t enjoy that? At the same time though, it’s important to know the facts about fertility that will help you achieve your goal of pregnancy.

Timing is everything when it comes to making a baby.

Although sperm can survive for up to 5 days inside a woman’s body, an egg is only available to be fertilized for between 12 and 24 hours. To maximize your chances of conceiving, it’s important to have sex during your fertile window.

The fertile window is a 6-day interval that includes the 5 days prior to and the day of ovulation. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a couple has a higher chance of pregnancy if they have intercourse every one to two days during the fertile window.

So is that what couples actually do?

We asked women on the glow app who are actively trying to get pregnant, and 51% reported that they do the deed 2-3 times during their fertile window (and 24% do it at least 4-5 times!). 11% of couples are getting it on more than 5 times a week. Good for them!

Here’s the thing - it’s easy to miss your fertile window if you aren’t having enough sex. If you limit sex to only when you think you’re ovulating, that might be too late and can significantly decrease your chances of getting pregnant. What’s more, many women mistakenly believe that they’re ovulating when they actually aren’t, so more sex is the way to go :)

We repeat: Have sex as much as you’d like during your cycle, but focus on the days leading up to and the day of ovulation.  But don’t feel like you have to have sex every day or even multiple times a day. While that can be fun for a while, it won’t take long for sex to turn into chore if you insist on doing it with the frequency with which your brush your teeth.

In fact, when we surveyed 70,000 couples in our community, over 40% of them said that at times sex has indeed turned into a chore. This kind of pressure isn’t good for your efforts to conceive, not to mention that it also makes it hard to keep the romance alive and keep baby-dancing fun.

It might help to leave all the talk about fertility out of it. You could also try spicing things up a little. Whether that means candles, lingerie, or a new sex position, go ahead and try something new!

And last but certainly not least, spend time together. The chance to focus on each other will help you connect as a couple again. Have dinner, see a movie, or just hang out and do something you both enjoy. This will not only revive your sex life but also help nurture the relationship you had before you conceive.