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Lifestyle Choices & Natural Cycle IVF

There are many habits of daily life that can promote or decrease fertility. NY Reproductive Wellness recommends the following positive lifestyle choices to increase and preserve fertility, whether or not you are currently undergoing natural cycle IVF:

• Eat healthy foods and talk to your doctor about digestive problems. A daily diet including protein, fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats will improve and maintain health, whether you’re trying to conceive or not. Certain specific digestive diseases, such as untreated celiac disease, can decrease fertility.
• See your physician regularly for checkups. This will help avoid or treat any emerging health issues that could cause infertility.
• Get proper sleep and avoid working at night on an ongoing basis, if you can. Regular night shifts affecting hormone production, which could increase the risk of fertility problems. Always get enough quality sleep, no matter your work schedule and consult a doctor about any sleep problems.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight for your body frame. Both underweight or and overweight conditions can inhibit ovulation. An estimated 12 percent of infertility cases are traced to serious underweight or overweight conditions, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
• Stay safe from STIs (sexually transmitted infection), which can lead to female infertility. Be sure to practice safe sex or maintain a monogamous relationship with a healthy partner.
• Avoid repeated exposure to environmental or workplace toxins, (through breathing or skin contact) because there may be an increased risk of menstruation irregularities or reduced fertility. If you’re regularly exposed to: organic solvents (hair or nail salons and certain everyday housecleaning chemicals), paints, manufacturing chemicals, drugs, nitrous oxide (dentists or hygienists) and more, ask your doctor what steps you can take to protect yourself.
• Minimize stress and learn relaxation techniques to improve general health and the ability to conceive.
• Do not smoke or ask your doctor for recommendations that will help you quit. Smoking can cause fertility problems in men and women.
• Limit alcohol consumption or consider eliminating alcohol.
• Consider cutting your caffeine intake. Scientific evidence is lacking, but lowering your caffeine consumption to a maximum of 300 mg. daily is a harmless life change that could help fertility.
• See a fertility and reproductive endocrinology specialist at a noted New York fertility clinic early on, if you feel you’re having trouble conceiving.

Contacting a Fertility Doctor

If you are concerned about fertility, discuss natural cycle IVF with a NY OB/Gym physician specializing in fertility. Before making major lifestyle changes when trying to get pregnant, always seek the advice of your physician. To learn more about your personal fertility, call on the experts at our practice, New York Reproductive Wellness, located in Jericho, NY. Call (516) 612-8466 for a fertility evaluation appointment today.