Family planning and health are important conversations for every couple – particularly those seeking to optimize their fertility. For many families, getting pregnant happens relatively quickly, but the reality is not everyone is quite so lucky. In fact, recent research has shown that a staggering 13-15% of couples struggle to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse. While this is understandably upsetting and discouraging for families, there are ways to optimize your fertility and ultimately your chances of getting pregnant – naturally.
Ovulation Tracking
First and foremost, it’s important to know when your body is ovulating. This can be done in several ways.
The first is monitoring the changes in cervical mucus. Around and during ovulation, a woman’s cervical mucus will become clear, stringy and stretchy. The reason for this texture is to ensure that it’s permeable to sperm.
Secondly, basal metabolic charting can be helpful in predicting when you will ovulate. It involves the daily tracking of your average resting body temperature. Your temperature will usually be consistent before ovulation, but when ovulation occurs, you will notice a small spike of about 0.2-0.6 degrees Celsius. Ovulation thermometers, or basal metabolic thermometers, can be purchased from most pharmacies and track temperature to 100th of a Celsius degree, making them highly accurate and extremely helpful in tracking ovulation.
Lastly, urine ovulation test kits can also help with tracking cycles and ovulation. These tests will tell you when your body is producing the luteinizing hormone (LH), which is vital for reproduction. The LH level will surge right before ovulation, because it’s the hormone that tells your ovaries to release an egg. The mature egg is usually released about 24-36 hours after the LH spike happens.
Now that you have the information about how and when your body ovulates, you can plan sexual intercourse accordingly. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends engaging in sexual intercourse daily, or every other day during this time to maximize your chances of conception.
Hormone optimization
Hormones play an essential role in preparing the body for pregnancy and helping to maintain a pregnancy once it happens. However, some patients may already experience a variety of symptoms, such as irregular or absent menstruation, unexplained weight gain, acne and mood changes, which can be barriers to getting pregnant. It’s essential in these cases to complete blood work and hormone testing to evaluate hormone levels.
The most important hormones for fertility are:
Progesterone: helps to thicken the uterine lining, which supports the fertilized embryo
Estrogen: helps to develop a follicle, which will eventually turn into a mature egg
Follicle stimulating hormone: helps to regulate the menstrual cycle
Luteinizing hormone: helps to start ovulation
Prolactin: helps to produce milk, but if it’s too high in a non-pregnant person it can cause menstrual cycle irregularity
Thyroid hormones: helps to develop ovarian, uterine and placental tissues, but an under-functioning thyroid gland can cause an increase in prolactin, while low thyroid hormones can impair estrogen and progesterone production
Anti-Mullerian Hormones: helps to support the immature egg, while the amount in the bloodstream can also be a predictor of a woman’s remaining eggs
Should there be a problem with any of these hormone levels, your doctor can help identify ways to help improve them specific to your own needs.
Diet
Many diets labelled as “fertility diets” are typically similar to the Mediterranean diet. Eating a wholesome diet of vegetables, fruits, poultry, seafood, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains provides your body with the protein, carbohydrates, fat and micronutrients it needs to properly function and produce healthy eggs. It is recommended to eat organic whenever possible so as to limit pesticide and herbicide exposure.
Other supplemental nutrients, which can be often taken in higher concentrations to help support fertility, include omega-3s, folic acid, vitamin B, vitamin D, vitamin C, myo-inositol, L-arginine and CoQ10. Please discuss these supports with your primary health care provider or fertility specialist before beginning supplementation.
Stress management
Many patients who struggle to conceive have reported feelings of anxiety, depression, helplessness and overwhelm - and, those who have experienced anxiety or depression have also reported difficulty with conception. So, does stress cause difficulty with conception or does difficulty with conception cause stress? The answer isn’t clear, however, we know that psychological support for families struggling with conception does lead to increased fertility results. We also know that helping to support and stabilize cortisol, our stress hormone, has a positive impact on our body’s ability to produce estrogen and progesterone, which are both essential for fertility. Stress management, regardless, is important for overall health and improved fertility outcomes.
Growing your family is an exciting time for any couple, but, the path to parenthood may not always be easy. If you find yourself struggling to conceive or have questions about improving your fertility, reach out to your primary care provider. With the right help, you may be crib shopping faster than you think!
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