How To Get Pregnant In Your 30s

Getting Pregnant In Your Late 30s

“Getting pregnant in your 30s and 40s” – Tips to Grow By (WKYC)

Are baby plans on the horizon? Making that choice is a big first step towards your goal, so well done on deciding! As a woman in your late 30s, you might hear concerns around how tough it can be to get pregnant. The good news is a growing number of women are having their babies later in life these days. With the right medical attention and some lifestyle tweaks, it is possible to have a normal, healthy pregnancy at this stage too.

Here are some tried and tested tips to help you with getting pregnant in your late 30s.

Visit Your Doctor

Kick-off your journey on the right note by meeting with your gynaecologist first. They will do a thorough review of your medical history and check if there are any conditions you have that might interfere with your attempts to get pregnant. In case youve had a history of pelvic disease, sexual dysfunction, or surgery, or have absent periods, your doctor may suggest fertility investigations right away

Explore Supplements To Boost Your Chances

Folic acid, melatonin, and Myo-inositol are some supplements that could help with ovarian function and improving egg quality to improve your chances of a successful pregnancy . Ask your doctor to recommend the right ones.

Watch Your Weight

being overweight may hamper your fertility. Equally, being too thin may also be a problem. Try and get your weight into the healthy normal BMI range . Even knocking off a few kilos could help, even if you cant get to your ideal weight.

Cut Caffeine Intake

Stay Hydrated

Advantages Of Getting Pregnant In Your 30s

Though it’s easier biologically to have a baby in your 20s, there are plenty of upsides to having your first baby or growing your family in your 30s. You likely have your own personal reasons for why you want to get pregnant now, but here are some potential benefits:

  • You may have a higher income and more financial security because you’ve had more time to establish your career.
  • Studies have found that women who became first-time moms at or after age 33 have greater odds of living to age 95 .
  • Studies have also found children of older mothers had fewer behavioral, social, and emotional problems than kids of younger mothers, and these moms resorted less to verbal or physical punishment for their kids.

How Do I Improve My Chances Of Becoming Pregnant

If you are female, you will have a better chance of getting pregnant if you understand your menstrual cycle. The average cycle is 28 days, but it can vary for different people.

If your cycle is regular, you will probably ovulate 2 weeks before the start of your next period. So, you can work out the best time for sexual intercourse to result in pregnancy.

If you are male, talk with your partner about their menstrual cycle.

Both you and your partner should be as healthy as you can be. Apart from anything else, this really will help your chances of getting pregnant. You can both:

  • eat a healthy diet
  • if you smoke, stop smoking and avoid passive smoking when possible

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Thinking About Having A Baby In Your Late 30s Or 40s Heres What I Tell My Patients

An ob-gyn talks age, fertility, and having healthy pregnancies later in life.

My patient Kendra knows what she wants: To get pregnant again.

At 46, she is already a mom to four children, two of them grown. Last year she got pregnant with twins on her own. Tragically, she lost them in the 18th week of pregnancy.

Youd think that might be it for Kendraand yet she tells me, I cant shake this feeling. I really want to have another baby.

It used to be a big deal for a woman to have her third or fourth child at 35. Now more women are having babies in their late 30s and even 40s. Today, women may want a few more life experiences under their belts before they start a family. Some women may take longer to find their life partneras was the case for me.

That means Im seeing more and more Kendras in my practice, where I treat women with high-risk pregnancies. But having a baby later in life still can be a challenge. Heres what I tell my patients about how to approach having a baby in your late 30s and beyond.

How Can I Get Pregnant Naturally After 35 And Over 40

The Truth About Being Pregnant In Your 30

If youre trying to get pregnant after you turn 35, or older, you can maximise your chances of conception by knowing when you ovulate, which is when your ovaries release an egg. One reason why many couples struggle to get pregnant is that 1 in 2 couples may be trying to conceive at the wrong time of the month4. There are only a few days each menstrual cycle when you can get pregnant and your fertile days can vary between cycles. If you know when your fertile days are, it can help you get pregnant faster. detect the surge of a hormone called luteinising hormone which occurs 24 to 36 hours before ovulation and identifies your 2 most fertile days. Since can survive for up to 5 days, your fertility window is actually around 6 days, so you may want to invest in a test that also detects a rise in estrogen. This rise in estrogen happens in the days leading up to your LH surge, so identifying these days gives you a wider fertility window giving you more opportunities to get pregnant.

Professor William Ledger, Fertility Specialist

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How Long Should You Try Before Getting Help

“Infertility is defined as the inability for a couple to conceive after having unprotected sex for a year,” says Professor Harper.

“Seeking advice between nine months and a year is probably advisable”

She recommends trying for a year naturally before seeking medical help between 30 and 35. If you’re in your later thirties, then getting your hormones and your partner’s sperm count for potential issues checked by a doctor after more like six months is a good idea.

“In women under 40, more than eight out of ten couples will conceive within one year,” says Cannon.”But it is important to take action more quickly in your late 30s seek medical guidance after three months of trying but understand that it might be perfectly normal to take this long and you may well be sent away.”

How Lifestyle Impacts Fertility

No surprise here: Lifestyle has an impact on just about every part of health and wellbeingincluding fertility. Luckily, there are a variety of lifestyle habits you can implement to protect your egg quality, reproductive organs, and hormone health. In turn, all of these things support optimal fertility!

Prioritizing quality sleep, balancing blood sugar, and incorporating moderate exercise have all been shown to increase fertility. Thanks to the power of a balanced, well-nourished lifestyle, you can slow your internal clock. In fact, its possible that reproductive health has less to do with chronological age and more to do with biological age. At any rate, nows the time to incorporate natural ways to boost your fertility in your 30s.

Image by Michelle Nash

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Getting Pregnant In Your 30’s

There are many reasons women are waiting until they are older to get pregnant. College typically will take you into your early 20’s if you stop after you get your undergraduate degree. After college, there’s the workforce. Many women have active, successful careers, and a husband they want to spend time with before they add a child to the mix.

Before they know it, they are in their 30’s and now ready for a baby. There is a plus of waiting until you are over 30 to get pregnant. Being older also typically makes us wiser. Maturity and wisdom accumulate in the extra time before trying to get pregnant when you are in your 30’s.

You are more able to cope with the inevitable curveballs that being a parent always throws at you. If you’re in your 30s and trying to get pregnant, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind.

How To Boost Fertility Naturally

Miscarriage,Healing & Getting Pregnant in your 30s: Jaimee Arroyo,Hopewell Family Care-TeaTalk Ep31

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Turns out, it can boost fertility, tooparticularly if you have underlying fertility issues. Studies have found that women with polycystic ovary syndrome ovulated more when they consumed the majority of their calories at breakfast. So, if you have fertility issues, a bigger breakfast could improve your chances of getting pregnant. Just remember to cut the calories elsewhere to avoid unnecessary weight gain, which could be a hindrance.

If youre on the hunt for breakfast recipes to boost fertility, you can find a list of ingredients to include below.

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Trying To Conceive In Your 30s

Our very own Medical Director, Dr Devashana Gupta, was featured in Verve magazine , sharing information for those in their 30s who may be wanting to start a family, with some tips about where to start. Read the article below.

For those in their 30s, knowing the facts on where you stand on your fertility journey will help you make decisions. Repromed Medical Director, Dr Devashana Gupta, shares information for those who may be wanting to start a family, with some tips about where to start.

It helps to understand some biological facts about eggs. You are born with your lifetime supply of eggs, around one to two million at birth. There are a fixed number of eggs and therefore a limited fertile period, when conception is possible. Each month, about a dozen eggs begin to grow, but only one or two of them reach full maturity and are released during ovulation.

For most people who lead a normal healthy lifestyle, this process continues like clockwork until the majority of eggs have almost depleted, which then kick starts the menopausal phase.

Because of this attrition process, it does become harder to get pregnant naturally from mid 30s. Fertility declines as we age because older eggs are more susceptible to errors in the egg maturation process, resulting in a higher chance of either miscarriage, or abnormalities. The good news is that it does just take just one ovulated normal egg to make a healthy baby.

Want To Get Pregnant Here’s Some Things To Think About

Your BMI

Is a big one. Effectively, the rules for maintaining your general health apply to prepping your body to conceive. “You want to have a normal BMI not too low and not too high,” says Professor Harper.

Booze

“Too much alcohol affects fertility, so cut right back to no more than a couple of units a week, if you want to try for a baby,” Professor Harper says.

Smoking

Smoking has a negative impact on fertility compared to non-smokers who have unprotected sex every two to three days, smokers have their chances of conception cut in half, according to pregnancy charity Tommy’s.

Coffee

“You don’t want to be putting your body into a constant state of stimulation,” says Professor Harper. With coffee, try not try not to drink more than one or two cups per day and be cautious of turbo-charged versions with three shots of espresso.

Supplements

There are certain vitamins that are helpful, when it comes to prepping your body to conceive. Correct levels of vitamin D, for example, were shown in a review of existing studies to increase a woman’s chances of conceiving, versus women with low levels. “Spend time outside to increase your vitamin D levels,” says Cannon. “Or you could take a supplement.”

Also worth looking at: a good multi vitamin and folic acid the latter can help to protect a foetus from birth defects, so good to get ahead.

“Spend time outside to increase your vitamin D levels”

Thyroid function

Exercise

Sleep

Also Check: When Can You Start Having Pregnancy Symptoms

When Should You Ask For Help

You should see a doctor if youre a female, over 35 years, and have been trying to get pregnant for over 6 months.

People under 35 years, should have regular unprotected sexual intercourse for 12 months. If you dont get pregnant in that time you should see your doctor.

However, if you have endometriosis or another condition that affects your fertility, you can visit your doctor sooner.

Guide To Getting Pregnant In Your Late 30s And Early 40s

Age and fertility: Getting pregnant in your 30s

Are you wanting to grow your family, but worried about getting pregnant due to your age? In this article, OBGYN Dr. Gleaton tells you what you need to know about pregnancy, fertility, and age.

By OBGYN and fertility expert Dr. Kenosha Gleaton

With increased knowledge and advancements in medicine and fertility, more and more women are choosing to have children later in life. The National Center for Health Statistics stated the average age of first birth in the US rose from 24.9 years in 2000 to 26.3 years in 2014. This also varies by county for example, from 2007-2017, the mean age of mothers at first birth rose by 1.3 years in rural areas, 1.5 in small to medium-metro areas, and 1.8 in larger metropolitan areas.

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Why We Hate The Term Geriatric Pregnancy

Geriatric immediately makes many of us think old, when that isnt the case at all. In the past, any pregnancy over age 35 was deemed geriatric by the medical community, but we know that getting pregnant in your mid to late 30s doesnt have to be a cause for concern. We now use the term advanced maternal age to classify women who are TTC past their mid 30s, and its simply a way to classify that, statistically speaking, there could be a higher risk associated with your pregnancy.

Rest assured that you can have a normal, healthy pregnancy in your 30s or 40s, especially if youre seeing an OBGYN regularly and taking your prenatal vitamins.

Other Facts Related To Pregnancy In The 30s

Other than the factors mentioned above, here are some facts regarding getting pregnant in the 30s that you must know. These may or may not help you get pregnant after age 30, but it is always good to be informed.

  • Sexual Positions Dont Affect Your Chances of Conception

Its true! You may think that a certain sexual position may help you get pregnant faster, but thats not true. No study can confirm that a particular position is better than the other in achieving pregnancy.

  • Men Play an Important Part Too

The age of the father also affects the time it takes to conceive. About 15% of men beyond 35 fail to impregnate their wives after a year of trying. But leading a healthy lifestyle can help a couple get pregnant faster.

  • Miscarriages Are More Common Than You Think

Around 30% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Unfortunately, due to the taboo associated with it, very few people talk about it openly.

Dont fret if you are not ready to have a child in your 20s. Remember, medical science has advanced tremendously, and most women are giving birth to happy, healthy babies in their 30s and even mid-forties. If you take care of your health, eat right and exercise regularly, you can have a happy pregnancy and a healthy baby even in your 30s.

References and Resources

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Pregnancy Over Age 35 And Related Risks

A number of different problems characterize the ability to achieve pregnancy over 35. There is a noticeable decline in the fertility rate starting at age 35 to a level of about 10% per month. A woman seeking pregnancy over 35 should consult a fertility specialist after only 6 months of actively attempting to become pregnant. The pregnancy risk over 35 is higher as well as evidenced an increase in the miscarriage rate and the incidence of genetic abnormality in pregnancy. At 35, the miscarriage rate is 25% and the risk of Down syndrome becomes about 1/350. 35 is the age at which genetic testing in pregnancy is first recommended since the chance of picking up an abnormality is greater than the risk of the procedure used to find it.

How To Prevent And Manage Dvt While Pregnant

Getting Pregnant over 30

To help prevent blood clots during pregnancy, first be aware of the risk factors. Know whether you have a family history of blood clots or blood clotting disorders. And watch for any symptoms. To reduce your risks, also:

  • Avoid sitting still. If you have surgery or have been on bed rest, start slowly. But move around gently as soon as you can. Avoid crossing your legs, which hinders blood flow. When you travel long distances, stop often and walk around. If youâre on a plane, stand up and walk up and down the aisle occasionally. While sitting, exercise your legs. Raise and lower your toes while your heels stay on the floor. Then raise your heels, keeping your toes down.
  • Try raising and lowering your heels while keeping your toes on the floor, then raising your toes with your heels are on the floor.
  • Make lifestyle changes. Quit smoking. Follow your doctor’s advice on what and how much you should eat to avoid gaining too much weight. Get as much exercise as your doctor recommends.
  • Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water.

If you have DVT, your doctor can help you manage it with a medicine that thins your blood. The main treatment for pregnant women is low molecular weight heparin, which you get as a shot. Your doctor will usually prescribe it to you for at least 3 months and until 6 weeks after you deliver. It wonât affect your placenta or breast milk.

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