The most successful time to conceive a baby is during the ovulation point of your menstrual cycle. During this time a mature ovum is waiting to be fertilized. This ovum stays for about 12 hours and then starts to deteriorate. Paying attention to your body and some simple tests are the best ways to learn when to get pregnant. Once you know when you are ovulating, you can then plan sexual intercourse which will enhance your chances of getting pregnant.

A widely used method of finding out when you are ovulating is to count days. 12-16 days before the next menstrual cycle is due is when you will most likely be ovulating. A normal cycle for a woman is 28 days, and around the 14th day is often the best time to get pregnant. There are many online calculators to help you with this method.

Another method that can indicate fertility is a rise in basal body temperature. Basal body temperature is the lowest temperature your body reaches at rest. After ovulation this temperature rises 0.5 to 1.6 degrees. You won't actually be able to feel this temperature increase but you can detect it using a basal thermometer. The increase in temperature is caused by the increase in progesterone which is stimulated by ovulation. This method cannot actually pinpoint the best time to conceive but charting this rise in temperature over a few months can help determine when you are ovulating therefore allowing you to plan intercourse a couple days before ovulation and increase your chances of becoming pregnant.

A third and more natural way of signifying ovulation is to pay attention to your cervical mucus. During ovulation, the cervical mucus changes into a thin, stretchy, and clear texture. Your body also produces a lot more of it. The mucus changes in order for it to nourish, protect, and increase the speed of the sperm as it travels to meet the egg. Therefore, the more of this changed-textured mucus there is, the more your body is ready to receive and nourish the sperm in order to increase chances of getting pregnant.

Besides the above mentioned methods for planning to conceive a baby, there are urinary tests that detect the luteinizing hormone (LH). A rise in this hormone signals the release of an egg from the ovary. They call this an LH surge. It not only signals the release of an egg, but it produces progesterone to let the endometrium know that implantation of a fertilized egg could occur. Because this hormone increases right before ovulation, it does not give you a lot of time for planning intercourse, only a matter of about 24 hours.

Above and beyond counting days or charting temperatures, there is a method that uses saliva instead of urine to detect ovulation. Maybe Baby by Bell Lifestyles has a 98% accuracy rate for predicting ovulation. Like urine that can detect LH levels, saliva can detect increases in estrogen levels 3-4 days before ovulation and 2-3 days following. This simple saliva test is convenient and not as messy like urine testing can be.