Sex — Conception and Myths
There are plenty of myths out there about sex and conception. As young children we develop strange ideas about how babies get inside a mother's belly. It starts when we are small and told that babies come from the pumpkin patch or via the stork. You might even have come to your own conclusions — some children believe that swallowing watermelon seeds will make you pregnant!
Obviously by now you know that the stork has nothing to do with conception or birth. There are other myths that may be harder to distinguish from fact, however. These myths abound in our society.
Virginity
It was once believed that virgins would not get pregnant the first time that they had sex. This is false — your virginity has no bearing on whether or not you ovulate. If you ovulate and all the other right factors are present, you will get pregnant the first time you have sex. Now if you
Sex During Your Period
You may have heard that having sex during your period will protect you from pregnancy. This can be false, depending on when you ovulate in relationship to your period. Since sperm can survive for days in the reproductive tract, having sex toward the end of your period may actually be all it takes to get you pregnant! For most women, however, this is not the optimal time to conceive.
Certain Positions Prevent Conception
Have you ever heard that having sex standing up will prevent conception? Supposedly the same goes for positions with the woman on top. The truth is, that while these are not optimal positions for conception, you can and will get pregnant while trying out these positions. Sex is sex in any position.
Female Orgasm Prevents Pregnancy
While it was once thought that a female orgasm could prevent pregnancy, we now know that the opposite is true. When you have an orgasm you actually
The timing of your orgasm was once thought to be able to help select gender. However, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that this cannot be proven to be fact.
Out of the Hot Seat …
Think that wearing boxers makes your man more potent? This one may actually be true. The testicles are actually in the scrotum because they have better temperature regulation there. If they are too warm they are lowered away from the body and if they are too cool they are pulled more closely.
To avoid overheating, which can affect sperm production, precautions to take include switching from wearing briefs and tight pants to more relaxed slacks and boxers. Some men even swear by no underwear at all! Before your man goes bare, remember that not all men suffer from low sperm counts and it's generally not necessary to make this change in order for you to conceive.
Your partner may wish to also avoid heat from other sources to help keep his sperm count higher. This can include hot tubs, long hot baths, saunas, and so forth. Generally anything that heats his testicles higher than normal body temperature could threaten sperm count. Anything you do temperature-wise to help improve your partner's sperm counts will take a while to be effective. In general, it will take about two months before the effects of your efforts pay off. But don't sweat it, it can help!
No matter what you hear about trying to conceive a baby, there may be only shards of truth mixed up with a bit of nonsense. Be sure to check out all questionable statements with your practitioner. And learn to laugh a bit!
