Periods

Getting pregnant

Working outwhen you can get pregnantyour fertile timecan be difficult. It's around the time you ovulate, which is about 12 to 14 days before the start of your next period.

However, sperm can survive inside a woman's body for days before ovulation occurs. This means your fertile time extends back earlier in yourcycle.

You can calculate when your period will start and your peak ovulation times using an online period calendar .

You can't get pregnant if you don't ovulate. Some hormonal methods of contraception, such as the combined pill , contraceptive patch and contraceptive injection , work by preventing ovulation.

This doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem, but it does need to be investigated.

You can go to see yourGP,or you can visit your nearest women's clinic or contraceptive clinic .

Bleeding between periods , bleeding after having sex, or bleeding after the menopause needs to be checked by a doctor. It might becaused by an infection, abnormalities in the neck of the womb (the cervix)or, in rare cases, it could be cancer .

You could be pregnant if you miss a period and you've had sex.See your GP ifyou've taken a pregnancy test and the result is negative (you're not pregnant) and you'vemissed three consecutive periods. Your GP will investigate the cause and recommend any necessary treatment.