Best Way to Deal with the Situation When Getting Pregnant Isn’t Easy

Perhaps you’ve been trying to get pregnant for six to eight months without results. You may have, or you’re beginning to have, some con­cerns about being able to get pregnant. Or perhaps you already know that getting pregnant may be difficult for you, or you’ve been pregnant before and have lost the baby in a miscarriage.

In this article we’ll go into and explain the vari­ous problems some couples have when trying to get pregnant. It will help you and your partner understand how you can work with yourOBprovider or infertility specialist to solve your infertility problem. The steps toward becoming pregnant may include the expertise of special­ists dedicated to helping couples overcome more complicated problems with infertility. Their mission is to help the two of you get pregnant and have a baby.

According to the Center for Disease Control, infertility affected about 6.1 million women in the United States in 1995, or about 10 to 15 percent of the population.2 Half of these couples will go on to con­ceive a baby.’ Because of rapid advances in fertility treatments, the number of couples unable to conceive will steadily shrink in the com­ing years.

What You Both Can Do to Improve Fertility

To help you get pregnant, it’s important that you avoid tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. These chemicals adversely affect conception by reducing sperm and egg quality. Both sperm and eggs are delicate cells. They may develop abnormally because of exposure to toxic substances.

If you smoke, take drugs, or are taking medications or supplements you haven’t told yourOBor infertility provider about, you may have problems becoming pregnant. Stopping these harmful activities may be all you need to do to get your pregnancy started. By avoiding these toxins to your system, you’ll be improving your health and giving your baby a better start.

What Your Partner Can Do

Reduce (Sperm) Scrotal Temperature. Sperm is produced in the sacs called testes, which are outside the male body because they do not sur­vive in normal core body temperature. Sperm quality and count may be affected by holding the scrotum (which holds the testis) up against the warmer parts of the body or by increasing body temperature in general. Overheating may occur from:

•  Wearing snug-fitting briefs or other tight clothing
•  Frequent use of hot tubs, saunas, or Jacuzzis
•  Heavy exercise
•  Working in certain jobs that involve excessive heat like factory work near a furnace

Lose Excess Weight – Being overweight can adversely affect sperm production because the excess weight can cause the body to have greater contact with the scrotum, increasing body temperature. Being overweight can also signify a hormonal problem or diabetes, which can decrease sperm production.

Recover Fully from Infections or Illnesses That Involve Fever – Fever usually causes the entire body to heat up, thus reducing sperm count and quality.

Reduce Exposure to Harmful Work or Recreational Environ­ments – Such environments may involve reproductive hazards such as environmental toxins like hazardous chemicals or exposure to radia­tion that can affect fertility.

What You Can Do

Gain or Lose Weight – Being over- or underweight can also affect a woman’s ability to conceive.

Being severely underweight affects menstruation and can even stop ovulation and menstrual periods. Being underweight from exercising a lot can also affect your fertility. Let yourOBprovider know if you think you have an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.

If you’re overweight, you may have a problem with your endocrine system. This system produces the hormones of your body and can affect the hormones of ovulation.

When to Seek Help

If you have concerns about becoming pregnant, you should schedule an appointment with your OB/GYN provider. He or she may tell you to relax and give it more time, depending upon your medical history, your age, and the amount of time you and your partner have been try­ing to get pregnant.

If you’re under 35, he or she may recommend that you try for a year to get pregnant before seeking further medical advice and assistance.

If you’re over 35, your OB/GYN provider will probably suggest that both of you be evaluated for infertility after six months of trying unsuccessfully to conceive. Age is a critical factor for fertility, especially for females.

Factors That May Require the Help of a Professional

The following may be factors affecting your ability to conceive. Many of them can be resolved, enabling you to have a baby:

•  Not having regular menstrual periods
•  Having had three or more miscarriages
•  If either you or your partner had a fertility problem with an ear­lier relationship
•  If either you or your partner had certain infections that can affect fertility, such as:
•  Adult males who have had mumps as a teenager or prostate infection
•  Adult females who have had pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
•  Adult females who have had a chlamydia or gonorrhea infec­tion that affected the fallopian tubes

Be assured that even if you have one or more of these factors in your health history, there are many things that can be done to improve your chances of conceiving. Implementing these measures requires the expertise of your OB Provider and possibly a reproduc­tive endocrinologist.