Getting Pregnant Naturally (26 page)

T
o conceive a child is a remarkable feat. Think about it: It requires precise timing, exquisite hormonal balance, overall good health—and perhaps a touch of divine intervention. While some of these factors are beyond your control, how you live and how you treat your body can have an impact on your overall health and your fertility. That goes both for how you behave now and for what you may have done—or not done—in the past.

Your brain chemistry affects your fertility, and a sudden drop in body weight can throw off the release of
gonadotropin-releasing hormone by the hypothalamus in the brain. Crash diets and the corresponding shift in weight can confuse the body’s hormone production, possibly resulting in infertility.

If you are overweight, try to lose weight, if possible. Ideally, you should not try to get pregnant until you lose the weight and give your body a chance to adjust to your new physique. Take at least one month of dieting for each six or seven pounds you want to lose (or gain). After reaching your target weight, wait six to eight weeks to give your hormone levels a chance to stabilize before trying to get pregnant. (More under Couples.)

Regular exercise can help keep you lean and fit, but excessive exercise can keep you from having a baby. If your body fat level dips too low, you may stop ovulating. Or, if you work out more than an hour a day, you may disrupt the timing of your reproductive hormones.

One study found that women who exercised vigorously for more than an hour a day were more likely to experience infertility. Researchers speculate that the endorphins—the feel-good chemicals released during exercise—may alter a woman’s prolactin levels, interrupting the timing of ovulation. Don’t use the
information as an excuse to turn flabby, just exercise in moderation.

Moderation means different things to different women. Strive to work out at least twenty to thirty minutes three times per week, but not more than sixty minutes six times per week. Choose any activity that you enjoy, even running or jogging (unless you have had a problem with miscarriage or your gynecologist recommends against it).

It appears that the less caffeine you consume, the more likely you are to get pregnant. Research done at the National Institutes of Health show that drinking as little as one five-ounce cup of coffee—or other foods with the equivalent 115 milligrams of caffeine—can halve your chances of becoming pregnant in any given month compared to women who do not consume caffeine. Another study found that one caffeinated soft drink per day caused the same 50 percent decrease in conception. While not all women seem to respond to restricting caffeine consumption, it can’t hurt to give it a try. You can substitute decaffeinated beverages or herbal teas, if you wish.

Antibiotics do a tremendous job of killing disease-causing bacteria, but unfortunately they can’t differentiate the good bacteria from the bad. As a result, after taking a course of antibiotics, many women develop vaginal yeast infections. Often the culprit is an overgrowth of
Candida
, a type of yeast that leaves the vagina inhospitable to sperm.

To help restore the good bacteria as quickly as possible, try eating yogurt containing live acidophilus cultures or take acidophilus tablets (available at health food stores). You might also drink acidophilus milk, available in many grocery stores. While some health care practitioners may even suggest you insert plain yogurt directly in the vagina, if you are trying to get pregnant you should not put anything containing bacteria inside your vagina.

If you have already had a child and you are breastfeeding, you may need to stop nursing to conceive your next child. Women who do not breast-feed often find that their menstrual cycles return four to ten weeks after childbirth. However, nursing mothers may not ovulate for a year or more, depending on the baby’s feeding patterns.

Each time your baby nurses, the brain suppresses the hormone that triggers ovulation. In most cases, ovulation will resume when the baby goes more than four hours between feedings during the day and more than six hours at night. Keep in mind that breastfeeding is not a reliable method of birth control. Ovulation can occur irregularly during nursing, and you may release one egg before experiencing your first menstrual period.

Your testicles need to be handled with care. They contain a delicate collection of tiny tubes, ducts, and vessels that can be damaged or scarred by trauma. So, if you’re planning to engage in sports that can lead to accident or injury, be sure to wear a protective cup.

Cycling may be great for physical conditioning, but it’s not so great for babymaking. Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine found that cyclists who pedaled one hundred miles a week or more often suffered from “biker’s impotence,” a condition characterized by difficulty in getting and maintaining an erection for a day or two after biking. The thrusting
and banging of the groin against the bicycle seat while pedaling can damage the nerves and arteries in the genital area. To avoid this problem, rise from your bike and support your weight with your legs periodically, or scale back on your riding during the times you are trying to get pregnant.

The human body is designed to keep the testicles cool. In fact, the scrotal sac is housed outside the body so that the testicles can remain about two degrees cooler than the core body temperature. (The scrotal sac normally keeps the testes at between 94 and 96 degrees F.) Evidence suggests that if the temperature of the testicles rises above 96 degrees F, sperm production and motility is impaired.

In some cases, lowering the scrotal temperature can help make an infertile man into a father. To keep things cool, try the following:

• Avoid hot tubs and saunas.
  

• Wear boxers rather than briefs or tight bikini underwear. Tight undergarments may heat things up—and not in a way that will enhance your chances of getting pregnant.
  

• Avoid wearing synthetic fibers during exercise.
  Lycra shorts can trap the heat, especially during a workout.
  

• Exercise, but avoid workouts that heat the testicles. Rowing machines, cross-country ski machines, treadmills, and jogging are the worst culprits when it comes to overheating. Swimming and yoga are good alternatives. After exercise, allow your testicles to hang free and cool off.
  

• If possible, avoid occupations that keep you in the heat. For example, welding or boiler maintenance operators can work in environments that routinely reach a sperm-killing 120 degrees F.
  

• Try a cold water treatment. One study found that spraying the scrotum with cool water for two minutes in the morning and evening improved sperm counts in half the men studied.