Contraceptive query for you- How long can sperm survive inside you?
Do you know how long sperm can survive in fertile cervical fluid?
I know this site is about reviews of contraceptives BUT knowledge about the whole process is power, right? Even when you are trying to STOP those eager little beavers from getting to that egg of yours, the more you know about the habits of ‘the enemy’ the better to foil them, right?
I found this information (in quotes) at a good site for women who want to conceive and while www.fertilityfriend.com is not supplying information for prevention of pregnancy, the facts are empowering to us all, especially when read before watching the video on this site about ‘How you get Pregnant”.
“The longest that sperm can survive in fertile (eggwhite) cervical fluid is five days. All pregnancies can be attributed to intercourse that takes place within the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation.
Sperm, however, do not typically survive for five days, even in fertile cervical fluid. A life span of 2-3 days is much more typical for sperm, even in fertile cervical fluid- less if there is no fertile cervical fluid.”
In a normal menstrual cycle
“Cervical fluid is produced by your cervix as you approach ovulation due to increased estrogen. It flows from the cervix into the vagina where it can easily be observed. Your cervical fluid changes throughout your cycle, increasing in quantity and becoming more clear and stretchy as you get closer to ovulation. Noticing and recording these changes will help you better time intercourse and recognize your own fertility pattern.
In the most common pattern, cervical fluid starts out dry after your period and then gets sticky, then creamy, then wet and watery, becoming most like eggwhite as you get closer to ovulation. You may get different types of cervical fluid on the same day.”
Hopefully this will help you to understand why oral contraceptives are effective in slowing down sperm -they THICKEN this cervical fluid, the sperm take longer to swim through this ‘glue’, few make it through to reach the egg or die of exhaustion in the process!
OK- Now you know all this- make sure you have ‘back up’ from this guy too.
