Many women have turned to menstrual cups in a bid to save money and to reduce waste. But does using a menstrual cup help you get pregnant?
According to Parents.com, through word of mouth and the internet, women have been admitting they're using the cups to conceive.
Menstrual cup methods
And, according to a leading gynaecologist and women's health expert, there may be some science to back it up.
Dr Sherry Ross said: "Having sex and having your partner 'pull out' to deposit sperm into a menstrual cup is one method.
"Others have sex and immediately insert a menstrual cup into the vagina to ensure the sperm stays in place, close to the entrance of the uterus."
Explaining how the device could support your efforts to conceive, Dr Ross explained: "In every ejaculate, there are millions of sperm swimming around. A menstrual cup full of sperm allows the sperm to only move in only one direction and that is towards the egg.
Fertilisation
"The cervical mucus associated with ovulation helps the sperm swim up through the cervix and uterus, ultimately making its way into the fallopian tube where the egg is fertilized.
"It only takes one sperm to penetrate the egg to allow fertilization to occur. Once the egg is fertilized, cells continue to divide creating an embryo which eventually travels into the uterus where implantation occurs."
Dr Ross also stressed that keeping sperm close to the cervix and entrance of the uterus for an extended period of time could raise your chances of conception.
Keeping sperm in
"Heathy sperm lives for three days," she explained.
"The longer the sperm hangs out at the cervix and the entrance to the uterus, the better chance it has at swimming up into the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg.
"Since there are no real guidelines to using a menstrual cup to help keep in sperm at the cervix, I would suggest leaving the cup in place as long as you safely can."
But it is important you follow the general guidelines for menstrual cup wear, which is no more than 12 hours.
