Getting Pregnant

If you want to figure out how to avoid getting pregnant, you need to know how getting pregnant works.

Pregnancy occurs through vaginal intercourse.  When a man ejaculates, his sperm enter the vagina and the womb.  When a woman is ovulating, she will have an egg (or ovum) in her womb.  If a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg join, this is called fertilization, and the combined entity is called a zygote.  The zygote then implants in the uterine wall (the endometrium).

The cells multiply until they form an embryo, which as it grows larger is called a fetus.  Nine months later, the woman gives birth to a baby.

Although getting pregnant sounds easy, there are actually many complicated steps that your body takes to ensure this happens.  This is good news if you are trying to avoid pregnancy, because with proper contraception, you can prevent pregnancy at any number of stages in your body. 

Keep in mind, however, that your body is designed to get pregnant.  This means that unless you take measures to prevent pregnancy, your body will try to become pregnant if you are sexually active.

An egg can live in the human body for about one day.  Sperm generally live in a woman’s body for about four days, though there have been cases where they have lived up to seven days.  With the sperm’s long lifespan, it is important to have a method of birth control that works for you.