A news study suggests that daily sex helps ensure that sperm isn’t attacked as an invader – and that the fertilised egg implants into the uterus
Do you know the best time in the month to try for a baby? Traditionally, it is all about the fertile window, the five or six magical days in which pregnancy can occur. Ovulation, which typically happens around the 14th day of a cycle, releases a mature egg into the fallopian tube – but the egg only lasts for 24 hours. Sperm, which survive for five days, should ideally be supplied as often as possible during this fertile window. You can monitor this window by watching the calendar, checking the cervical mucus to see if it looks like runny egg whites, and investing in an ovulation predictor kit.
But such monitoring can take the sexiness out of sex. And a new study this week in Fertility and Sterility makes even more demands on couples trying to conceive: its findings suggest that it may be better to have sex every day. Yes, every single day. The study finds that a lot of sex may prepare a woman’s immune system for pregnancy. Sexually active women in the study had higher levels of cytokines, molecules released by type 2 helper T cells from the immune system that help reduce the “foreignness” of sperm or embryos, and the likelihood that the body will attack them. The lead author, Tierney Lorenz from the Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, says that the immune system is critical for a healthy pregnancy – from making sure the sperm isn’t attacked as an invader to helping the fertilised egg implant into the uterus. Lorenz thinks that more frequent sex sends a message to the immune system that it’s time to reproduce.
Continue reading...from Pregnancy | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1Mr8NEI
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