Improving your fertility after 35 is possible with a few lifestyle changes.

Making babies is the most natural thing in the world. It is also sometimes the hardest.

Unfortunately, women’s eggs have a shelf life.  Women are born with a million eggs in stock—a number that declines to about 300,000 after puberty.   At the age of 35, the window of opportunity for having a perfectly healthy, full-term pregnancy becomes smaller.  Eggs become more susceptible to  genetic defects like Down’s Syndrome, and the risk of miscarriage is greater.

Age also affects our pituitary gland’s ability to produce  the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which controls the development of eggs during the menstrual cycle. Fertility doctors will usually test a woman’s FSH levels. 

Improving fertility 

Thankfully, there are simple steps you can take to stack the fertility odds in your favor without invasive interventions. 

Avoid excessive exercise or dieting.  Stay fit, but don’t overdo it.  Some professional athletes or crash dieters  complain of missed periods (amenorrhea). Nutritional imbalance caused by restrictive diets that cut out entire food groups and very low body fat percentage make conception problematic.

Stay within normal weight range.  Obesity can affect fertility.  Fat cells can cause insulin resistance and actually produce estrogen, which tricks the body into lowering the hormones that lead to ovulation.  Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—a hormonal imbalance that affects the ability to conceive—is strongly linked to obesity. Overweight women can also be susceptible to miscarriage, gestational diabetes and other complications. Doctors advise women to get into a weight loss program about 1 or 2 years before trying to get pregnant. 

Detoxify your system. Toxins accumulate over the years through exposure to pollution, usage of body care products and cosmetics etc., and end up damaging  our systems. In order to rid your body of undesirable elements, consult with a physician for detoxification, and boost your intake of vitamin-rich foods.

Hold the alcohol and caffeine: Alcohol consumption disturbs estrogen levels, thereby hampering egg implantation. Restrict your intake to an occasional glass of wine or give it up altogether. Caffeine increases your chances of an early miscarriage. If you cannot love without coffee, limit to a single cup.

Quit smoking: Smoking directly impacts fertility. Quitting dramatically increases your chances of conception.  Cigarette smoking is harmful to a woman’s ovaries, increases risks of genetic abnormalities and miscarriage.

Ease stress.  A 2005 study conducted by the  University of California at San Diego shows that women who had scored highest on a stress test ovulated 20% fewer eggs than those who had less stress.   Excessive stress results in suppression of the menstrual cycle and irregular ovulation. Fertility clinics recommend engaging in relaxation techniques like massage therapy, yoga, and acupuncture.

Know your cycle. Know the days you are fertile. Your fertile period starts about 4-5 days before ovulation, and ends about 24-48 hours after it. Consider purchasing a fertility monitor. An ovulation monitor will indicate when you are fertile and when you aren’t.

Go herbal. Herbs are considered to be a natural fertility medication. Consult a registered naturopath who can recommend herbal medications suitable for your body. Herbs help balance hormone levels and cleanse the system of fertility damaging toxins. Herbs help in normalizing menstrual cycles, reduce premenstrual syndrome and regulate ovulation.

Boost your man’s health: The same things that harm your fertility can affect your husband’s reproductive health. Cigarettes, alcohol, a poor diet—any of these can contribute to lower sperm production or motility (ability to swim). Remember a man’s body takes 90 days to produce new sperm, and following a healthy regime can help in producing healthy sperms.

Usually between 10 and 12 months would be a pretty good standard before seeking an evaluation for infertility from a specialist.

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