If you’re hoping to get pregnant but found that tossing away your contraception didn’t result in that double blue line as quickly as you hoped, you’re probably more than familiar with the concept of the ‘ovulation window’ – the period when a woman is most likely to conceive. There’s nothing like the stress of trying to cram as much sex as possible into 48 hours, especially if you’ve been struggling for a while.

According to NHS advice, if you want to boost your chances of conceiving, you should have sex every two to three days – and not just when you’re ovulating. So how exactly does having regular sex throughout the month (and longer-term) boost fertility? According to science, a healthy, happy sex life can affect our hormones and menstrual cycle, as well as overall physiology and mental health. Put together, those are all factors that create more favourable conditions for conception.

Stylist looked at the evidence and asked fertility experts to explain the way in which dry spells, regular sex and everything in between can affect your chances of getting pregnant. We also look at the factors for which an abundant sex life won’t necessarily make you more fertile and asked the experts to explain whether regular sex can have any impact if you’re already living with infertility or fertility-disrupting issues like PCOS or endometriosis. Here’s what they had to say.

Want to improve your hormonal health? Doctors explain why regular sex might be your best tool yet