A woman's chances of getting pregnant may be increased or reduced by a number of factors. Maintaining good health and making wise lifestyle choices can improve the likelihood of having a baby. Allowing infections to go untreated and attempting to conceive with a man who has fertility issues can make conception difficult, if not impossible.
Many people think that the more you have sex the better your chances of conception. To some extent this may be true because you are more likely to have sex at the right time. Timing is more important than frequency because getting pregnant involves fertilizing an egg. The point during which a fertile egg is available for this to happen is known as ovulation, which occurs at a specific time during the month. Since it is important to have intercourse during or near the time of ovulation, it is often beneficial to use fertility tests.
There are a number of lifestyle factors that can decrease a woman's chance of conceiving. For example, if either partner smokes, it may be more difficult for a woman to get pregnant. The use of recreational drugs can also have a negative impact. Nutrition plays an important role in improving a woman's chances of having a baby. Women who are malnourished have more difficulty getting pregnant than those maintain a healthy diet.
Your medical history can affect your chances of getting pregnant. If you contracted certain sexually transmitted diseases in the past or are currently infected, it may be difficult for you to conceive. This problem also arises from damage caused by infections that are not treated promptly enough and by procedures, such as abortions, which may have caused trauma to your organs. Birth control may also reduce your chances of conception for a while. Although you may have stopped your course of treatment when you decided to conceive, it is possible that the effects may linger.
Age commonly impacts fertility. Once you reach 35, your chances of conception begin to drop. The older you get, the more your chances of getting pregnant tend to decrease. Your genetics may also have an effect on your efforts. Women whose mothers and grandmothers were highly fertile may become pregnant much easier and more often than women whose predecessors had difficulty conceiving.
When women are trying to get pregnant but are unsuccessful, they often begin to speculate that there is something wrong with them or something they are not doing right. If this sounds like you, it is important to remember that your partner also affects your chances of getting pregnant. Women are not the only ones to have fertility problems. Some men cannot produce children and others can only do so with a great deal of difficulty.