My partner and I are going to start trying to get pregnant and I’ve been reading conflicting things on line about sex positions when you’re trying to have a baby. Is it true that the missionary position is the best one?
It is a common myth that some sex positions are better than others if you’re trying to get pregnant. I had a quick look after getting your email and you’re right, plenty of websites recommend certain sex positions as great for “baby making sex.” Some of these websites have lots of great information, but when they recommend one position over the other they’re just passing along folklore.
There is absolutely no research to support the idea that one sex position is better than another for conception (or, for that matter that you need to use only one position each time). My number one sex position tip applies to sex for conception as much as it does sex for sex, which is that the best sex position is the one that works best for you. As far as the missionary sex position goes, if it currently works for you that’s great, but most people find it a difficult position to maintain, and so you shouldn’t stick to it unless it’s both satisfying and comfortable.
While there is no research on sex positions for getting pregnant, it is recommended to women who are having artificial insemination that they stay lying horizontal for around 15 minutes following insemination. There’s no reason to think this wouldn’t be the case for insemination by a penis if it works for insemination by a syringe, so if that’s your method to get pregnant, you may want to avoid getting up right after sex. It does raise the question of whether or not standing sex positions would be bad for trying to get pregnant, but again, we’ll have to wait for our trusty sex researchers to tackle that one.
