Hey guys in this week's video we're looking at how to get pregnant? But don't worry we're not going
to be detailing the birds and the bees but instead we're going to be looking at lifestyle changes
that you might need to make what you should do what you shouldn't do supplementation whether
it's needed or it's not needed when you should be having sexual intercourse looking at cycles and
loads loads more now this is going to be quite a detailed video so if at any point you want any
specific information please feel free to click on that description below it's all chaptered it's all
chatted into different sections find the relevant information that you want click on it and watch
it however as i always say i would recommend you watch the entire video because it's jam-packed
full of information now let's begin okay so let's begin with when you should be having
sexual intercourse the first thing you need to do is you need to start tracking your menstrual
cycle this is super important that you start doing this because there's gonna be different levels of
hormones at different times during the month and at certain points of your menstrual cycle you are
going to be much more fertile so let's say for example you have a 28 day cycle now usually about
12 to 14 days before you start your period is when most women are most fertile because at this point
they're usually ovulating and this is the point where you need to be aiming to have
sexual intercourse now you can track when you're ovulating by marking on a calendar when you last
had your period and when your next one may be due and use it to try and estimate that window
of 12 to 14 days before though please bear in mind that female cycles can range from 21 to 40 days so
this window would need to be adjusted accordingly to vary from person to person to make this easier
there are some really useful apps out there on websites that can help calculate this for you too
now you may also notice a few bodily changes which are important for you to be aware of which can be
a sign of ovulation for example prior to ovulating you will notice that your cervical mucus will get
thinner this is a sign that you're going to be ovulating soon so it's a good thing for you to be
aware of and usually after ovulation your bodily temperature will increase very slightly you can
also use a thermometer to check your temperature every morning and in most women you may be able to
see a very small rise of about 0.2 degrees celsius once ovulation has taken place this would let you
know the ovulation may have passed and that window is over for that current cycle you can also buy
something called an ovulation kit and you can buy these from most chemists and supermarkets
and what this is testing for is a hormone called luteinizing hormone which you call lh for short
within your pee this usually spikes prior to ovulating so it's a really good sign that you're
at your most fertile period and these ovulation kits come in many different forms some of them are
quite inexpensive and they're disposable ones and you get others that are quite expensive that have
touch screens so find the one that works best for you so i really hope this is making sense so far
this is all about timing your sexual intercourse at the period when you're most fertile okay now
please remember that none of these methods are 100 accurate but it's important that using them
all to get the best out of it now moving on to the next tip this is by far the best tip
for trying to conceive and that is to have sexual intercourse you need to make sure that you're not
using any contraceptives and also you need to be aiming to have sexual intercourse at least once
every two to three days this is going to give you the best chance to conceive so not only does
regular sexual intercourse help with conceiving but it's also going to help with sperm production
and motility so it's going to help keep it up long periods of abstinence in men so not having sex
regularly is going to reduce this now other than having sexual intercourse every few days there's
not much else in this department that you can do that's really going to help there's lots of myths
out there but different positions resting after or multiple orgasms haven't been shown to increase
your chances so don't feel pressured to try these just for the sake of conceiving and lastly before
we move on to the next point if you are using a lubricant be aware that certain ingredients
in lubricants can affect the motility of sperm there's gonna be a little box that pops out here
you want to avoid these ingredients have a look on the packaging make sure it's not in there the
best thing you can do is look for it to say sperm friendly for example on the packaging or ttc which
means trying to conceive these are the kind of wordings you need to make sure on the packaging
okay so i really feel like we're starting to get somewhere now we've spoke about ovulation
and having sexual intercourse at the best times when you're most fertile as well as actually
having sexual intercourse and lubricants and all of that which is great but the next thing i want
to talk to you about is supplementation so first of all let's talk about folic acid folic acid
it's highly recommended for anyone who's trying to get pregnant for the lady to take because it's not
going to actually help with conceiving by the way it's not going to make you more fertile but it can
help reduce your risk of health risks to the baby so the next question is what is folic acid folic
acid is a synthetic version of folate which is a type of vitamin b and to be precise it's vitamin
b9 now this vitamin is needed by our bodies to one create dna two to break down and make proteins
and three to make healthy red blood cells now when you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant folic
acid becomes even more important it's critical for the baby's development in particular for their
brain score and spinal cord and it's needed to prevent something called neural tube defects and
even though we get folic acid from various types of food including spinach kale yeast oranges beans
and whole grains it's recommended that pregnant women and those trying for a baby take 400
micrograms of folic acid once daily this should be taken every day whilst you're trying to conceive
during and up to 12 weeks of pregnancy now it's important to remember that certain individuals
will need to take a higher dose of folic acid which is five milligrams once a day this is
prescription only by the way so your healthcare professional will make you aware of this if
it's needed for example certain individuals might include diabetics patients on epilepsy medication
or if you have a family history of neural tube defects i will leave more information about
these as well in the description below if you want to read more about it and conversely folic
acid may not be suitable for everyone either so the best advice i can give everyone before you
start taking any kind of supplement please please please speak to your healthcare professional first
make them aware of it speak to your midwife as well make them aware of it so they can advise you
appropriately that is the most important thing now moving on to my next tip in order to maximize your
chances of conceiving you need to live a healthy lifestyle this is super critical and the things
we're going to talk about is having a healthy diet staying at healthy weight stop drinking
any alcohol when you're trying to conceive and stop smoking now a healthy diet should
consist of a full balanced diet including the right portions of each food group so this means
you want to try and eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day and for this to be a third
of what your meals consist of after this you want your next main group to be starchy foods such as
bread rice and pasta that are great source of energy for your body you also need some dairy
in your diet such as milk cheese and yogurt as a source of calcium protein and vitamins
and your last food group is fat we need it in our diet as it contains fatty acids and also helps our
body absorb certain fat soluble vitamins but you should only have it in very very small amounts
it's also important for both parents to try and eat healthy while trying for a baby
so that the father also has higher quality semen which will increase the chances of conception
and so that the mother has all the right nutrients for the baby's development when it's conceived i
do also have a video all about healthy balanced diets in much more detail i will leave a link up
at the top and in the description below now on top of a healthy diet both parents need to stay
a healthy weight this is especially important for the mother as well because if you are
underweight it can reduce the amount of estrogen that we produce which is super important for our
cycles and our menstrual cycle a lack of estrogen can sometimes stop our periods
and also stop ovulation and because of this it's crucial to try and stay to a bmi between 19 to 25
now don't worry if you're not speak to your healthcare professional who will be able to
guide and advise you to a healthier way for more information on how to do this safely as well i do
have a few videos on it as well which i'll leave in the top and in the description below again now
it's not just being underweight that can cause infertility actually being overweight as well
so having a bmi of above 25 can also make it more difficult to get pregnant the reason being is that
when you have more fat cells we tend to produce more estrogen while women produce more estrogen
and this estrogen sometimes tricks the body into thinking when it's either pregnant or it makes
your body think that you're taking a contraceptive pill so it stops the ovulation sometimes and it
also then causes irregular periods sometimes as well and the last thing that you can do
to improve your chances of conceiving is for both parents to cut down on smoking and alcohol
cigarettes excessive alcohol and some recreational drug use have all been shown to decrease both male
and female fertility meaning it could take you longer to try and get pregnant for example
some studies have shown that infertility which is classed as taking more than 12 months to conceive
is experienced at double the rate in smokers than in non-smokers so while you're trying for a baby
try and cut down on smoking if you can and reduce your alcohol intake to just one or
two units a week at max stopping both entirely if you're able to do so is the best thing for
increasing your chances i do have a few videos on this topic already on how to quit smoking and how
to reduce your alcohol intake i will leave links to them on the top and in the description below
now by following all of these tips that we've gone through it's been shown that most couples about 84
of them conceive within a year however everyone is different some people it might take longer some
people it might take less time and it's normal for it to take a long time for some couples as there
are several factors that contribute including age general health lifestyle factors how often
you have sexual intercourse and any underlying health conditions of both parents in fact it's
believed that as many as one in seven couples are affected by fertility issues here in the uk and
if you feel that this may apply to you and you've been struggling to conceive for more than a year
please do speak to your health care professional who'll be able to help you identify any problems
and explore options for improving your chances and when trying to conceive it's important to remember
that there's a few instances that you should speak to your health care professional before doing so
so for example if you have any long-term health conditions like diabetes if you're taking any
medication as these will need to be reviewed and potentially changed or checked to make
sure they're safe to take while trying to conceive and also if you have any hereditary diseases for
example sickle cell anemia or if you're over the age of 36 all of these you should definitely speak
to your health care professional before conceiving so that's it for this week's video i hope you
found this information helpful trying to conceive can be an amazing and exciting time for couples
so i really hope you and wish you the best i hope all this information was helpful for you
i know it can be difficult sometimes if you're ever struggling speak to your healthcare
professional that's the most important thing to take home and also thank you for watching if you
have any of your own tips as well please do leave some comments below i'd love to read it as well
i'm sure other people watching it would love to read it too as i always say always remember you're
awesome and i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure
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