If you want a baby and it’s not happening

If you want a baby and have been trying for a year or more to get pregnant then some friendly advice might be helpful. Fertility is helped by good emotional and physical wellbeing and there are many ways to improve your chances.

If you have been trying for a baby for more than a year, are fit and healthy then some helpful advice and guidance might make all the difference.  As, despite everything you were told as a teenager, getting pregnant naturally is hit and miss affair and lots of things have to happen at the same time.

Here are six common reasons why women find it hard to get pregnant:

• Ovaries may not be releasing eggs (ovulating) regularly: this affects one third of women and it is a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) caused by hormone imbalance.
• Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes: this affects about 15 in 100 women who haven’t been able to get pregnant.
• Endometriosis affects about 5 in 100 women who can’t get pregnant. This is when cells from the lining of the womb (the endometrium) start growing outside the womb, sometimes around the ovaries or fallopian tubes. It can cause severe period pains.
• Age: a woman’s fertility starts decreasing from the age of 35 and more quickly for those over 40.
• Early menopause: this when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. It happens to all women, normally between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.
• Fibroids: large non-cancerous growths called fibroids may stop a fertilised egg from growing in the womb.

Common male factor reasons:

Men also have fertility problems, and the issue could be male factor, female factor or a combination of the two.

Most men with fertility problems have one or all of these problems:

• Too few sperm (low sperm count) or no sperm
• Abnormally shaped sperm, which are unable to move normally or fertilise an egg.
• Sperm that don’t swim well.

That’s a lot that can go wrong!

Want a baby – here is the good news

The good news is that you can boost your chances of natural conception (and successful treatment if required) through improving your nutrition, maintaining a healthy BMI and lifestyle changes … and we can give you advice on this. Our Nutritional Therapist, Angela Attwood provides a free short consultation.

We offer a consultation with a fertility nurse specialist and more information about our Fertility Health + Wellbeing Tests is available here.

If the tests show that any of the above reasons apply to you many of these problems can be treated by lifestyle changes, medication or surgery, to restore your fertility – we can tell you about this too.

If nutritional supplements are recommended it is advised that these are obtained through reputable sources.

Bourn Hall has partnered with Fertility Family to offer Impryl, a balance of micronutrients for men or women and also Inofolic Alpha, which provides a source of inositol, which may relieve the symptoms of PCOS.

Lastly, if you do need assisted conception such as OI, IUI or IVF then you will be talking to the experts – Bourn Hall was the world’s first IVF clinic.

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