Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

There is much about our modern lifestyles that negatively impacts fertility. Studies have been claiming that stress and obesity can impact fertility negatively, making it that much more difficult for women to get pregnant, however there are many other factors as well:

Environmental factors

Environmental contaminants are all around us – the pesticide we consume along with our food, chemical we are exposed to from cleaning materials, contaminants that leach from plastic into our food, and many others that we are probably not even aware of. There is evidence to show that all these impact the way our hormones do the job they are supposed to.

Occupational factors

The kind of job you do also impacts fertility. It isn’t just working with hazardous chemicals and so on; even working in an office with poor air quality, the impact that computer terminals may have on health should all be taken into account.

Lifestyle factors

Myriad habits and lifestyle factor can mean lower fertility. If either the male of the female smokes, their chances of getting pregnant are significantly lower. Similarly heavy drinkers are seen to have lower overall fertility.

Obese individuals who have sedentary lives and poor diets not only find it more difficult to get pregnant, the prognosis for IVF treatments is poorer and the chances of pregnancy complications are higher as well.

Stress is another factor that we know that makes it difficult for a woman to get pregnant. It is an irony that the more a woman does to try and get pregnant, the more difficult it maybe for her.

Age factor

It is a simple fact that with age, fertility declines, though medical and technological advances mean that women are able to get pregnant later in life than ever before in history.

Genetics

Some traits of infertility such as hormonal imbalances and so on can get passed on from generation to generation so there could be a genetic element to fertility.

Contraceptive history

Hormonal contraceptives will not only prevent a woman from falling pregnant while she is on the pill but also for a while thereafter. Even after coming off the pill, a woman will not be able to get pregnant immediately. It usually takes 3 to 12 months for the body’s fertility to normalize.

Quality of sperm

Last but not least, consider if the problem with getting pregnant owes itself to the quality of sperm – age, disease, substance abuse, medications, lifestyle can negatively impact sperm quality as well.