What is ovulation in women?

What is ovulation in women? The answer to this question is sought by either those who are planning to have a child, or those who are not yet planning to add a baby to their family. It is no coincidence that the calculation of the ovulation period is of such interest to both a woman and her responsible, caring partner: it is at this time that the significant meeting of one of many millions, the only active sperm and a mature female egg occurs. Every month, a woman's body lives according to rhythms determined by nature, all biological processes must occur in a given mode, preferably without failures and changes. Starting from the age of 12-14, a hormonal "revolution" occurs in a girl's body, ending with a completely normal phenomenon - readiness for reproduction.

Of course, a girl's body is biologically ready for conception after her first menstrual cycle, but many of her systems, including the mental one, need several years for real, harmonious preparation for the birth of a new life. Nevertheless, the cycle starts and almost every month (28-30 days) truly grandiose transformations, both physiological and hormonal, occur in the female body. Every month, a healthy woman is a potential mother, since during ovulation a cell ready for fertilization matures in her body. Men are more reactive in this sense: the process of sperm formation is continuous and occurs daily, starting from puberty and until the end of life.

What is ovulation in women and how does the process of egg maturation occur?

Before we talk about ovulation in women, we need to understand the reproductive system of girls. When a girl is born, she already has small ovaries, no larger than a pea. These miniature ovaries contain about one million tiny bubbles – follicles – from birth, which also contain contents – eggs. In turn, eggs carry all the hereditary information, just like male sperm.

Over time, the number of female follicles decreases, one fifth of them die, and by the time of the first menstruation there are no more than 800 thousand left. How and why the selection of the necessary vesicles occurs, science has not yet figured out, just as the criteria for choosing one fertilizing follicle during the ovulation period remain a mystery. The dominant follicle at the beginning of the menstrual cycle begins to increase, suppressing its "brothers", and after a while it completely ruptures, releasing a mature gamete - a female egg. Actually, the moment of release of a cell ready for fertilization is called ovulation.

What is ovulation in women, why is this information necessary for every woman?

For ladies who are planning to have a child, it is important to know what ovulation is in women, since the calculation helps to answer one single question - when conception can be expected. How the answer will be used is not a secret, usually it helps to solve the following two problems - the long-awaited conception or protection from it. It should be noted that determining the timing of ovulation does not always protect against unwanted conception, since male and female gametes (cells) are able to remain active for about two days. These days may not coincide with the beginning or end of ovulation. The contraceptive method is considered the most reliable in terms of protection from pregnancy.

When can ovulation occur?

Ovulation in teenage girls does not form immediately. This explains why girls are not fully ready to conceive, despite the onset of menstruation. Obviously, wise nature has provided for many risks, including early pregnancies. Over the course of a year, sometimes longer, the menstrual cycle is formed and normalized. At this time, there may be failures, interruptions, up to 15-16 years such phenomena are considered normal. As soon as the cycle becomes predictable and occurs in the same period, it is time for ovulation. Typically, ovulation begins two weeks from the onset of the expected next menstruation. For example, the menstrual cycle is expected to begin on September 28, therefore, ovulation will most likely occur on September 14. In gynecology, there is such a calculation scheme:

• The cycle lasts 26 days – ovulation occurs on the 12th-13th days of the cycle;
• The cycle lasts 28 days – ovulation occurs on days 14-15 of the cycle;
• The cycle lasts 30 days – ovulation occurs on days 16-17 of the cycle.

Of course, this is not the only way to calculate these days, especially since they can shift under the influence of many factors - stress, food poisoning, inflammatory processes, changes in time zones when moving, and so on.

Methods for determining the ovulation period

It is very important to know what ovulation is in women, since this information is necessary to determine the ovulation period. Quite recently, several decades ago, the fair sex was diligently engaged in "scientific" research and analysis of the state of their body during menstruation. What women did not undertake to more accurately calculate ovulation: drawing up complex graphs, and measuring basal temperature, which assumed a six-hour sound sleep, and then a ten-minute temperature measurement in a "frozen" position. Any movement during measurement or a natural urge to urinate in the morning brought all efforts to naught. Modern methods offer simple, accurate and low-cost methods. The most popular is the LH test - luteinizing hormone, which stimulates ovulation and helps the combination of estrogen and progesterone. The test determines the concentration of LH in the urine, if the hormone is found there, then the ovulation process has begun. In addition to tests for determining the hormone in urine, there are tests that determine LH in blood serum and even in saliva. Also effective is the ultrasound method of determining ovulation, when the device can clearly show the process of movement of the female gamete along the oviduct - the fallopian tube. This method is not able to predict ovulation, it is rather ascertaining.

What is ovulation in women can also be unclear for those ladies who have problems with the menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, there are situations when ovulation becomes desirable, but temporarily unattainable. We are talking about severe pathologies that exclude the normal functioning of the hormonal system. These include the following diseases:

• Anorexia, which is becoming a problem of our century. In pursuit of the promoted canons and proportions of the body, some young ladies literally suppress the basic instinct of survival - saturation with food. The first to respond to aggressive starvation is ovulation, it simply stops. Then the menstrual cycle is disrupted and lost. Any deficit in body weight, accompanied by depletion of the fat layer, directly affects the reproductive functions of a woman.
• Excess weight, obesity. Ovulation also reacts to excess fat. At first, the ovulation period is disrupted, then stops, followed by a violation of the menstrual cycle. According to statistics, more than 20% of amenorrhea (absence of a cycle), more than 25% of dysmenorrhea (failures in the cycle regime) are controlled, cured completely only by normalizing body weight.
• Endocrine diseases, pathologies – pituitary, thyroid diseases, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). These factors can also affect ovulation and either disrupt its periodicity or “turn off” ovulation in principle.

What is ovulation in women? This is information that helps a woman manage not so much her condition - nature has taken care of this, but plan her future. Agree, it is better if pregnancy is conscious and desired, and not accidental, unexpected and alarming.