If you’re thinking about getting pregnant now or later in life, you need to take certain
steps right now to help keep your body in peak baby-making shape.
Considering you probably spend a good amount of energy trying to block conception,
it’s kind of odd to think about preparing yourself for a day when you might want to raise
the gate to your reproductive system and have a baby. Maybe you’re not at that point
now—you’re happily putting in long hours at a job you love, you’re still enjoying being
able to jump in the car for a road trip on a moment’s notice, or you just haven’t yet found
a guy who’s worthy of mixing his DNA with yours. But you’d still like to think that if the
baby urge hits you like a ton of bricks, pregnancy over 40 won’t be a problem.
Yet, everywhere you look, an article or book (or even your own mom!) is there to remind
you that your fertility drops every year you wait. You probably know the scary stats:
women reach their reproductive peak in their twenties, and by age 35, the risk of
infertility jumps to 22 percent. But before you start googling “egg freezing” (by the way,
that’s still experimental, and only a tiny number of babies have been born from frozen
eggs), keep in mind that every woman’s biological clock is different. Some women can
get pregnant easily at 40, while others run into problems as early as their twenties. And
while you can’t stop the clock on the most important fertility factor—your age—there are
plenty of lifestyle changes you can make now to up your odds of getting pregnant later.
If you want to get pregnant in five years…
See your doctor. If you want to keep your body baby-ready, staying in top physical
shape is essential. That means getting any fertility-sapping health issues—like diabetes,
polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or endometriosis—under control; diagnosing and
treating STDs; and devising a healthy diet and exercise plan. If you’re past 35 and
wondering whether you have the option of waiting a few more years, you can also ask
your doc to do a little detective work on what’s known as your ovarian reserve.
“All women are born with a certain number of eggs, and you lose them over your
reproductive life span,” explains Michael Soules, M.D., medical director of Seattle
Reproductive Medicine. “At some point—about 10 years before the onset of
menopause—the number drops to a level where your fertility is compromised.” But there
are fertility tests that can gauge how many eggs are still sitting on the bench waiting for
their turn at bat. The best ones are an ultrasound to count the number of follicles in your
ovaries and a blood test to check your hormone levels at certain points in your cycle.
These tests, which Soules says are usually covered by insurance (check with your plan
to make sure) can’t guarantee that you’re fertile (too many other factors come into play).
But they can tell you how loudly your clock is ticking and whether you need to consider
speeding up your schedule.
Brush and floss. Could something as simple as flossing your teeth help keep you
fertile? Perhaps. “Several studies have indicated that a woman’s oral health may be
related to her reproductive success,” says Susan Karabin, D.D.S., a spokesperson for
the American Academy of Periodontology. In one study, women who needed fertility
treatments had higher levels of gum bleeding and inflammation than those who
conceived naturally, the Journal of Periodontology reports. “Brush and floss every day
and get a professional cleaning and exam every six months,” advises Karabin, who
adds that not smoking and avoiding sugary foods and drinks are also key to keeping
your teeth and gums healthy.
Practice safe sex. You wouldn’t think condoms would come up in a conversation about
getting pregnant, but safe sex can be a crucial factor in your future ability to get knocked
up. If you contract an STD such as gonorrhea or chlamydia (which could be in your
system without causing symptoms) and it goes untreated, it can lead to a serious
condition called pelvic inflammatory disease, which can scar the fallopian tubes,
causing infertility. So get tested regularly—and make sure your partners do too.
Stamp out cigarettes. If higher rates of lung cancer and breast cancer haven’t made
you swear off smoking, consider this: The American Society for Reproductive Medicine
(ASRM) estimates that lighting up is linked to 13 percent of infertility cases. Tobacco
messes with your fertility in all kinds of ways: it makes your eggs deteriorate faster than
they naturally would with age, increases your risk of early miscarriage and ectopic
pregnancy (a dangerous condition in which the egg implants in your fallopian tubes or
ovaries instead of your uterus), and can bring on early menopause (up to four years
earlier, compared with non-smokers). Plus, if you wind up needing in vitro fertilization
(IVF), smoking will reduce your chances of success by 34 percent. The encouraging
news, though, is that once you do quit smoking, your fertility level will return to normal in
about a year (considering that it takes the average puffer two to four tries before quitting
for good, you should start trying to kick the habit well before that). While you’re at it,
recruit your partner, parents, and friends to quit with you. A recent study in Tobacco
Control found that women who were exposed to secondhand smoke six or more hours a
day as adults were 36 percent more likely to have trouble getting pregnant.
Take your vitamins. “Every woman of reproductive age—even if you’re not actively
trying to get pregnant—should take a multivitamin containing folic acid,” says Jorge
Chavarro, M.D., an instructor at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Fertility
Diet. According to Chavarro, folic acid appears to improve fertility by stimulating
ovulation and giving an embryo essential proteins needed for survival. His research also
found that women who took iron supplements were 40 percent less likely to have fertility
problems, so look for a vitamin with at least 40 milligrams of iron and 400 micrograms of
folic acid, and get in the habit of downing the pill every morning.
Switch up your grocery list. In Chavarro’s groundbreaking study of the dietary habits
of more than 18,000 nurses who were trying to get pregnant, he found some striking
connections between food and fertility. There are four basic rules of a baby-friendly diet:
- Choose slowly digested carbohydrates (such as vegetables and whole grains)
over highly processed ones (such as white bread and white rice). - Eliminate trans fats (aka partially hydrogenated oils).
- Pick unsaturated fats over saturated fats.
- Get the majority of your protein from plants rather than animals.
This type of low-glycemic diet, which keeps your blood sugar level nice and steady, has
long been known to fight diabetes and improve cardiovascular health, but it also can
have a profound effect on fertility. “When you eat foods that spike your blood sugar,
such as simple carbohydrates, your body produces more insulin, and that in turn leads
to a higher amount of testosterone circulating throughout your body,” Chavarro says.
“Over time that can interfere with ovulation.” He explains that different types of fats and
proteins also affect blood levels of glucose and insulin. So get into the habit of eating
lots of fruits and veggies, and trade red meat for fish, nuts, eggs, and beans whenever
you can.
Maintain a healthy weight. When it comes to your weight, the “fertility zone” is a body
mass index between 20 and 24.
In fact, the ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine) estimates that 12
percent of infertility cases are due to weight problems, divided equally between the
underweight and overweight. Weigh too much and you have a greater likelihood of
irregular periods and ovulation disorders (though even a moderate loss of 5 to 10
percent of your body weight can help kick-start your ovulation); weigh too little and you
may not ovulate at all, since body fat triggers the hormones that tell your ovaries to
release an egg.
Move your butt. “Our research found that 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise
each day on most days of the week is related to a lower risk of infertility,” says
Chavarro. If you need an extra push to get there, he suggests adding a mix of strength
training, stretching, and aerobic exercise such as biking, hiking, or swimming. Too much
exercise, though—anything that brings you to less than 17 percent body fat, or a BMI of
19 or lower—can interfere with ovulation. But unless you’re doing an Olympic-level
training program, you probably need more exercise, not less.
Upgrade your water bottle. While you’re working up a sweat, you’ll work up a
thirst—but make sure you swig your water from a BPA-free bottle. Researchers at the
University of California, San Francisco, recently looked at the BPA (bisphenol-A) levels
in women undergoing IVF and found a correlation between the level of the chemical in
the blood and the ability to conceive. The theory is that BPA, which mimics estrogen,
can mess with the balance of hormones in your body. The chemical can be found in the
linings of canned goods and sports water bottles, but many companies are now
marketing bottles made from safer materials such as stainless steel.
Save your calories for ice cream. Our favorite bit of health news ever. If you add one
serving of full-fat dairy to your diet per day, such as whole milk on your cereal instead of
skim, you can actually increase your chances of getting pregnant, according to
Chavarro’s research. There is one caveat, however: “You have to make adjustments to
the rest of your diet so you don’t gain weight,” Chavarro says. He also stresses that this
should not be a lifetime change—once there’s a bun in your oven, you can go back to
drinking skim and eating low-fat fro-yo.
Rethink your birth control. Now that you’re getting closer to wanting a little munchkin,
it’s time to think about what’s kept you from having one in the past. Barrier methods
(such as condoms or a diaphragm) are easy: simply stop using them the day you’re
ready to get pregnant. If you have an IUD, your fertility will return as soon as your doctor
takes it out. The same goes for pill users. Whether you’ve been taking it for one year or
20, don’t believe the rumor that it’ll be months before your ovulation revs back up, says
Vanessa Cullins, M.D., vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood of
America. “Women may have a few irregular cycles at first, but ovulation can happen
within two weeks after you toss your last pack,” she says. But, Cullins points out, there
is one form of birth control that takes time to exit your system before you can get
pregnant. If you’ve had Depo-Provera injections, it can take up to 10 months to become
fertile again.
Cut down on the booze and caffeine. Some studies show that having one to five
alcoholic drinks per week can drop your chances of conceiving that month by as much
as 50 percent. While other studies have found little connection between moderate
drinking and fertility, Chavarro points out that sobriety certainly couldn’t hurt, and it
might help. And while you’re at it, cut back on the triple-shot lattes. While there is no
real consensus, some studies suggest that consuming more than 300 milligrams of
caffeine a day (about two eight-ounce cups of regular coffee) may increase your risk of
endometriosis or fallopian tube problems.
Reduce stress. “There’s nothing a couple that is trying to get pregnant wants to hear
less than ‘Relax, you’re trying too hard,’” says Janis Fox, M.D., a fertility specialist at
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. But stress can put a damper on fertility by
messing with the brain signals that tell your body to ovulate. A study in Human
Reproduction showed that couples were more likely to conceive during months they
considered themselves relaxed. An effective way to start reducing stress now is to focus
on what you appreciate in your life today, says Leslee Kagan, director of women’s
health at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine in Boston. Every day, write
down three things that you love about your life (no diapers to change, or the chance to
spend endless, uninterrupted hours reading a great novel!), and take at least 15
minutes to meditate, do yoga, or listen to relaxing music. Believe us, a few years from
now, when that baby you waited for is finally here, and you’re groggily but happily
dealing with colic and diaper rash, these relaxation skills will come in handy!