Health questions: when you menstruate does it always mean you ovulate?
You have regular periods so you must be ovulating and able to become pregnant, right? We ask an ob-gyn for clarification
No
Some women take it for granted that just because they menstruate monthly it means that they are ovulatory and, therefore, will not have any problems falling pregnant. But the fact is, just because you have regular periods does not mean that you are ovulatory.
Anovulation - which describes the condition when ovulation does not occur - is not common, but it is a problem for women who want to conceive. According to Professor Ernest Ng Hung-yu, clinical professor of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Hong Kong's Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, anovulation generally presents with irregular periods.
If you have regular periods, you have a 95 per cent chance of ovulation. Therefore, you can be anovulatory even if your menstrual cycle is seemingly normal.
Ovulation occurs when a mature egg is released from the ovary, a process triggered by the hormone progesterone. The egg then travels down the fallopian tube where it waits to be fertilised.
If it is fertilised, conception occurs. Otherwise, the unfertilised egg is shed, along with blood and the lining of the endometrium that has thickened in preparation of pregnancy. This process is called menstruation.