By the time you’re 30, your fertility is already declining and the older you get, the faster it plummets. By the time you hit 40, your chances of conceiving in one month without medical intervention are around 10 percent. Within a couple of years - by the time you’re 42 - fertility does another dramatic dive to around four percent. It can be a shock to discover these statistics if you’ve been focusing on getting your career and home established before starting a family. However, plenty of women do have babies in their 40s and there are steps you can take to enhance your chances of conceiving successfully.

•    Talk to a doctor. If you have been having unprotected sex for four or five months without conceiving, check that there isn’t an underlying condition that is interfering with your ability to conceive, such as fallopian tube damage, endometriosis, ovulation disorders or uterine fibroids. These conditions become more common the older you are. With advice from your specialist, assess the options for more aggressive treatment of infertility.

•    Get your timing right. Conception is most likely to occur during the six days before and during ovulation. If your periods are regular, you might need nothing more than a calendar to work out when you’re ovulating; otherwise, consider buying an ovulation prediction kit from a pharmacist. Have sex at least every alternate day during your fertile period. (Once ovulation has occurred, it’s too late.) And remember that there’s no need to swing your legs up against the wall when it’s all over. Your position during intercourse - and whether you have an orgasm - will make no difference to whether you conceive.

•    Relax. Hard advice to follow, we know, but wishful thinking won’t get you pregnant; in fact, it could just do the opposite. Examining temperature charts and obsessively checking cervical mucus takes a lot of the fun out of sex for both partners. Demanding sex at certain times might mean you don’t get it! Instead of fantasising about sperm fertilising eggs, put your imagination into spotting extra opportunities for having sex for fun.

•    Adopt healthy habits. Steer clear of tobacco, drugs and alcohol; get regular, moderate exercise; stay within a sensible weight range for your age; and maintain a nutritious diet. How much this will affect your chances of conceiving is hard to quantify, but it will certainly lift your chances of having a healthy baby when it does happen.

Go forth and multiply!

Article by Rosemary Hepozden

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.

Please login or register.