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Boosting your fertility

By Giulia Draycott

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Cut your alcohol intake

You may not be entirely surprised to discover that alcohol is not a great idea if you're planning to have a baby.

Research published by the British Medical Journal³ examined the effect of alcohol consumption on the chances of conception. It concluded that the probability of conception in a menstrual cycle decreased with increasing alcohol intake in women, even among those drinking five or fewer drinks a week.

With even low levels of drinking decreasing your chances of conception, the best possible approach if you're trying to conceive is to avoid alcohol altogether.

Maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is particularly important when you are hoping to conceive. Being either underweight or overweight can reduce your chances of conceiving, so one of the best ways to boost your fertility is to achieve a healthy weight.

Being thin can make you less fertile

Your level of body fat has a direct impact on the production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is essential for regular ovulation in women and for the production of sperm in men⁴.

Being very underweight can lower the production of GnRH, which can mean that ovulation becomes irregular or even stops, while also affecting the uterine lining and reducing the likelihood of successful implantation of the embryo⁴.

Before you take this as an invitation to pile on the pounds, bear in mind that being overweight is also damaging to your fertility.

Obesity lowers your fertility

Obesity is a growing problem in the UK and is thought to be one of the leading causes of infertility. The link is so strong that women who are classed as obese are frequently prevented from having infertility treatment on the NHS until they lose weight⁵.

A study by the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam showed that obesity (classed as having a body mass index of 30 or more) was directly related to reduced fertility. The higher the level of obesity, the lower the fertility level⁵.

The study concluded that for every extra BMI point between 30 and 35 there was a four percent drop in the rate of conception. Seriously obese women with a BMI of more than 35 were up to 49 percent less likely to conceive compared with women with a BMI of between 21 and 29⁵.

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