Guide for Preventing Infertility

If you are worried about infertility, there are some aspects you need to keep a close watch on, the principal one among them being age. If you are too young or too old, then, there’s a problem with conceiving. If you are a teenage girl, you are too young to bear children because your body is still preparing for the future. However, if you are a woman who is over 35, you may experience problems with getting pregnant. With age, your fertility only decreases. Ideally, women in their twenties and early thirties are at the right age to achieve pregnancy.

While deciding when to have a baby is a highly personal choice, it is also important to keep an eye on the biological clock. Also, there are many lifestyle aspects you could change to improve your chances of getting pregnant.

Tips for women

• Cut down on caffeine. This is probably the simplest step and may seem insignificant, but any doctor will tell you to restrict your caffeine intake.

Caffeine & Fertility in Women (Photo Courtesy: http://www.compasscayman.com)

• Avoid medications that could affect your fertility. Don’t take drugs/medication without the advice of your doctor. Some drugs such as anti-inflammatory ones can make conception tougher.

Medications that affect your fertility (Photo Courtesy: http://shop.wildirisbooks.com)

• Cut down on smoking and alcohol, because they can harm your health as well as the health of your baby.
• Women need to get regular physical exercise, but overdoing exercise can affect your periods or your fertility.
• Controlling obesity is very important because any extremes in weight, either gain or loss, may cause hormonal production.

Tips for men:

• Steer clear of drugs, smoking or alcohol as any of these can contribute to male infertility.

Avoid Smoking & Alcohol, Male Fertility (Photo Courtesy: http://www.blisstree.com)

• Age doesn’t affect women alone; it also makes an impact on male fertility. As men grow older, the sperm quality decreases.
  Avoiding extreme heat conditions like saunas also prevent infertility among men.
• As far as possible, avoid exposure to environmental toxins, pesticides etc as they affect fertility both among men and women.

In general, both women and men should stop getting anxious and practise a healthy lifestyle, include a few minutes of meditation or a holistic exercise programme such as yoga. Eating a balanced diet is crucial; women should eat green, leafy vegetables that have high folic acid content. This helps prevent birth defects.

Get regular screening

Women should get themselves screened from time to time, so they know they don’t have problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome, thyroid problems or ovarian failure before the woman turns 40. Damage to the fallopian tubes can also make it difficult for a woman to conceive naturally. Fibroids can also lower fertility, and so does endometriosis. Men too need to get themselves tested for sperm quality or sperm structure. Some men experience problems with ejaculation as well, and it is best to consult one of the infertility doctors in Bangalore at the earliest. There are many infertility clinics in Bangalore you can go to for consultation.