The Hour

Spring is the season traditionally associated with new life but the combination of women choosing to delay family life and a drop in sperm count has complicated the conception process.

There are now around one in six couples that have difficulties in achieving a pregnancy and this figure is on the rise, making it vital for those trying for a baby to address certain areas of their lifestyle as they work at trying to boost their chances.

Dr Marco Gaudoin from the Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine believes it is important to acknowledge the biological clock and accept that if couples are going to delay the age in which they start a family then they need to work at keeping their bodies as healthy as possible.

“You want to be as fit as you can, Dr Marco said. “I mean that both physically and psychologically, you want to be as slim as you can.”

Although it is important to strive at maintaining a healthy weight, Dr Marco advises against crash diets, leaning on new data which indicates that a crash diet can adversely affect fertility.

He instead recommends trying to shift those excess pounds a couple of months before trying for a baby and then maintaining a balanced diet throughout.

It may be stating the obvious but smoking and drinking can also reduce chances of fertility so are best to be cut down or cut out while trying for a baby.

Cutting out unnecessary stress is also a good way to improve your chances: “Acupuncture has been shown to be beneficial in IVF programmes at the time of embryo transfer,” Dr Marco said.

“Other complimentary medicines haven’t been shown scientifically to be beneficial but they certainly won’t do any harm and for that individual couple, if it reduces their stress level, so much the better.”

A woman is traditionally more fertile at certain times of the month and there are many products available that indicate this fertile period. However, Dr Marco sways away from these methods, suggesting that trying for a baby in such a way can make you overlook the experience of bringing a child into the world.

“The whole act becomes very mechanical,” he said. “You really want to have intercourse at any time in the menstrual cycle.

“There are certain times, between day 10 and day 18 of the cycle, where the woman is more likely to get pregnant but you can have intercourse at any other time in the cycle, it is not to be banned, it maintains a loving relationship and that is important.”