Well, tell your MIL to let you live, because there's no proof that missionary is the best baby maker.
“The bottom line is that position doesn’t matter when you’re trying to get pregnant, and there's never been any scientific evidence to show it makes a difference,” says Lauren Streicher, an ob-gyn, medical director of the Centre for Sexual Medicine and Menopause and author of Sex Rx: Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever.
There's been buzz that doggy style (and its many variations) is actually more effective because it allows him to ejaculate closer to the opening of your cervix. However, that’s largely based on a single study from the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy that looked at the position of the penis in relation to missionary and from-behind sex, but it didn’t address pregnancy chances at all.
BUT SHOULD YOU ELEVATE YOUR FEET?
In the past, explains Streicher, docs used to tilt patients so their feet were elevated after an IUI (intrauterine insemination) and tell them not to move for 10 minutes. “That never increased rates of fertility,” she says. Likewise, if you don’t want to get pregnant, jumping up and down after sex won’t help your case.
Sure, when you stand up after sex, some semen leaks out. (Oh, so much fun.) But when you think about it, that doesn't matter much. “There are millions of sperm in one drop of semen. Sperm are tenacious and most have a good sense of direction. That’s what good, healthy sperm do,” she says.
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THE BEST WAY TO MAKE A BABY
When it’s prime baby-making time, have the type of sex you want. Whether you’re standing up, laying in missionary, or doing it spooning, it really doesn't matter.
And when you’re thinking of becoming pregnant, remember that the number-one factor affecting your fertility is age, says Streicher. “Biologically, women were meant to get pregnant in their twenties,” she adds. (Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to, just that your chances of conceiving go down with age.)
If you really want to increase your odds of getting pregnant, Streicher suggests using an ovulation kit for three months. (This helps, because most women don’t actually know when they're ovulating.) If you’re not pregnant after giving the kit a try, see a fertility specialist to determine if you or your partner need additional testing. (It doesn’t mean anything’s wrong, but it makes sense to cover your bases.) If the kit indicates you’re not ovulating, then you should also go in right away to see what’s going on. “A lot of doctors say try for six months or a year. I’d never say that to someone unless they’re in their twenties and not in a rush to get pregnant,” says Streicher.
If you’re ovulating, then use the kit to time sex right (and do it often). Your best chance at baby making is to have sex every day or every other day.
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This article originally appeared on Women's Health US
