“No coffee, cigarettes or Coors”. These and other conception tips
There are a plethora of conception tips: from the Internet, from your doctors, even from your mother. What works and what does not? There is no single authority on conception and pregnancy. The trick is to sift through material available and decide which conception tips work best for you.
1. Avoid coffee. Coffee adversely affects fertility. It is postulated that the effects of coffee on metabolism has deleterious effects on our hormone levels, especially that of estrogen. Coffee may also cause problems with our fallopian tubes, hindering fertilization.
2. Avoid smoking. Smoking has been linked to a variety of health problems. Decreased fertility in both men and women has also been associated with smoking. Smoking may decrease sperm count. Smoking women are less likely to conceive successfully when compared with non-smoking women.
3. Avoid alcohol. Alcohol, even in moderation, adversely affects fertility by inhibiting ovulation. Population studies also show decreased fertility and pregnancy rates among women who drink. Data are conflicting on what amount of alcohol consumption can induce these effects. Most data show that drinking four to eight times a week is significant. But newer studies have shown that even a single glass of wine weekly can already affect fertility adversely.
These 3 conception tips have been proven to be true. Most doctors would advice you to quit smoking, coffee, and alcohol when attempting to get pregnant. You should also abstain from these 3 when you are pregnant to ensure the health of your developing baby.
4. Some sexual positions favor fertility. The most popular positions recommended are the missionary or the man-on-top position and the rear entry. Although sexual position does not significantly affect the chances of conceiving in couples who are fertile, some couples may benefit from this advice. Depositing the sperm as near as possible to the cervix may have its benefits for couples with subfertility or infertility problems. If the sperm were the size of a man, it has to swim a distance akin to the Pacific Ocean to meet and fertilize an egg. It would certainly boost our chances of success if we shorten that distance considerably.
5. Herbs improve fertility. Some herbs like Vitex, Ginkgo biloba, and Siberian ginseng have been shown to boost fertility. In fact, these herbs have been a mainstay in the armamentarium of herbalists and practitioners of alternative medicine in the treatment of infertility in both men and women. However, there are still no large, well-designed clinical trials to boost this claim. If you are on fertility drugs, ask your doctor if you may start taking any of these herbs to avoid unwanted drug interactions.
6. Whelan method for conceiving a boy or a girl. The Whelan method, developed by Elizabeth Whelan, is based on timing sexual intercourse around the period of ovulation. Having intercourse several days prior to ovulation would result to conceiving male babies, while intercourse after would result to female babies. Predicting when ovulation would occur is based on measuring the body’s basal temperature.
A rise in basal body temperature is indicative of ovulation. Whelan’s method is based on sound scientific evidence. Ovulation is usually heralded by a slight increase in the body’s basal temperature. This temperature increase is due to the effect of progesterone. Levels of this hormone increases after ovulation. However, this procedure is not 100% effective. Using Whelan’s method only gives a 60-70% chance of successfully conceiving a baby of a preferred sex.
Talk to your doctor before deciding to follow any one of these conception tips. Some of these conception tips might be harmful to you or your developing fetus
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