Fertility Issues: Evening the Odds
If you’re diagnosed with a health issue that affects your fertility, either directly, through the action of the condition itself, or indirectly, through the medication or other treatment for the issue, it’s easy to feel defeated. Fertility can feel like a very binary issues: either you’re at the peak of reproductive health, or you will not be able to get pregnant, but in reality, there’s an extremely broad grey area between the two. Fertility is simply the odds that you will successfully get pregnant in any given stretch of time, and if you have health factors making those odds worse for you then you need to look into how you can even those odds.
Lifestyle Changes
The first thing you need to look at are simple lifestyle changes. If you’re thinking about starting a family, you need to make sure you’re doing a few simple things to avoid some of the major risks to your reproductive health. If you’re a smoker, you’re going to want to quit as soon as possible, as this is one of the most harmful voluntary actions you can take for your reproductive health! Cutting down on alcohol can also boost the health of both sperm and eggs.
Making sure you eat a healthy diet can also help to boost your chances – you should take medical advice before embarking on a ‘fertility diet’ and ensuring it addresses your specific needs, but taking steps like eating more leafy green vegetables can ensure your body is getting a boost of the best nutrients to help support a regular, healthy menstrual cycle.
Supplements
There are lots of dietary supplements marketed to both men and women who want to boost their reproductive health, and while a broad of nutrients may be effective, it’s well worth doing some research to ensure you’re choosing supplements that can really help you. One of the few supplements that would be helpful to all women who are trying to get pregnant is folate, or folic acid. This helps to ensure a healthy foetus, and reduces the risk of spina bifida.
If you have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, fertility issues follow with it inevitably. Many experts believe taking a supplement of Myo-Inositol may help your body to reduce its insulin levels and return to a more normal ovulation pattern.
Expert HelpThe best thing you can do, alongside your own research, is seek out expert help. Your GP should be able to refer you to a fertility expert who can help you come up with a plan to even the odds in your favour and give yourself the best possible chance of getting pregnant.