What is Pre-seed, how does it work, and where can we get it?

[BelfastBloke]

One of the only people we've confided in about our TTC recommended this. Her explanation was garbled though. Can you shed some light please?

Preseed is a lubricant which is supposed to be friendly to sperm. Other lubes are harmful to sperm.

Basically, sperm find it hard to survive in the vagina because it is a hostile, acidic environment. When a woman is about to ovulate her body produces a load of cervical mucus which is less acidic and helps sperm because they can swim up through the mucus to the cervix and beyond. This cervical mucus is usually said to look like egg white, although frankly I just think it looks like semen - maybe a little thicker, but clear and slippery.

Some women don't produce very much cervical mucus, or only produce it for a short time, making it hard for sperm to survive in the vagina, to get to where they need to be and to fertilise the egg. Preseed is supposed to help the sperm by acting in the same way as the cervical mucus should, giving the sperm a better chance of survival.

You can buy it online, for example at Access Diagnostics.

HTH

Thank very much for taking time and care.

TTC involves a lot of quickies, which is when it would be vital, right?

What about a longer lovemaking session, when the woman is turned on and wet. Not needed in that case, or does it still help?

Hi BelfastBloke. TTC involves a lot of everything! It's not just about having sex, it's about getting your and your partners body into tip top condition. Much depends on your age, your diet, alcohol, caffeine and nictoine consumption etc etc. No point in shagging like rabbits if you're physically knackered .

As MrsHappy said, it's all to do with fertile periods, ovulation and friendly EWCM (egg white cervical mucus). There's loads of information on here, or you may prefer to get a book. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.

FWIW we used Pre-Seed with DD2 (now 3.5) and with DD3 (to arrive 10th July) as I'm now 38 and felt that I needed a little extra help!

Good luck. Try and keep your sense of humour. This TTC lark can get a bit mechanical if you let it.

Someone pointed out a couple of weeks ago, many people come to Mumsnet fo the first time when they're TTC.

But the conception threads are the ones most full of acronyms, and therefore least accessible.

Even for a long-time lurker, they're intimidating.

There is some argument that the quality of sex is important - the female orgasm is said to pull sperm up into the cervix and I'm sure I have read that it makes the vagina less acidic. The thing is that I am not sure that standard vaginal secretions have the same sperm-assisting qualities as the mucus that appears around ovulation. Since sperm can, in optimum conditions, live for up to 5 days (and since the egg only lives for 24 hours), if you use Preseed I guess this might increase the window of opportunity for conception.

There was a programme on channel 4 a while back - the Great Sperm Race - that might be worth watching. It was a bit depressing in that it showed the many obstacles that sperm have to overcome to get to the right place, but there was some talk about how to improve your chances, timing etc. Channel 4 has an online service called 4OD on which you might still be able to access it.