If you are trying to get pregnant, or plan on trying to start a family in the future, there are simple steps you can take that will go a long way toward preventing any problems with infertility.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so follow these tips to hopefully avoid dealing with fertility issues when you start trying to conceive.
- Be healthy. This means your overall wellness—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Live a healthy life in all ways to help avoid infertility.
- Practice safe sex. Most contraceptives do not prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and STDs can affect fertility. In fact, STDs can actually cause complete infertility. So if you ever want to have children, practice safe sex now.
- Take a look at your medications, both over the counter and prescription. Some OTC and prescribed meds can affect fertility. If you are trying to conceive, you need to know whether or not you are taking any meds that will hamper your efforts.
- Quality is supposed to be better than quantity, but when it comes to having sex in order to start a baby, this isn’t the case. Couples who have sex 4-5 times a week tend to conceive fastest.
- If you have not been vaccinated against mumps, measles or other diseases, do so post-haste as some of these may cause infertility, especially mumps.
- If feasible, start your family while you are 35 or younger. Females over 35 have more problems conceiving, and although males don’t actually become infertile at any age, the quality and quantity of sperm declines as a man gets older.
- If you have had surgery on any reproductive organs or had a sexually transmitted disease, it wouldn’t hurt anything to get a pre-conception check-up before you start trying to get pregnant. That way, if there is a problem that needs fixing, you won’t waste a year or longer being infertile before getting it seen to. This applies equally to men and women.
A stitch in time saves nine, and when you are seriously trying to conceive, it’s best to be prepared!
Factors Affecting Reproductive Performance Part 3
Infertility and Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Infertility Prevention for Women
Frequently Asked Questions About Male Infertility
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
One medication that hampers efforts is DES (diethylstilboestrol). DES exposure in the womb is one factor that may be worth mentioning in this and other “Fertili-Talk” articles. It is a relevant factor when taking medical histories in fertility patients. Your consideration of this will be appreciated. Thanks.
Yes, I’ll definitely be researching this. Thank you.