Fertility

Dine your way to a Healthy Pregnancy | Curb Caffeine and Alcohol intake | Find your fertile window | Maintain a healthy weight | Ditch the lube

You’ve been trying to conceive for several months and haven’t seen that positive “faint line” on the pregnancy stick. I bet you didn’t know there are certain dos and dont’s for women trying to get pregnant. Making a few lifestyle changes can boost your chances of being parents-to-be and also having a healthy pregnancy. I have put together 5 Pregnancy tips to Boost Your Fertility and here are some of those changes you should implement:

Dine your way to a healthy pregnancy

Eating certain foods and avoiding others plays a vital role in improving the chances of pregnancy. Have the right mix of food on your plate. Opt for healthy fats, whole grains, plant proteins e.g Beans, Nuts, Seeds, and liven it up with fruits and vegetables.

Also, make sure to supplement your diet with certain nutrients like; Zinc, Folate, Iodine, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Iodine. They reduce the risk of birth defects and also prevent lengthened menstrual cycles. Lengthened menstrual cycle means less ovulation.

Curb Caffeine and Alcohol intake

If you’re trying to get pregnant, be a teetotaler. Alcohol alters estrogen levels. Estrogen is the chief pregnancy hormone. Also, limit your caffeine intake to less than 200 mg per day (that’s about 1-2 cups or 12 ounces of coffee). Some studies have found that high caffeine intake affects fertility and also put women at higher risk of miscarriage.

Yet, another reason to quit smoking. Cigarette toxins decrease the number of sperm, damages a woman’s eggs, cause the ovaries to age, puts women at risk of a miscarriage. All these affects fertilization. So, If you and your partner indulge in excessive drinking and smoking, now’s the time to break this habit.

Find your fertile window

A woman’s fertile days are usually her days of ovulating (when ovaries release an egg) or a few days after. During this period, you should have sex regularly. A normal menstrual cycle lasts about 21-35 days. Ovulation period is usually 14 days after the last day of your last period and four or five days before. Ovulation day varies. It depends on the length of your cycle. You can use this Ovulation period calculator which gives approximate ovulation dates and fertile times.

Yes, it can get difficult and overwhelming, noting dates and grappling all the information you need to predict your fertile days. It’s highly recommended that you use a period and ovulation calendar or app. Take control of your reproductive health.

Maintain a healthy weight

You have to ensure that you are neither overweight nor underweight. Maintaining a healthy weight keeps your menstrual cycle balanced. Here’s how:

• * Extra pounds leads to an overproduction of certain hormones that disrupt ovulation. e.g Insulin.
• * On the flip side, too little body fat leads to underproduction of hormones needed for ovulation.
• * Use a body mass index (BMI) calculator and find out if you are a healthy weight. A ranking of 18.5 – 24.9 indicates that you are at a healthy weight for your height.

Ditch the lube

If you want to be parents-to-be, using the right lubricant is key. Wondering why? This is because some lubricants are not sperm-friendly. Non fertility-friendly lubes contains ingredients that can affect sperm motility (movement of sperm). Opt for these recommended sperm-friendly lubricants (UK) | sperm-friendly lubricants (US).