There are many tips and tricks when it comes to conceiving a child that it can be hard to separate the facts from fiction. Here are some common misconceptions and facts about fertility to help steer you in the right path when you are trying to have a baby.
Myths:
1. Men need to store their sperm during a woman’s non-fertile period.
Research suggests that not storing sperm increases testosterone levels which can better the quality of sperm during intercourse.
2. You and your partner must have sex every day in order to conceive.
While having regular sex is crucial for conceiving a child, daily intercourse doesn’t improve contraception by much. Comparatively, couples who chose to have sex only once a week—all the while trying to conceive—reduce their chances by 15 per cent.
3. Caffeine causes infertility.
Drinking one or two coffees a day isn’t going to make or break your chances of conceiving a child. In fact, there are no obvious effects on pregnancy or fertility in relation to caffeine.
Facts:
1. The weight of both men and women has an effect on fertility.
Fertility can be effected, harmed even, when men and women are extremely underweight or overweight. This means that even losing only 5 per cent of your weight can improve the chances of conceiving a child when you are overweight.
2. A woman is most fertile just before she ovulates, six days after her previous cycle ends.
Women are most fertile the day before their ovulation period begins. What’s more, sex that occurs 3 days before she ovulates is also very effective. Women are typically fertile on days 12-14 of their cycle.
3. Fertility drops with age for men and women.
When women reach age thirty, their chances to conceive begins to decline. By the time women reach their late thirties, they lose half of their chances to conceive as they would in their twenties. As for men, their fertility rate begins to decrease after forty, mostly declining by fifty.
