Ways To Boost Your Chances Of Conception

Conception is a spontaneous thing for many people, but for many others it is very stressful. Often it takes a lot of planning and making strategies to be pregnant. It might be a hard work to do all the calculations of your menstrual cycle dates, the ovulation time, etc and then be disappointed when you end up getting your periods. Although, a slight spotting or a mild bleeding might not always mean that you didn’t conceive.

When you are trying to conceive, you want it to happen as soon as possible. However, the chances of conception depends on a lot of factors like when your mother attained menopause and whether you have a regular menstrual cycle, chronic physical disorders, etc. Yet a lot of it happens to be on the hands of the couple and certainly they can increase their chances of conception to some extent by making some lifestyle changes and staying healthy.

• Stop the Pill: The first thing to do when you try to conceive is to stop the contraceptive pills. The chances of conception starts right after you stop taking the pills however, it might take some time for the hormonal levels to come to normal.
• Managing Your Weight To Boost Your Chances of Conception: Keeping your weight under control is one of the ways to boost your chances for conception. It is found that being overweight or underweight can alter the chance of getting pregnant. The time to conceive is two times higher in people who are obese or overweight than those who have a BMI within a normal range. Overweight in your husband could also contribute to problems in conception. Thus if you are planning to conceive start taking care of your weight.
• Boosting the Male Fertility: Researches point out that prolonged exposure of genital to extreme hot temperatures could affect the sperm health. The temperatures of the testicles are 2° less than the body temperature. It is thought to stimulate the production of sperms. Prolonged exposure of testicles to heat like sitting in hot tubs or working while keeping the laptop on the lap can pose a risk. Studies have also concluded that keeping a mobile phone in the pants pocket could raise the scrotal temperatures adversely. The radiations from the mobile phones can affect the sperm health thus affecting fertility. So when you are willing to be a father, try maintaining the normal scrotal temperatures.
• Cutting Down The Beverages To Improve Your Chances of Conceiving: A 2012 study found that women who drink 2 or more aerated drinks or drinks containing soda per day have a 16% lesser chance to get pregnant easily. More than 5 cups of coffee a day can also reduce the chances. Yet another study found that women having 2 or more drinks of alcohol a day reduce their chances of conception by 60%. Thus keeping a close note on the caffeine and alcohol consumption should be fine if you don’t want to stop it altogether.
• Smoking Negatively Impacts Your Chances of Conceiving: Just like it is dangerous for the lung health, it also affects your fertility. Smoking affects how the uterus would receive the egg and it also affects the sperm production, its quality and quantity and also the DNA structure. Risks of miscarriages have also been associated with smoking.
• The Fertile Period: Having intercourse at any time of the month would not help you get pregnant. When you are trying to be pregnant, find out the ovulation time in the menstrual cycle as that is the most fertile period of the month and frequent intercourse during that time might help you achieve the goal. Ovulation kits are available these days to help you find out the fertile period.
• Frequency of Intercourse: For some couples, having intercourse every alternate day might be stressful, but ideally it is recommended by all physicians. Having frequent coitus on every alternate day, especially during the fertile period can boost the chances of conception. However, “saving up” the act of intimacy only for the fertile period will not increase your chance. Though the sperm count in the semen might increase, but the motility of these sperms decreases drastically. So, just go for it whenever you feel like during the entire month, but don’t forget to increase it to every alternate day on your fertile days.
• Cervical Mucus: If you don’t want to spend on buying ovulation kits every month, then just follow your cervical mucus. It is thought to be the most easiest and effective way. Cervical mucus changes its color, texture and viscosity according to the menstrual cycle. Cervical mucus is categorized into four types: 1. Non-existent or dry, 2. Damp, 3. White or Yellow and thick, 4. Slimy and transparent. Type-4 mucus is discharged during the fertile period and having intercourse when you notice type-4 mucus could increase your chance by two to three folds.
• Reaching Orgasm: It is thought that the rhythmic contractions in the vagina and the uterus when a woman reaches orgasm help the sperms to travel up faster and better.
• Lying down after intercourse: Getting out of bed immediately after coitus could prevent the sperms from going up. Thus, it is advised to lie down on bed till half-an-hour after intercourse to allow the sperms to travel up to the fallopian tubes and fertilize the egg.
• Changes in Lifestyle Can Improve Your Chances of Conception: Lifestyle changes are very important when you are trying to conceive. Thus, try to get enough sleep, 7-8 hours of sound sleep, follow a healthy diet and also incorporate an exercise regimen to boost your fertility. Although do not exert too much as it could lead to miscarriage if you have already conceived. Try simple yoga without putting pressure on your abdomen, breathing exercises and walking.
• Stress: Although the duration when you are trying to conceive is stressful, but try to keep yourself as calm as possible. Stress has been found to drastically affect the changes of getting pregnant. So if you feel the stress, try out some relaxation techniques and don’t always keep your mind clogged to the pregnancy issue. Try to deviate your mind to other things, or give time to your hobby and stay relaxed.

A number of different factors contribute to pregnancy and even a slight deviation can increase or decrease your chance. Thus keep yourself calm and get a check-up done from your physician to find out if there is any underlying medical cause that is posing a blockage to your conception.