Infertility or Subfertility has become a very common problem these days.
The most common reason for a couple not getting pregnant is usually stress and anxiety.
Ideally, a young couple should be given about 12 months to try, before we start treatments for fertility, but we soon fall into the vicious circle of tests and treatments, which further adds on to their stress and worsens their fertility.
Tips for getting pregnant
Try at the right time
- For pregnancy, the woman should be ovulating, the sperm should be healthy and the couple should be trying at the right time.
- Understand your period cycle and the fertile period. In a 28-30 day cycle, a couple should try between 12-16th day of period every 1-3 days to have a better chance of pregnancy.Women can use Temperature charts, cervical mucus, or ovulation kits to check ovulation days in urine.
- You should schedule a visit with your gynecologist for a basic evaluation and discuss the fertile period. Ref Planning Pregnancy
Try at the right age
- A womans fertility starts falling with age. If you want to get pregnant naturally, without using treatments like IVF, then it is best to complete your family by 35. A womans fertility would be maximum at around 23years of age and falls after rapidly after 37years
Maintain Healthy diet
- Increase more antioxidants in your diet like colorful fruits and vegetables, green leafy vegetables, complex carbohydrates, nuts, seeds, fibre rich foods.
- Avoid high sugar and salt in the diet. Also avoid preservatives, artificial flavours, additives, sweeteners, caffeine in your diet.
Maintain Healthy weight
- Weight has a huge role to play in improving your fertility. Being overweight or underweight can reduce your chances of getting pregnant. It is important to achieve and maintain a healthy BMI to get pregnant easily and have a healthy pregnancy.
No medical problems
- If you have a medical condition like diabetes, thyroid, get it in control.
- Also if you are on any medication for any condition, eg acne, check with your doctor if it’s safe in pregnancy.
Healthy habits
- Avoid alcohol, smoking, recreational drugs.
- Avoid refined and processed food.
- Make some changes in your lifestyle and adopt a healthy diet and exercise routines
Prenatal vitamins
- Add Folic acid supplements as advised by your gynecologist.
- Vitamin D supplements should also be added if deficient.
- Also adding Zinc, selenium, Omega 3 fatty acids (DHA), Vitamin E, Vitamin C, L arginine and L carnitine help in improving fertility for both males and females.
Patience
- For a young couple with no health issues, there is only a 25-30% chance of conceiving in the first few months of trying.At the end of 1 year 80% would get pregnant so have patience.Stress can worsen fertility and is most often the reason for unexplained infertility.
