What happens when ovulation is delayed?

Ovulation can be delayed by many things - stress, weight loss, sickness, travel, even wedding planning! For women who don't chart, the most noticed symptom of delayed ovulation is an extra long cycle - often leading to confusion over why a period is late when pregnancy tests are negative.

If you are charting, you'll have a head start identifying cycles with late ovulation. Long before you miss your period, you'll notice that ovulation hasn't occurred. You may notice many more dry days at the beginning of your cycle. Or, you may notice your body "trying" to ovulate several times, with several build ups from less fertile to more fertile mucus. 

Does late ovulation effect your chances of a healthy pregnancy? I wasn't able to find very much firm data on this sadly! Many women get pregnant during cycles with late ovulation and go on to deliver healthy babies. I couldn't find any evidence that late ovulation alone made miscarriage more likely. The main worry if you are trying to conceive is that late ovulation means you are just ovulating fewer times per year - fewer opportunities to conceive. 

If you're trying to avoid, the main issue with delayed ovulation is that it can make the phase II fertile period extra long! If you have dry days at the beginning of your cycle, using the dry day rules may decrease the length of PII. If you have a series of mucus build ups, it may be possible to apply the mucus patch rules - but discuss this with your instructor since it can be tricky. You'll know that you successfully ovulated by applying the temperature rules, just like usual.