Whether a woman is trying to get pregnant or to avoid getting pregnant, one thing is important to understand – when do you ovulate? Ovulation however isn’t as simple or as predictable as we would like it to be, and for each woman, the time of ovulation as well as the signs and symptoms of ovulation may be quite dissimilar.

To answer the question when you ovulate, you need to be familiar with your own body, its rhythms and cycles. While generally speaking ovulation will occur mid-cycle or about 14 days after the beginning of her period, many women will ovulate before or after this.

When Do You OvulateSometimes ovulation will occur soon after a woman’s period, and at times it will not occur until her next period is due.

Unless a woman is really sure about her cycles, just the date of month may not be a reliable indicator of ovulation.

So to know when do you ovulate, you should be able to recognize the different signs that indicate ovulation–

1. Changes in cervical mucus are one of the more reliable factors for detecting ovulation.

Whereas on other days, the discharge could be whitish or seemingly absent for some women, around the time of ovulation, most women find that there is a clear, stretchy type of mucus that looks and feels like egg white.

2. Another way to monitor ovulation is to measure the basal temperature of the body. This is not usually something you can feel for yourself, because the temperature rises only by a fraction of a degree and a thermometer will be required to gauge the temperature elevation.

3. As hormonal changes occur there are other signs to tell you when do you ovulate. Many women feel more receptive to and desirous of sex. Not only is there a change in libido, many women find that they look more attractive at this time; that their hair appears shinier and that their skin looks clearer too.

In a sense these are nature’s ways of increasing chances of a woman having sex when she is ovulating.

4. Many women have other ways of knowing when they ovulate. Some report to having breast tenderness when ovulating. Others report slight cramping in the lower abdomen much like a milder version of the sort of pain that is experienced during one’s periods; though the specific name of this kind of pain is mittelschmerz (literally means middle pain or mid cycle pain).

This pain may switch sides; or it could be acute or it may remain a generalized dull ache. However these indicators may not be reliable predictors of when you ovulate because many women have breast tenderness and cramping just before or at the time of their periods, and not at the time of ovulation at all.

5. Other than these natural ways of telling when ovulation is occurring, there are other products that may help. An ovulation predictor test kit can also help you know about when do you ovulate. A technique known as saliva ferning can also be used by using a microscope to detect the hormonal surge that occurs a day or two before ovulating.