How long does ovulation last? Here are the days of the fertile period for women!
How long does ovulation last? This physiological process that occurs every month in a woman's body is closely linked to the calculation of fertile days, and it is therefore important to know how many days it lasts if you want to get pregnant (or if, on the contrary, you want to avoid pregnancy).
Ovulation is that moment when the mature egg is thrown out of the ovary in order to reach the uterus through the fallopian tube. It will be during this phase of stay in the fallopian tube that the egg cell can be fertilized by a spermatozoon if you have had unprotected intercourse, with or without the intention of becoming pregnant.
The process of ovulation, and therefore the escape from the egg cell, is determined by the "increase in estrogen" during the menstrual cycle. When estrogen reaches a certain value, the luteinizing hormone, also called LH, also increases, which signals the ovaries to expel the egg.
Before answering the question of how long ovulation lasts, let us ask ourselves when it occurs: this process occurs on the 14th day of the menstrual cycle, which has a total duration of 28 days. Each woman, however, as we know, is a separate case and the exact day of ovulation can vary from month to month.
If you are looking for a pregnancy, it is possible to evaluate the exact moment of ovulation thanks to a special ovulation test: here is explained in our video who needs it, how and when to do it.
How long does ovulation last?
And here we are at our question: how long does ovulation last? Ovulation lasts one day, and therefore 24 hours, no more. However, even those preceding ovulation (3 or 4 days before) are fertile days, when the uterine cervix produces mucus that allows sperm to survive longer.
Ovulation itself, in reality, lasts only one moment: that in which the follicle frees the egg cell. It may be an hour at the most, but the egg cell, then, is able to survive in the fallopian tube. for the next 24 hours. The spermatozoa will only be able to fertilize it at this stage! If fertilization does not occur within a day, the egg cell breaks down.
How long does the fertile period last? Does it correspond to ovulation?
As we have said, the fertile period does not exactly correspond to the moment of ovulation ... not only that! The fertile period of a woman lasts a few days and, more precisely, includes the 3-4 days before ovulation and the day after.
Of course, the egg cell can only be fertilized within 24 hours of coming out of the ovary, but the spermatozoa survive in the woman's genital tract between 72 and 96 hours: the fertile days in which you will have the most chance of getting pregnant (apart from the most fertile of all, which is the day of ovulation itself) will be the two that precede it and the next. We remember, as always, that this is only indicative information and that not always everything takes place in such a mathematical way.
To calculate your fertile period (as long as your menstrual cycle is very regular!) It will be enough to keep in mind that in principle it will correspond to about 16-14 days before the arrival of menstruation. If your menstrual cycle is 24 days, the fertile period will be around the tenth day from the last menstrual cycle. If you have a cycle of 26 days it will be between the tenth and the fourteenth day.
Once again: this kind of calculation can help you if you want to get pregnant, but it is strongly not recommended to rely on it if you want to avoid pregnancy, precisely because it does not provide certainty and is very flexible!
Ovulation and days after ovulation: how long does the luteal phase last?
Ovulation is often confused with the luteal phase, but they are not the same thing. Ovulation is nothing more than the beginning of the luteal phase, which includes the entire second half of the menstrual cycle. The luteal phase, also called post- ovulatory, begins on the fertile day of ovulation and ends on the first day of menstruation. How long does it last? Generally between 12 and 14 days, but it can vary from woman to woman and even from month to month based on different specifications.
During the luteal phase, and therefore after ovulation, the corpus luteum (follicular phase) is formed in the ovary, which arises from the follicle (ie the empty envelope of the egg) and produces estrogen and progesterone, essential for a good course of pregnancy If conception does not occur and the egg cell is not fertilized, at the end of the luteal phase the corpus luteum is expelled with menstruation.
The luteal phase is important in preparing a woman's body for possible pregnancy. In fact, in this phase, the endometrium changes its structure in order to accommodate the embryo. Progesterone allows the endometrium to thicken and prepare for nesting or implantation of the fertilized egg.
For more scientific information you can consult this article on PubMed Central.
