Getting on Track to Boost Your Fertility

If you can hear your biological clock ticking and you feel ready to fall pregnant, there are a few easy things you can do to help boost your fertility and getting closer to hearing the pitter patter of tiny feet in your home.

Keep track of your cycle – keep a diary and mark down the first day of your period and your last. In this way you can keep a track of your cycle and your “fertility window”.

• How to work out your cycle: To work out the length of your menstrual cycle, record the first day you start bleeding… this is day 1. The last day of your cycle is the day before your next period begins. If your menstrual cycles are of different lengths, then you can work out your average cycle length based on the length of your last three menstrual cycles, to estimate when you’re most likely to be ovulating. If you add the number of days in your last three cycles and divide the total number by three, it gives you your average cycle length.
• Fertility window: The ‘fertile window’ is the day an egg is released from the ovary (ovulation) and the four days beforehand. Pregnancy is technically only possible if you have sexual intercourse during the four days before ovulation or on the day of ovulation. BUT the most fertile days are the three days leading up to and including ovulation.Having sexual intercourse during this time gives you the best chance of getting pregnant.
• Ovulation: Ovulation is when a mature egg is released from the ovary. The egg then moves down the fallopian tube where it can be fertilised. If sperm are in the fallopian tube when the egg is released, there is a good chance that the egg will be fertilised, creating an embryo, which can grow into a baby. Ovulation happens about 14 days before your period starts.
• If your average menstrual cycle is 28 days, you ovulate around day 14, and your most fertile days are days 12, 13 and 14.
• If your average menstrual cycle is 35 days ovulation happens around day 21 and your most fertile days are days 19, 20 and 21.
• If you have shorter cycles, say 21 days, ovulation happens around day 7 and your most fertile days are days 5, 6 and 7.

Abstain from sexual intercourse at least 3 days before the “fertility window” – when trying to conceive, abstinence is often advised. The reason for this is because frequent sexual intercourse has proven to decrease the amount of sperm. Therefore it is better to leave count build up for a couple of days before conception attempts. However, periods of abstinence longer than 6 days can be detrimental because of accumulation of aged sperm.

Maintain a healthy weight and life – if you are at the right weight for your height, chances are that your reproductive cycle is on track. Eating right is another way to help your fertility. Don’t eat too much or too little, because this could make your cycle irregular. Eat more vegetable protein and less animal protein and add high-fat dairy to your diet.

Minerals and Vitamins – research has shown that certain vitamins and minerals can increase your chances of getting and staying pregnant. In order to maximise your chances of conceiving it is very important that you and your partner are in optimum health. By eliminating nutritional deficiencies and improving sperm production and mobility you can dramatically increase your chances of getting pregnant. In order to do this it is essential that you are obtaining the right nutrients and in the right quantities to enhance your success.

Manage your anxiety, stop drinking and smoking – anxiety does not help with our health in general but when women are trying to get pregnant it can be a big barrier in the road. You could try meditation and yoga to avoid anxiety. Also cut down your drinking to one glass of alcohol a week and if you smoke, both you and your partner should quit because smoking lowers the number and quality of sperm and can cause abnormal pregnancies.