Some people believe that certain sex positions can increase their chances of conceiving a baby.
But unfortunately, there is no study or strong evidence for any specific sex positions to conceive a baby being better than the other.
Mother nature has a way of ensuring survival of our species, so you don’t need to worry about becoming an acrobat to make sure you conceive!
There are many more reliable ways to help increase your chances of conception, which you can read about in our article, How To Get Pregnant, Fast!
Best Sex Positions To Conceive A Baby
Some experts suggest that couples try the below positions in order to best facilitate conception:
- Missionary position (man on top) has been said to be the ideal position for conception, because it allows for the deepest penetration and deposits the sperm closest to the cervix
- Doggy style (rear-entry) and lying side-by-side are other positions which allow deep penetration
Are There Any Sex Positions To Avoid?
If you’re going along with the gravity theory, some experts recommend avoiding having sex sitting, standing or with the woman on top, making it harder for the sperm to swim upstream.
What About Female Orgasm, Does It Help?
While the female orgasm is not essential for conception, it’s believed that uterine contractions from orgasm may actually help the sperm move toward the fallopian tubes, in order to fertilise your egg.
Female orgasm also helps with conception in other ways — to find out more, read our article on orgasm and conception.
Can Sex Positions Help Us To Conceive A Boy Or Girl?
Yet something else without research to back it!
As the old wives tales go, having sex with the woman on top will help produce a girl. Sex with the man on top will result in a boy.
Another old wives tale says having an orgasm increases your chance of having a boy.
Doctor Shettles says that his methods of gender selection are around 75-85% accurate. Read more here.
Should I Stay Lying Down Afterwards?
After intercourse, some experts suggest putting a pillow under your bottom and elevating your hips, in order to help the sperm work with gravity. They recommend staying there for at least 20-30 minutes.
Be careful if you are prone to urinary tract infections though, in which case you should go to the toilet instead.
Going to the toilet after intercourse (not immediately of course!) is important, as it prevents bacteria growing in the urinary tract, giving you an uncomfortable infection.
There should be enough sperm from ejaculation to conceive without needing to counteract gravity, but like all the other mentioned things, it doesn’t hurt to try!
How Often Should We Have Sex?
When you are trying to get pregnant, who could blame you for thinking that you need to have more sex – but be careful not to over-do it.
Not only will you sooner lose the enjoyment and spontaneity of lovemaking, but it’s actually better to have sex every other day as opposed to every day, in order for his sperm count to recover and recharge.
Timing – A Much Better Bet Than Positions
Timing is one of the crucial factors to conception and is worth more attention than the positions you have sex in.
To increase your chances of conception, ideally have sex one or two days before you expect ovulation to occur, and then again on the day of ovulation.
If you don’t know how to tell if you are ovulating, then check out the below two articles on BellyBelly which can help you learn an amazing amount about your fertility and cycle.
You can find out when you can expect to ovulate, and you can increase the accuracy by purchasing ovulation prediction kits, which work in a similar way to home pregnancy tests. The tests detect hormone in your urine to indicate if you will ovulate soon.
It is completely normal to conceive within the first 12 months of trying.
If you’ve been actively trying to conceive for 12 months or more (or 3-6 months if you’re 35 or older), or your periods are irregular, speak to your doctor and get a referral to a women’s health or reproductive specialist, to make sure there are no health problems preventing conception.
