Boosting your fertility

By Giulia Draycott

Click star to rate:

1
2
3
4
5
(57 ratings)

Page [ 1 2 3 ] [ Next ]

It's no secret that our fertility declines with age. As so many of us are choosing to delay starting a family, it is perhaps an unfortunate fact of life that our fertility peaks at about the age of 19 to 24 and often declines after the age of 30¹.

The decline is quite marked over just 10 years. When trying for a baby, 75 percent of 30 year old women will get pregnant within one year. By the age of 35, that reduces to 66 percent of women who will get pregnant within one year, while by the age of 40, 44 percent will get pregnant within one year¹.

Of course, many more women do go on to conceive within four years. However, to maximise your chances of conceiving as soon as possible, here are some positive steps you can take to develop a healthier lifestyle and boost your fertility.

Kick the habit

If you're a smoker, no doubt you know you should quit. But if you're trying for a baby, there's no better reason to kick the habit.

A report on Smoking and Reproductive Life by the British Medical Association makes it clear exactly how seriously male and female fertility is compromised by smoking.

If you need any further motivation to give up, here are just some of the ways identified in the report that smoking can affect your fertility².

Men who smoke have a lower sperm count than non-smokers and their semen contains a higher proportion of malformed sperm
Smoking damages genetic material in sperm cells and this damage can persist in embryos
Women who smoke take longer to conceive
Among smokers, the chance of conceiving is decreased by 10-40 percent each month
The greater the number of cigarettes smoked, the longer a woman is likely to take to conceive
Women who smoke are twice as likely to be infertile as non-smokers
Men and women who smoke have a poorer response to fertility treatment.

continue...

Page [ 1 2 3 ] [ Next ]