Are you finding it difficult to become pregnant? If so you can do many simple things to improve your chances of conception, the way we live can have a big effect on the reproductive system of both men and women.

You may both have to change your life-style to incorporate healthy influences, and eliminate things you enjoy that reduce your fertility.

Increasing your fertility outcome is something you can both do for unexplained infertility. You can make sure you and your partner are eating healthily, and eliminate habits that may lower your chances of conceiving.

You can make sure your weight is within the range that is helpful for conceiving.

You can make sure you incorporate a regular gentle exercise programme into your daily life such as walking; cycling or swimming, being fit and active is beneficial for fertility.

Stress

Stress can have a big effect on fertility. Stress hormones affect the hypothalamus and pituitary glands and reproductive organs. In women under stress, the reproductive hormone prolactin is over-produced and this can interfere with ovulation. The hypothalamus stops secreting gonadotrophin hormone, which in turn will affect the release of both the luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. As these hormones stimulate ovulation - fertility is affected.

Self help for stress is regular exercise, deep breathing techniques, hypnotherapy and visualization - we use a combined approach at the Hypnospot clinic for the treatment of infertility:

* Nutrition

* Acupuncture

* Hypnotherapy

Fertility is a whole-body event, not something that happens just in our reproductive organs - that is why we use a holistic approach. There may be a need for more fertility awareness and lifestyle changes to improve the chances of starting the pregnancy, or there may be a need for nutritional supplements, relaxation and de-stressing techniques, acupuncture, and massage.

Alcohol

Alcohol can jeopardize pregnancy. According to some studies, the risk of miscarriage appears to increase with moderate drinking during the first three months of pregnancy, particularly in the first weeks.

Smoking

Women who smoke are more likely to take longer to conceive, they have an increased risk of miscarriage, and lower oestrogen and progesterone levels.

Men who smoke are likely to have decreased sperm density, less motile sperm, reduced testosterone, and an increase in abnormal sperm.

These risks for both men and women increase with the number of cigarettes smoked.

Nutrition

You should not overlook nutrition in fertility treatment