Conception

Getting pregnant: The ABCs of conception

Conceiving a child is a joyous experience for couples but it can be a difficult process for some because of health and fertility issues. The keys to conception are patience, communication and good medical advice.

Prior to conceiving a child, it’s a good idea to get your body in good condition. Smoking and drinking can inhibit conception and so can being significantly overweight. You’re going to want to be healthy during your pregnancy in order to provide your baby with a healthy start in life. So now’s the time to ditch bad habits and pick up good ones.

When you and your partner decide to have a child, you should visit a health care provider to discuss your medical histories and to ascertain whether you will need fertility aides or any special care to overcome health or fertility problems that may make conception difficult or make carrying a child risky for you.

Conception has been likened to hitting a moving target. A more accurate analogy may be a space shuttle launch. Space shuttles can only be launched within a certain window of opportunity, when conditions are right for a launch. The same holds true for conceiving a child. The best time to conceive a child is when you’re ovulating. There’s a number of ways to determine when your best window of opportunity is open, including:

• Using a calendar: If your menstrual cycle is consistent, ovulation will most likely start about 14 days after the beginning of your last period. If you have a long cycle, just subtract 18 from the number of days in your shortest menstrual cycle. Then, when your next period starts, count ahead by this number of days. The following weeks is your best guess for when you’re ovulating.
• Tracking temperature: When you’re ovulating, your body temperature may experience a small spike. By tracking your temperature over time, you can determine when you’re ovulating by seeing when your temperature is up compared to your average temperature.
• OTC kits: There’s a number of ovulation predictor kits on the market which can determine if you’re ovulating by measuring hormones in your urine.

Once you’ve been able to determine when you’re ovulating, here comes the fun part — sex. When you’re ovulating, you and your partner should have sex at least once per day. If you’re trying to have a baby, there’s no such thing as too much sex.

There’s no solid evidence suggesting any particular sexual position is conducive for conception but you may want to try a variety just in case and to keep sex exciting. Some couples report that sex becomes a chore when trying to become pregnant because it becomes something “we have to do” instead of something “we want to do.” Throwing a little variety in the mix will keep things fun.

Chances are that you and your partner most likely won’t have problems getting pregnant but there are a sizable number of couples who struggle with conceiving a child. Possible issues that may complicate conception include:

• Age: Older women on average have a more difficult time conceiving than younger women. For example, women in their early to mid-30s are 20 percent less fertile than women in their early 20s. Women in their late 30s may be 25 to 40 percent less fertile. Men also see an age-related decline in fertility too, but it occurs later. A recent study found a 40 percent drop in the likelihood of a man impregnating his partner from ages 35 to 40.
• Genetic problems: A large number of pregnancies end in miscarriage in the very early stages of pregnancy. The main reason for these early miscarriages are genetic problems which make the fetus non-viable. After a sperm fertilizes an egg, an extremely intricate process of development begins. If the genetic material in a fertilized egg is sufficiently defective, miscarriage is often the result. Genetic testing of both parents can determine if there is a problem and your health care provider can suggest strategies to overcome these problems.
• Male fertility problems: Some men have low sperm count, reducing the chances that a sperm and egg will connect. Other men produce a normal amount of sperm, but their sperm are malformed and are not able to “swim” properly up into a woman’s uterus and fallopian tubes.
• Sexually transmitted diseases: Chlamydia and gonorrhea, left untreated can result in pelvic inflammatory disease which can negatively impact fertility. Many women infected with chlamydia and gonorrhea show no symptoms, so it’s important to have annual STD checks.

With medical advice, most obstacles to conceiving a child can be overcome. Fertility doctors offer a variety of treatments. Male infertility can be helped with antibiotics to treat infection or surgery to reverse vasectomies or repair structural damage or deficiencies to the male reproductive organs that may inhibit reproduction. Female infertility can be treated with drugs to step up ovulation and direct injection of semen into the uterus.