Wondering What to Do After Sex to Conceive? We Asked the Experts
Sarah Richards
Updated on March 29, 2026
If timing aligns and egg and sperm meet, it’s time for fertilization, baby. “The sperm actually binds to the egg and then burrows down through a shell around the egg,” explains Dr. Montville. “The fertilized egg, now called a zygote, then continues the journey to the uterine cavity, where it has to implant into the lining of the uterus, called the endometrium. If implantation is successful, a pregnancy begins to grow.”
How long after sex does implantation occur? On average, the time from fertilization until the mature embryo can implant in the uterine cavity is five to six days, says Dr. Montville.
What to do after sex to conceive
Since getting pregnant requires the presence of some swimmers who’ve made it to the fallopian tubes, it seems logical that keeping sperm around as long as possible by lying down after sex could increase your chances of conceiving, right? Well…
“Despite popular myths, lying down after sex does not increase the chances of pregnancy,” says Dr. Bagdasarian.
In a study published in 2016, nearly 500 women went through intrauterine insemination (where doctors inject sperm directly into the uterus to increase the odds you’ll get pregnant). Researchers had the groups either go on a short bed rest of 15 minutes immediately after the procedure, or get up and move around right after.
Scientists discovered that there was pretty much no difference in the odds of getting pregnant between the two groups. In fact, the women who got up and moved around right away got pregnant 40% of the time, while the bed-rest group got pregnant 32% of the time.
Of course, the study looked at intrauterine insemination and not at couples who had “regular” sex. So do the findings translate? Mary Jane Minkin, MD, an ob-gyn and clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine, says yes.
“With women having regular intercourse, the ejaculate goes right up against the cervix,” she explains. “And at your fertile time, the mucus is quite receptive to sperm right there.” The fastest and healthiest sperm go right into your cervical mucus “instantaneously,” she says, making pretty much zero difference whether you lie there for a while after sex or get up and move.
On top of that, while sperm count varies, “there are typically millions of sperm present in the total ejaculate,” says Dr. Montville. “Typical semen ejaculate has at least 15 million sperm cells per milliliter. So even though some semen may come out after sex of the body, there are still plenty of sperm cells that can enter the uterus.”
At the same time, though lying down after sex before you get up to pee won’t hurt your chances of getting pregnant, it may actually increase your risk of getting a UTI. “The female urethra is quite short in length. That makes it easier for bacteria to enter the urethra and travel into the bladder, making urinary tract infections more common after sex,” says Dr. Montville.
The best way to increase your chances of getting pregnant after sex is to know when you’re ovulating by tracking your menstrual cycle.
