Ovulation Kits:
Find out about or buy an OPK here!

Ovulation kits are an easy way for you to be able to identify when you ovulate.
Why would you want to know when you ovulate though?
Basically, if you are trying to have a baby, when you ovulate is when you are most fertile during your entire cycle.
Infact you are most fertile usually the few days leading up to ovulation, and the day of ovulation.
Knowing when you ovulate means you can plan intercourse or IVF or other reproductive technologies around your most fertile time of the month for better odds of conceiving.
You can purchase your own ovulation kit here.

How Do You Use An Ovulation Kit?

There are two different types of ovulation kits:
- Urine Based
- Saliva Based

Using Urine Based OPK's

A urine based ovulation predictor kit detects the surge of your luteinising hormone (LH). This hormone usually surges two days before you ovulate, so it's a great way for you to know that you are approaching your most fertile time.
Luteinising hormone exists in your blood and in your urine with a sharp increase in the hormone from 36 hours before ovulation to about 12 hours before ovulation. Once your egg releases, the hormone drops again.

Using Saliva Based OPK's

A saliva based ovulation predictor kit actually detects something different. It detects your oestrogen levels which like the luteinising hormone, also rises before ovulation.
It is detectable because the salt in your saliva increases creating a distinct ferning pattern on the glass slide. You see this pattern once the saliva dries, if you are near ovulation.
This pattern can occur a few days before ovulation.

Obviously if you are having ovulation problems, you might not get detectable results, which means you might need to investigate if there are any underlying ovulation problems.
Don't panic if you're not ovulating, most problems are fixable, as long as you know what the problem is, so you can address it.

How Else Can You Predict When You Ovulate?

You can predict ovulation a few different ways that don't cost as much as an ovulation predictor kit.

Other ways you can find out when you ovulate include:

- Using our menstruation calculator
- Checking your cervix
- Using a basal body thermometer (bbt)
- Check your cervical mucus
- Use our ovulation calculator