Support conception
Perhaps you came off the pill or ceased your normal form of conception. After a few months there could be a couple of problems; irregular periods or you're suprised a pregnancy hasn't happened yet.
Many women have been in your position, some worry there's 'something wrong' after 2 months, some after 6 months. However long you've been trying to pregnant and it hasn't happened yet, it's normal to feel like this. You are not alone.
The average time length for getting pregnant after the Pill is 2 years and as staggeringly long as that may sound, if you think about what we put our bodies through, it’s not that surprising really. A number of clients have told us that they have had to cancel appointments at fertility clinics because they found themselves pregnant – a common sign of giving up! So if you’re just starting your journey to becoming a mum, read some of the tips shared from my professional friends and have a look at the Reflexology that I offer.
Getting the right environment for a pregnancy to happen is the first step to helping it happen. What we put into our bodies helps it to function, so take a look at your diet. Some nutritionists offer hair mineral tests that can help them to see what minerals you may be missing in your diet.
My suggestions for other natural ways to boost chance of getting pregnant;
- Reflexology. Obviously as a Reflexologist I'm going to suggest this! But I have seen a marked imporvement and many successful pregnancies in the 9 years I've been practising!.
- Work on your relationship rather than becoming too consumed with getting pregnant. Easier said than done, but try, Supporting each other and going out of your way to make time for one another is a bond worth having.
- Look for foods containing folic acid. Folic acid is important for a baby’s development in the early weeks. Try green vegetables, breakfast cereals and bread (you can take a folic acid supplement too)
- Avoid soft cheeses, paté, and soft-boiled eggs, all of which may be contaminated with listeria, bacteria which cause food poisoning. Avoid eating liver and taking vitamin A.
- So limit your alcohol intake, you may not want to cut it out if you’re used to having the odd glass. Aim for no more than one or two units once or twice a week.
- Women in the healthy weight range for their height find it easier to conceive spontaneously than those who are significantly under or over weight. However, you should avoid sudden weight loss and crash dieting which is harmful for the health of you and your baby.
- Regular exercise can boost fertility, by improving insulin resistance and glucose control. If you don’t like exercise, try something different like a dance class – salsa, belly dancing or perhaps ballroom? Go with a girlfriend if you can’t drag your reluctant partner along!
- If you smoke, do your best to stop or cut right down or ideally, stop. Women who smoke ten or more cigarettes per day are three times more likely to experience difficulty in conceiving than non-smokers.
- Don’t let it get to you. Just enjoy each other for what it’s worth because when you are expecting, it won’t be just the two of you anymore…
- Recognise your stress triggers. We can’t avoid being stressed in our daily lives when there’s the daily commute to content with, deadlines to meet, meals on the run etc even if we are watching what we eat and drink, because we’re trying to get pregnant!
- Writing down the things that make you feel rushed or stressed so you can recognise them is a good start. Then try writing out another list of things that you like doing, like reading a book, having a bubble bath, booking a spot of beauty pampering or going to an exercise class and make time for them in the week. Simply trying NOT TO BE STRESSED is a stress-causer within itself, surely, so it’s probably best to have things to relieve your stress!
- Take regular time out for rest and relaxation, even if it’s just getting up from your desk and making a cup of tea, taking a quick walk a lunch time, or arranging to meet a friend for dinner. Or for those that fancy something a bit more radical, train spotting!!
- Make predictions. Your most fertile time of the month lasts for the six days up to, and including, the day of ovulation. However, the timing of ovulation is highly unpredictable (rather like English weather), even in women whose cycles are regular. Using an ovulation predictor kit can increase your chances of achieving pregnancy and if you don’t know if you are ovulating or when, why leave it another 6 months? Go on – just find out now.
- Is sex uncomfortable sometimes and simply delicious at others? It might be the position of your cervix. The cervix changes position from concave to convex throughout your menstrual cycle; the more concave it is, the more heavenly sex might be and the better chance you have for conception because Hotel Cervix is accepting bookings!! So, make sure that if you’re timing sex to ovulation that it’s nothing short of earth fabulous!
- Cervical fluid. Creamy in colour and stretchy is good as sperm finds it easiest to swim in
And for your partner. Get your partner to:
- Wear loose, cotton, boxer shorts rather than tight pants made from man-made fibres. restricting the testicals could lower sperm count by up to 20 per cent.
- Eat a diet rich in natural antioxidant vitamins C and E – consider taking supplements containing these.
- Zinc and magnesium are great for making and storing good DNA sperm.
- Kick the nicotine habit. Male smokers are only half as fertile as non-smokers. Now if that’s not a deterrent, we’re not sure what is.
- Lower alcohol intake. 40 per cent of male infertility is linked with just a moderate alcohol intake. Fair’s fair: after all, why should he be allowed to neck a bottle of Bordeaux’s finest in front of your very eyes when all you’re allowed to nurse is a cup of decaf?
- Try to avoid cycling and saunas as these hot or mobile conditions may affect what he’s making or storing.