I don’t know about you, but my experience of being educated on my monthly cycle at school consisted of my PE teacher telling us that when we started our periods it wasn’t an excuse to get out of doing cross country running.
I remember being excited and nervous about when my first bleed would be, and once they began I would always try to be aware of my pre-menstrual symptoms, but only to avoid what at the time felt like THE most embarrassing and unthinkable thing happening – getting visible blood strains on my clothes (oh the shame that comes with being a woman!). That was about the extent of what I knew about what happened in my body every single month until I became sexually active and confided in my mother about it who swiftly exclaimed “Well, we must get you on the pill then!”, and on the pill I remained for the best part of a decade.
It was only later, when I started trying (and failing) to get pregnant, that I started to learn much at all about my cycle with regards to hormones and that all important ovulation. So important is the menstrual cycle of a woman as a marker of overall health, that it has been dubbed the ‘fifth’ vital sign by many functional medicine practitioners.
I can only hope that sex education has improved since the apparent dark ages when I was at school, but in case you’d like to get to know your body a bit better, here is a 101 of some of the key things you should know about ovulation (whether you’re trying to get pregnant or avoiding it like the plague).
What happens during ovulation?
The female menstrual cycle is a delicate dance of hormones and other messengers. It requires good brain health, good cellular health and enough of important micronutrients and other things such as cholesterol. If something doesn’t quite go right at any stage of the cycle, it can have a cascade effect.
We grew up to think that we all have this bog standard regular 28 day cycle and ovulation occurs bang smack in the middle of that on day 14, but actually there can be significant variation from woman to woman, and even cycle to cycle depending on what is going on for that woman during that time. In this respect, ovulation is best understood within the wider context of the menstrual cycle.
Here’s how it should look:
The first few days of our cycle are spent bleeding and this tells our brains that no pregnancy has occurred and so follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is released to let the ovaries know they need to start maturing a new egg. This is known as the follicular phase. As the days go on, one (out of several) follicles begins to grow big enough to start producing its own oestrogen.
When oestrogen has been high for a few days, it triggers luteinising hormone (LH) which tells the follicle to spit out the matured egg with the help of prostaglandins. Once the egg has been released into the fallopian tube, the follicle that housed it caves in on itself and turns into the corpus luteum (hence luteal phase), which produces progesterone and some oestrogen. If the egg does not fertilise or implant during this stage, progesterone and oestrogen gradually decrease for the remainder of cycle as the corpus luteum shrinks back into the ovary. The reduction in these hormones along with the help of prostaglandins in the uterus then triggers the start of your menstrual period and the cycle begins again.
How do I know when I’m ovulating?
There are a number of methods that we can utilise to better get to know our own bodies and determine when/if we have ovulated, and I urge all women regardless of whether you’re trying for a baby or trying to avoid getting pregnant to take some time to really get to know your cycles.
Monitoring cervical mucus is a really simple way to see when and if you might be ovulating. After your period, your cervical mucous is typically quite dry or non-existent followed by a few days where it might be white and sticky/cloudy. Immediately prior to and during ovulation, your cervical mucus is likely to increase and become more of a raw egg-white consistency, think watery and stretchy. After this (if fertilisation/implantation has not occurred), it might go back to being white and sticky again prior to your period starting.
Temperature charting is a method of tracking your basal body temperature (has to be measured before you get out of bed in the morning) and when you see an increase from your normal it is a sign that you have ovulated. There are lots of apps that can assist you with getting this charting correct.
Ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) can also be used to help track ovulation. This is where you pee on a stick in the morning and it will measure the luteinising hormone (LH) in your urine which is the hormone that helps to trigger ovulation. These may not be a reliable indicator in women with PCOS because they can have a higher overall level of LH.
Some women get symptoms such as spotting or light cramping on one side when they ovulate, others might find they have increased libido, changes in mood or concentration, and migraines, but these symptoms vary hugely from woman to woman. They aren’t necessarily a reliable indicator on their own, but can help to build up an overall picture.
Using a combination of these things should give you a good sense of not just whether you are ovulating, but when! You can also get your hormones tested using various types of laboratory tests.
The bottom line:
The main things to remember when it comes to ovulation is that it is best understood within the wider context of your menstrual cycle. We are all different, and can be different at different times in our lives depending on things like our general health and nutrient status, stress levels etc.
Contrary to popular belief, we do not all have 28 day cycles and we don’t all ovulate on day 14 of our cycle. It is also possible for us to have periods and not ovulate.
The best way to see when and if you ovulate is to check in with your body regularly using a combination of the methods used above. If you’re still not sure, or feel as though you could use support with your ovulation or hormones across your cycle, working with a specialist fertility nutritionist can help you uncover what might be going on and support you through doing laboratory testing and providing bespoke dietary and lifestyle advice.
The Fertility Nutrition Centre is a safe space for couples to visit and seek a trusted nutritionist who has trained with Sandra Greenbank on fertility for nutrition fertilitynutritioncentre.org