Health Travel Colombia

Has it happened to you or a friend of yours? Trying for years to get a baby and nothing works!?! … and then, suddenly it happens! Many couples are waiting for years to conceive while for others it seems to be the easiest thing in the world.

Why is this happening to us? Is something wrong? What are the reasons that we do not conceive? There are many factors, playing a significant part in the physiology and psychology of conceiving a child. One that everyone seems to know about is age. If you are over 40, chances are 50% that you are having trouble getting pregnant. Women between 35 and 40 are running a 30% chance of not conceiving if trying for a period of at least 12 months. One of the less known facts might be that also male fertility has an impact on a couple’s chance to give birth. Between 35 and 40 the probability of not conceiving goes up to 28%.
“Now, this is something I already knew”, you might say: “But, what other lifestyle factors are influencing our chances to have a child?” It mainly our environment as well as our daily health and lifestyle habits that have the biggest impact:

Smoking

Smoke kills! Well, smoke is also reducing your chances of having a child. Not only the chances of conceiving naturally, also your chances in IVF are considerably lowered by first and second-hand smoke. Secondly, it also influences your child’s development and future capability of having a child. As for men – smoking does reduce the sperm count and therefore also the chances of conceiving.

Environment

Our environment, though heavily controlled by government agencies, is full of chemical. Fruits are impregnated with pesticides, we are confronted with air pollutants on daily basis as well as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates (you’ll find them in food packaging(!), toys and plastics) as well as polychlorinated biphneyls (PCBs).
How to limit exposure to these seemingly omnipresent chemicals? Well, not living near a major highway is definitely a first plus. Avoiding exposure to other chemicals mentioned might not be easy but it is definitely not impossible. Buy BPA-free products, eat less processed and packaged food, buy organic, not processed, “dirty” fruits and vegetables and also check the cosmetics you are using.
Before you are beginning a total lifestyle change, read through this article until the YOU-section.

Weight

Weight has been know for a long time to be another major influence in the reproductive cycle. What is influencing the well-balanced process of conception? It is mainly the deficit or excess of fat cells in your body that impact this process and the hormonal balance, lowering your chances of having a baby. Your BMI gives you an indicator on how much this effect might influence your wish of becoming pregnant. For every BMI interval over 29, your chances of becoming pregnant go down by 5%.

Diet

“So, let’s diet like crazy and lower my BMI!”, might be your natural response! Well, your diet is definitely playing a role. A Harvard study found that women who consumed fewer trans fats and sugar, while increasing their consumption of veggie proteins, fiber, iron as well as high-fat dairy products (instead of low-fat), did boost their chances of becoming pregnant. This applies for women of all ages!

You

The final factor in this mix of pregnancy-influencers is … yes, it’s YOU or better phrased, the impact of psychology and your daily behaviour, like exposure to stress. Don’t let all these studies and statistics rive you crazy. Focusing solely on your pregnancy might build up an inner stress factor. There are numerous examples of couples, trying for years to have a baby, starting with insemination and trying IVF and ICSI with various fertility clinics without success. Once those couples mentioned accepted they could not have their own baby they adopted a child and like a miracle, became pregnant within a matter of months. Once the inner stress factor: “We MUST have a baby!”, fell off, the body balanced itself and those couples conceived naturally. Keep this in mind when reading through all those articles with tons of “good advice”!
If you have any questions, please leave them as comments at the end of this FlyClinic post.