Want to get pregnant? Here's what you can do to boost your fertility!
For some, getting pregnant is a magical thing that doesn’t require much work. They want it to happen and a month later it’s done. For others getting pregnant isn’t quite that easy. We wish there was a golden formula that would work for everyone, but sadly that isn’t the case. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a couple of things you (and your partner) can do to not leave everything up to fate! Cycle has collected and listed those things here.
Some things are an absolute must (don’t smoke, take folic acid), others are optional. But do keep in mind: A good preparation is half the battle won. Cycle expert and obstetrician Judith de Jong: “You have to see pregnancy as a marathon. If you're going to run it in three months' time, you’ll also do everything you can to prepare your body for that as well as you can now." This article has listed everything you need to know in order to do so.
Know your own cycle
You’re more fertile right before and during the ovulation. So, if you want to get pregnant, it’s helpful to track your menstrual cycle. If your cycle is regular, the ovulation takes place approximately fourteen days before your period. To increase your chances of pregnancy, you can start having sex about six days before your ovulation. This is because a sperm is viable in a woman’s* body for about five days. If your cycle is regular, you can easily figure out when your fertile days are. Still, it’s not smart to just assume your ovulation is always fourteen days after your menstruation. It can happen at an earlier or at a later date. If you want to make sure you’re having sex at the right time, you can check when you are ovulating.
Ovulation: predict your fertile days
If you want to make sure you’re having sex at the right time, you can check when you are ovulating. There are multiple ways to check this.
Ovulation symptoms:
Check your cervix mucus, better known as your discharge
Some people can feel their ovulation, but if you can’t feel it, you’ll still notice it. In the first week after your period, your discharge is tough and thick. The closer you get to ovulation, the more wet your discharge becomes. Right before ovulation your discharge is translucent and elastic. If you hold it between your fingers and slightly open them, you can create a string that doesn’t break apart. Do you want to know more about your discharge and what it tells you about your cycle? You can read all about it here.
Measure your temperature
Measure your basal body temperature every morning before getting out of bed rectally (when you’ve just woken up and are still in bed). It is important to measure this with a thermometer with two decimal places. Your temperature is at its lowest during ovulation and will start to rise after until your period is starting. That’s when your temperature will decrease again to get to the lowest point during your ovulation. Fun fact: if your temperature remains high after your period, that’s when you know you’re pregnant!
How does an ovulation test work?
You can use an ovulation test to see when your ovulation is. This test detects the luteinizing hormone (LH) that triggers ovulation. About 24 to 36 hours after the LH-peak, ovulation takes place. It sounds relatively easy, but the test can be very sensitive, which can cause you to miss your ovulation. The ovulation test can also be tricky to use with certain conditions, like PCOS. In many women with PCOS, an elevated level of LH is continuously measurable. In those cases, the ovulation tests are not reliable because they detect an elevated level of LH too early or too late.
Now you know when your ovulation is, but what’s the best time to have sex? People say that having sex every other day in the time surrounding your ovulation works the best. This way you can be sure that you have a good chance that live sperm are present at the right place and right time.
Check what your body looks like on the inside
You can’t see it, but what your body looks like on the inside can have a big influence on your fertility. If you want to get pregnant, it can be a good idea to have an ultrasound. This way, you can see how your womb, cervical mucus, and ovaries are doing (including eggs = follicle count) A check will be done to see if you have any uterine polyps (overgrowth in the lining of the uterus) or uterine fibroids (benign smooth muscle tumor). It also shows how many eggs are present - for example, if there are a lot of small follicles, this may indicate PCOS. It could also be the case that not enough eggs are visible. In both cases, additional blood tests can give an indication about your fertility.
In addition, an ultrasound scan will show if there is a so-called Bicornuate Uterus - a congenital abnormality in which the uterus has a different shape than usual. Judith believes that the shape and size of your uterus can have an impact on your fertility or the success rate of a pregnancy and carrying it to its full term. It’s a controversial procedure in the Netherlands, but in Belgium, minor surgeries are regularly performed on women who have many early miscarriages or have been in fertility programs for years to slightly adjust the shape of the uterus inside. This involves, for example, reshaping the ends of the fallopian tubes where they enter the uterus, making it easier for a fertilized egg to nestle properly and continue to grow as it nests in the uterus. Judith has seen women who tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant for years, or women with many miscarriages, often become and remain pregnant within a few months after such a procedure.
Balance your hormones
Your body, with a healthy hormone balance, is prepared for the implantation of the fertilized egg, so to speak. So, if your hormone balance is good, you have a higher chance of pregnancy. Unhealthy nutrition, stress or deficiencies, exposing yourself (too long) to harmful (environmental) substances can disrupt your hormone balance. This can cause your cervical mucus to become too thin for an egg to implant itself.
Scientific research shows that acupuncture has a positive effect on perimenopausal symptoms These are also caused by a hormone imbalance. There is no hard evidence, but presumably women who want to get pregnant also benefit from acupuncture. This traditional Chinese medicine involves placing thin needles at certain points in the body that stimulate the production of neurotransmitters in the woman's body. These neurotransmitters stimulate the production of a certain hormone that influences the menstrual cycle in a good way. In addition, acupuncture lifts blockages in energy pathways in your body created by stress. The circulation of your tissues improves which also has a positive effect. Does it sound like hocus pocus to you? It’s really not. Acupuncture has been used for centuries in China to improve the fertility in women, and successes have also been achieved with reduced male fertility.
Focus on your lifestyle
It seems really obvious, but to increase the chances of pregnancy, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes are not a part of that. Smoking and doing drugs cause bad blood circulation, and that’s exactly the thing you want to work perfectly when you’re trying to get pregnant. After all, good blood flow can promote implantation. A nice glass of wine is not the end of the world, but try to limit your alcohol use to just that one glass.
Eat healthy
Yup, here we go again! Eating healthy and varied is so incredibly important, because nutrients have a big influence on your fertility. A good diet reduces the chances of an imbalance in your hormones. But even if you do eat healthy and varied food, a lot of women still have a vitamin and mineral (micronutrients) deficiency. A dietitian can help you gain some insight.
All vitamins are important if you want to get pregnant, but a vitamin B complex that includes folic acid or folate (the active component of folic acid which is better absorbed by your body) and vitamin D are the most important of all. Folic acid is important for the production of red blood cells in your bone marrow and reduces the risk of spina bifida, cleft lip, cleft palate and heart defects in your future baby. Vitamin D contributes to an optimal hormone balance. In addition to adequate vitamins, it is important to get enough proteins, glycine, chromium, magnesium, zinc, choline and omega-3 fatty acids. Be sure to take quality supplements that are free of unnecessary (filler) substances.
It’s important to maintain your vitamin levels on a good level anyways not only to get pregnant. But this can make a difference during pregnancy as well. A shortage of micronutrients can make you feel (even) more tired and nauseous during the first trimester than usual. So we’d rather avoid that, right?! Do get the advice of an expert before taking any supplements.
Weight
Your weight also influences your fertility. With a BMI in between 20 and 25 you increase your chances of a successful pregnancy, because your hormones are better balanced. If you want to try to lose some weight, it’s best to do so before trying to get pregnant, because it’s not recommended to diet when there’s a baby growing in your belly. Last but certainly not least: try to avoid stress to the best of your ability. You’re more fertile if you feel good about yourself. Trying to get pregnant, especially when it’s not working out as you want it to, can be incredibly stressful. You have to be extra kind to yourself and allow yourself time to relax.
Exercise (but in moderation)
Enough exercise ensures a good blood flow, which can improve the implantation. Exercising enough is always recommended, but for those who want to get pregnant there is no need to overdo it. Research shows that women with a healthy weight who exercise intensively at least 5 hours per week need more time to get pregnant. Women who exercise moderately intense, like hiking or cycling, have a bigger chance of getting pregnant. The generally valid advice (even outside pregnancy) is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise at least 5 days a week: you will have a noticeably higher heart rate, your breathing will be faster, but you can still talk.
Sleep well (in a dark room)
Sleep is the basis for good health and also a good hormone balance. The amount of sleep that you need is different for every person. Most people sleep between six and eight hours per night. Our tip? Buy some good quality black out curtains so that your bedroom is as dark as the night when you want to sleep. Research shows that light, more importantly artificial light (and yes, we do refer to that street light outside of your bedroom window), decreases your chances of getting pregnant. Nighttime light exposure is thought to suppress the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, which plays an important role in protecting eggs from free radicals, especially during ovulation. For those who really want to get pregnant, we advise sleeping in a really dark room for at least eight hours. It’s also recommended to turn your phone off at night, even if you are awake...
But what can the man do to help?
Men can also have a hand in boosting fertility, mainly by making sure their sperm are of top quality. Between the production of the sperm and the time of ejaculation is two to three months. You can do a lot in this period to boost the quality of your sperm. So, let’s start with the obvious: don’t smoke, drink as little as possible, and eat healthy.
Buy a lot of pomegranates, as drinking pomegranate juice regularly may improve sperm quality and sperm motility. This is according to results of a Turkish study conducted with rats. It’s also useful for a man to take supplements, such as zinc, selenium, and a vitamin B complex. Zinc and vitamin B affect sperm quantity and selenium affects cell motility and protection. This increases the chances of a sperm swimming better to the egg and implanting itself properly.
It might be good to know that the more often a man ejaculates, the fewer sperm cells are released per “load”. Best case scenario is if he ejaculates three to five times a week. Sperm doesn’t like too much heat: don’t wear tight underwear and skip the Bikram yoga and the hot baths for a little while. Staying seated for too long, having your laptop in your lap, and the seat heating on in the car is a no go as well.
Doin’ it right
So, let’s talk about sex now, because this is - obviously - an important part of getting pregnant. You don’t have to do the devil’s do every single day (you can if you want to), but try to at least do it every other day during your most fertile days. If you don't know exactly when you ovulate, it's smart to start measuring on day 10 of your cycle by keeping track of your temperature or testing your ovulation, for example. Missionary style, doggy style, and the spooning style are allegedly the best positions to get pregnant, because the penis is closest to the cervix. Are these really the best baby-making positions? We honestly don’t know, but hey, it never hurts to try.
Make sure you are well aroused, because if you become wet, his sperm will enter your uterus faster and easier. You have to try to not use any lube anyways, but in this case don’t use it at all. Most lubes that you can buy at the pharmacy or drugstore contain ingredients that are harmful to sperm or that make the sperm less motile, and that’s exactly what you don’t want! But if you really can't do it without lube, choose a neutral, water-based version.
If you succeed, it is ideal to cum at the same time or shortly after each other. The contractions of the uterus during an orgasm help the sperm to go the right way. And the more sperm reach the place of destination, the more chance for les babies, non? Whilst we usually advice to run to the toilet immediately after sex to go pee, don’t do that now. If you want to get pregnant, it's better to stay (or lie) on your back for a while longer. There’s really no need to keep your legs up in the air, even if that’s the story told time and time again, but what would really help is to place a pillow under your bum. This way, you tilt your pelvic floor and that gives the sperm a push in the right direction.
Preconception consultation
A preconception consult is the new “it-thing” now. Some places offer this preconception, or child wish, consultation. During these consultations you can discuss your child wish with a professional, usually an obstetrician. You discuss your own health and that of your partner and your family during these consultations. They look at your menstrual cycle and give you personal advice on nutrition, medication and anything else you can do to promote fertility. If the obstetrician notices anything out of the ordinary, then they will refer you to a gynecologist or another expert. It is good to know that these child wish consults are not usually covered by your health insurance!
If after a year of trying you still haven't succeeded in getting pregnant, it's wise to see your GP to find out what could be causing it. In some cases, there sadly isn’t a visible cause as to why you don’t succeed. But until that time, we want to wish you good luck, and more importantly: Enjoy!
