It can be a stressful and anxious time when your trying to get pregnant and nothing is happening. It’s good advice to understand how the menstrual cycle works, how to boost your fertility, what to avoid and what to include.
Acupuncture is one of the treatments that can help when trying to get pregnant from regulating your cycle to enabling you to get a good nights sleep. All are crucial to fertility and ultimately a healthy pregnancy.
- On average a woman’s cycle is between 26-34 days long. This is the time in between bleeds.
- Day 1 is the first day of your bleed and this lasts from 3 to 5 days.
- Once the bleed is over we then enter the follicular phase where the uterus prepares for the egg.
- By approximately day 14 we reach ovulation phase when the egg is ready to be fertilised.
- If the egg doesn’t become fertilised then the we go to the literal phase in preparation to release the egg and the next bleed.
- The cycle begins again.
To ensure your body is at its optimum level to get pregnant there are a few things you can do to help.
- Maintain a healthy weight – being over or under weight can have a negative effect on your fertility.
- Eat a healthy diet – cut out processed foods, sugars, preservatives
- Avoid any stimulants ie caffeine as this has been linked to infertility.
- No smoking or recreational drugs
- Exercise regularly but not too excess or too hot. Avoid exercise if ill or exhausted and give yourself plenty of time to recuperate.
- Avoid overworking, stress and burnout, all of this will have a detrimental effect on fertility and health.
- Ensure a good nights sleep – by not eating late at night, switching off all tv, laptops, phones etc a hour before sleep, getting to bed at a reasonable hour, aiming to get 8 hours sleep.
- Take folic acid and possibly a multivitamin
- Avoid phthalates and BPA products – swap to ceramic, or glass containers.
- Ensure you have a healthy gut function – spea
k to a nutritionalist. - Ensure healthy sperm production by avoiding heat around testicular region, no tight pants, cycling or storing mobile phone in pockets, avoid putting laptop on lap and eating a diet rich in healthy fats and protein.
When is the best time to try to get pregnant?
- To get pregnant the sperm must meet the egg during the ovulation phase.
- This window of opportunity can be from day 1
0 all the way to day 16. - However, it is important to have sex on a regular basis so that the body accepts the sperm and sperm production is maintained.
Questions?
Is it ok to pee after sex?
YES -During vaginal intercourse, ejaculate is released into the vaginal canal if the semen has entered the vagina, then there’s no going back.
Does putting my legs up after sex help?
There is no proof that this will make any difference at all although laying down after sex foe 10-15mins may help .
How do I know if I am ovulating?
Ovulation occurs around day 14 but can happen before or after. During this time you will notice that your cervical mucus is thicker and more noticeable. Ovulation predictor kits are available to use.
Whats the best time of day to try and conceive?
New research from University Hospital Zurich suggests that sex before 7.30am throughout March, April and May have the best outcomes.The Swiss scientists claim that sperm have their own 24-hour internal clock and are best equipped to travel to the egg early in the morning.
They also suggest that sperm is healthiest – with the best morphology (size and shape) – during the three months of spring.
Acupuncture could help with..
- regulating periods
- relaxing, easing stress, reducing anxiety
- a good nights sleep
- warming the uterus
- increasing blood flow to reproductive organs
- boosting immune system
- unblocking energy
- regulating ovulation
- quality of eggs
- quality of sperm
- regulating hormone levels