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Pregnancy

01st Jul 2018

5 surprising lifestyle factors that could be affecting your fertility

Are you paying attention to these?

Trine Jensen-Burke

If you are on the baby trail and tracking periods and ovulation and fertile days like there is no tomorrow, you might be interested to know that as well as viable eggs and super-swimmer sperm, there are also some other factors that, in fact, can influence how quickly you get pregnant.

Yes, your cycle and age are both very important factors explains doctor and women’s health expert Jennifer Wider to Glamour magazine, but if you are really trying to optimize your chances of this happening sooner rather than later, know that these five seemingly innocent things can also make an impact:

1. His TV habit

What? This one is weird, but true: According to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, men who watch five hours of TV or more per day have a lower sperm count than guys who don’t watch TV at all.

2. Your stress levels

We all know stress is not exactly good for us, but just how bad it is when it comes to trying for a baby might surprise you: A study in the Annals of Epidemiology found that women who reported above-average stress levels were 45 percent less likely to conceive.

3. His love of steaming hot baths

The sperm count of men in a study in the Brazilian Society of Urology journal increased after they avoided hot baths and jacuzzis for three to six months. Cold showers it is, then.

4. His surfing habit

If your man loves nothing more than to surf the internet and chill out with Netflix on the sofa, be aware that by putting the computer on his lap, he can disrupt – and even damage – what is lurking underneath.

A Fertility and Sterility study examined sperm samples placed underneath laptops, and 25 percent of the sperm stopped swimming, while only 14 percent of sperm placed safely away from laptops did.

5. The cleaning chemicals in your house

If trying for a baby is on your mind, you might want to take a look at what you use to clean your house with. Why? Because according to one study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, pesticides, pollutants, and other chemicals can decrease your chances of getting pregnant by up to 29 percent.

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