Increasing the chances of conceiving naturally

Eighty five percent of couples will conceive naturally in the first year of trying. Another 10% will conceive naturally in the second year. Keeping these facts in mind, one can ask the question – “Is there anything that can be done to increase the chance of conceiving naturally?” The answer is –“Most definitely!”

Over the next few blogs I would like to address the things couples can do to maximize the chances of conceiving when there is no history of or reason to question their potential fertility.

How often should you be having sex?

The chance of getting pregnant increases with the frequency of intercourse and is highest when intercourse occurs every 1 to 2 days. In a study involving 221 presumably fertile couples planning to conceive, the highest rate of conception (37%) was with daily intercourse. Intercourse on alternate days yielded a similar pregnancy rate (33%). However, when the frequency dropped to once weekly, the chances of success decreased to 15% per month.

For a lot of couples, this can be extremely stressful. The stress associated with infertility can reduce sexual esteem, satisfaction, and the frequency of intercourse. This situation can be worse when the timing of intercourse is linked to a method of detecting ovulation or follows a strict schedule. If you have sex every 1 to 2 days, you will naturally have sex during the fertility window, which is the best time to get pregnant. (You can use this online fertility calendar to help identify when this time is most likely to occur for you.)

Sperm counts can be affected by the abstinence interval. Abstinence intervals greater than 5 days may actually lower the sperm count! This is even more so if the abstinence interval is greater than 10 days. Abstinence intervals as short as 2 days do not affect the sperm count. A widely held misperception is that frequent ejaculations decrease male fertility. Even in men with abnormal semen analyses, the sperm count and motility may be highest with daily ejaculation!