Baby Making Basics
Are you thinking of bringing a new human into this world?
Not only is this a momumental task emotionally, but also physically. The intricately choreographed dance of hormones that is the a women’s monthly ovulatory/menstrual cycle, means that women theoretically have a chance to conceive approximately every 28 days. And it’s ironic, that many young women spend their teens and twenties obsessing about preventing pregnancy, only to struggle to conceive in the their 30s/40s.
“Back in 2020, we had out lowest ever fertility rate at 1.61 births/women. Last year, the fertility rate crept back up to 1.66, but this is still a significant drop from the birth rates of 2012 which was at 2.2 births/women.”
(Side note - while researching this article, I realised how crap the biological and statistical research around women and pregnancy is, likely a hangover from years of only doing research on men…! I believe this is slowly being addressed).
The reasons for this decline in birth rate are more than just biological. Couples are choosing to either not have children at all, or have fewer for all sorts of reasons, such as economical or climate. In this article, we’ll address just the biological and physiological reasons. Anecdotally, as someone who is around the age where my friends and peers are either having children or trying to - it certainly feels like more people are struggling to conceive that used to. As mentioned above, it’s very hard to find stats to either prove or disprove this. According to IVF, the stats suggest that 3% of births are from IVF (and that doesn’t take into account the failed attempts at pregnancy using IVF) although another stat that I came across was that worldwide 1/8 of women need medical intervention to achieve pregnancy.
Conception Basics
To make a long story short, in order to get pregnant, we need a sperm to fertilise an egg, and then that fertilised egg to embed itself safely into the uterus. Simple right? Well actually, it may be simple but it’s dependant on a complex cascade of events all happening at the right time. So let’s have a quick run through of the nitty gritty... not that sort of nitty gritting... the ovulatory cycle!
As mentioned earlier - theoretically a menstruating women’s body prepares for pregnancy every 28 days. Day 1 of the cycle is marked by the beginning of menstruation or bleeding, which is the shedding of the endometrial lining or soft uterus cushioning, from the previous month. Menstruation generally lasts for 3-7 days. After menstruation finishes, the body starts all over again with building another nutrient rich, cushion in the uterus that will be the potential home for a fertilised egg.
During the first half of the cycle, in one of the ovaries, a single follicle is matured into an egg and then released into the fallopian tubes. This is known as ovulation. The egg then travels along the Fallopian tube towards the uterus (hoping (?) to meet a sperm on the way!). If on it’s journey, it does NOT get fertilised by a sperm, the body signals that pregnancy has NOT occurred and sheds the endometrial lining and the whole cycle begins again! On average, ovulation occurs approximately day 14 but can vary between women.
For men, who are constantly producing sperm, they are technically ready to conceive at anytime of day, night, month or year. A massive factor for the male side of the equation when it comes to fertility is the sperms’ motility - it’s ability to move fast! The tiny sperm needs to travel a MASSIVE distance from the cervix up the entire uterus and into the fallopian tubes - it’s the equivalent of a human travelling up and down the length of NZ 4 times! And they do this in 30-45mins.
Troubleshoot Fertility tip #1 - Ovulation
Females: Know for sure whether you are ovulating or not, and know WHEN ovulation occurs - which will dictate your fertile window. Although in the above example, I’ve given the time frame of ovulation happening about 14 days into the cycle - this is the average timing and can easily vary between women by (at least!) a few days either side of that average. Use temperature tracking, urine ovulatory testing or cervical mucus methods (or a combination) to work out your personal ovulatory rhythm. If you are not currently menstruating, there’s a good chance that you’re not ovulating. There’s also a chance you are not ovulating, even if you are menstruating…. It’s complicated! If you’re unsure at all, work with a holistic practitioner.
Males: Get your sperm motility checked with a test at the doctors, and ensure you’re eating zinc rich foods to optimise sperm health.
Troubleshooting fertility tip #2 - Fertile Window
Once you have worked out what day you generally ovulate on - your fertile window includes the 5 days prior to ovulation, the day of ovulation and (maybe) the day after. Give adequate opportunity for conception….. Yes, that means having sex/intercourse at the right time. To improve the chance of high quality sperm refrain from sex/intercourse/ejaculation in the 7 days prior to your fertile window.
Stress and Fertility
Let’s talk about progesterone - this is a vital hormone for fertility in women and it’s production is dependant on ovulation. Progesterone is the hormone that makes the uterus an inviting home for a potential foetus. It’s produced in high amounts from the ovaries in the second half of the menstrual cycle. The factor that I see impacting ovulation, progesterone and therefore fertility, the most often in my clients, is stress. I know what you’re thinking - “You always go on about stress, Laura!”. BUT THAT IS FOR GOOD REASON.
The way that the body (and the nervous system) ‘perceives’ the world and in particular, danger, was set up when we were hunter gatherers. Our lifestyles now are VERY different to what they were then, but our nervous system and body’s physiology hasn’t changed at all. Our body and nervous system is perceiving our full, busy lives as literally ‘life threatening’ and ‘dangerous’ and resulting in a very dysregulated nervous system. Or maybe that stress isn’t coming from being busy but from physiological stress in the form of unstable blood sugars or microbiome imbalance. Way back when we were hunter gatherers, a mechanism was set up that makes falling pregnancy under ‘stressful’ times more difficult (not impossible!). Generally speaking, a chronically stressed women with a potentially dysregulated nervous system is less likely to ovulate, and even when they do, they might have lower progesterone levels.
Stress for men won’t stop them producing sperm, but it’s likely that the sperms motility is impacted.
Women put a lot of expectation on themselves around fertility, that’s also reinforced by society. Even if you’ve been trying to conceive for a while, the pressure and expectation of getting pregnancy can actually make it harder! Work with a trusted professional or good friend around working towards releasing expectations and being gentle on yourself.
Troubleshooting fertility tip #3 - Progesterone Levels
Bring some practices in to decrease stress and it’s impact on the body in order to increase progesterone levels. Adequate progesterone levels give fertilised eggs the best chance of being embedded safely into the endometrial tissue. There’s no one ‘right’ way to decrease stress in the body - I encourage you to experiment and find the way that works best for you!
Some options to play around with;
Meditation - try by using recordings or an app such as Waking Up, Insight Timer or Calm
Yoga - a restorative yin yoga is going to be best as it’s a full class orientated towards relaxing and reseting the nervous system
Journaling - so many options and ways to journal; structured, unstructured, experiment to find what you like.
Pranayama, breathwork or any type of breathing exercises - ones that will relax and down regulate (not up regulate).
Taking a walk in nature without your phone
Taking a bath without your phone
Nutrients vital for supporting fertility
Let’s dive into some ways both women and men can support their health to optimise their chances of falling pregnant.
Men:
Consuming zinc-rich foods or supplement with zinc. Foods high in zinc include meat, oysters, seafood, beans, nuts. If choosing a supplement - go for 15-25mg of zinc picolinate or (bi)glycinate.
Wearing loose jockeys/underwear and keep your groin-area cool (no saunaing!).
Exercising regularly - strength training in particular can boost and support healthy testosterone levels
Consider using herbs to optimise hormone balance - there are a few options are looking promising in the research; tongkat ali, tribulus and maca (for men).
Women;
Consuming zinc-rich foods or supplement with zinc. Foods high in zinc include meat, oysters, seafood, beans, nuts. If choosing a supplement - go for 15-25mg of zinc picolinate or (bi)glycinate.
Folate, B6 and B12. These b-vitamins are key for healthy ovulation and conception. Food sources include green leafy vegetables, eggs, dairy, and wholegrains.
Vitamin D - aim to get out in the sun with exposed skin, in the middle of the day for 20 mins if you can or use a supplement especially through winter (1000 IU/day is a good place to start for vitamin D dosage).
Iodine and selenium. The Ministry of Health recommends 150 mcg of iodine per day which is recommended through a supplement. Seaweed is a great food source of iodine if you can include some of this daily too. You can hit your daily requirements for selenium with 2 brazil nuts per day.
Ensuring the detoxification pathways are working optimally - love your liver with some cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli (broccoli sprouts), Brussel sprouts, kale and watercress) and minimise coffee, alcohol and processed sugar. Our bowel is a key detoxification pathway too so ensure this is moving daily. (This tip applies to the guys tooo!).
This article contains some behaviour and nutrition practices to get you started on your journey. And sometimes, this journey can be hard work, and stressful. But you don’t have to do it alone. If you’ve been trying for 6 months to a year without achieving a pregnancy to full term, I would recommend getting some professional help and working with a doctor and holistic practitioner.