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Fertility Problems
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When To Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Home Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
To decrease your risk of infertility and increase your chances of becoming pregnant, use the following guidelines.
Track ovulation at home
- Estimate when you are
ovulating by practicing
fertility awareness, including:
- Tracking your cervical mucus changes.
- Tracking your basal body temperature on a monthly
Fahrenheit temperature chart
(What is a PDF document?) or
Celsius temperature chart (What is a PDF document?). - Tracking your luteinizing hormone (LH) levels with a home ovulation predictor test. Many doctors now recommend home ovulation tests as the best method to track ovulation at home.
- Try this interactive tool to
calculate your peak fertility
. - Try having sex every day or every other day during a woman's fertile period. This can improve the chance of pregnancy.
- If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise can cause women to ovulate less often.
Protect sperm count and quality
- Avoid alcohol, smoking, marijuana, and other illegal drugs. Any one of these may affect fertility.
- If you use a vaginal lubricant during sexual intercourse, select one that does not kill or damage sperm.
- Stay at a reasonable body mass index (BMI). This will increase the health of your reproductive system. A high BMI has been linked to reduced semen quality and changes in a man's hormones that may reduce fertility.
- If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise may be a cause of lower sperm counts in some men.
- High scrotal temperatures decrease sperm count and quality5, so avoid hot tubs and saunas.
- Try to control fever when you are ill. High fever has been known to have an adverse effect on sperm for 2 to 3 months afterward (sperm take this long to grow from germ cells to mature spermatozoa).
General measures
Now more than ever, it's smart to get regular exercise, eat a healthy diet, reduce or stop caffeine intake, and drink plenty of water. Women who are trying to get pregnant should avoid using alcohol and medicines (including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs[NSAIDs], such as ibuprofen or aspirin).
For more information, see the Planning for a Healthy Pregnancy section of the topic Pregnancy.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: April 23, 2010 |
| Medical Review: | Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine Femi Olatunbosun, MB, FRCSC - Obstetrics and Gynecology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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