If you have recently decided to try for a baby you may be wondering if there are any tips and tricks that can speed up the process, without resorting to supplements or fertility treatments. The good news is that there are some helpful hints to bear in mind when having intercourse to get pregnant.
Positions matter! The key is to give gravity a helping hand and make sure your partner's sperm is as close to your cervix as possible. Good ways to help the sperm swim up your fallopian tubes is to lift your legs in the air immediately after intercourse; lean them against the wall for a few minutes if you find it difficult to hold them in that position yourself. You could also try lying on your side with your knees drawn up tightly against your chest. Placing a pillow underneath your hips while lying in the missionary position on your back is another good way to get the sperm where you want it to go!
When it comes to intercourse itself, the missionary position is a good one to go for, as your partner is able to penetrate deeply into your cervix. Another good baby-making position is thought to be the man penetrating the woman from behind, when she is on all fours. The female orgasm is thought to be important when it comes to making a baby, because the muscles contract during an orgasm and draw more sperm deep into the cervix. Another common tip for increasing your chances of getting pregnant naturally is performing pelvic floor exercises after intercourse; again, this is down to muscle contraction and keeping that sperm where it needs to be!
As well as things you should do when having intercourse to get pregnant, there are some things you should avoid doing. Be careful to maintain a good diet when you are trying to conceive. Avoid eating certain foods that are considered potentially harmful to the baby. Foods that you should avoid at this time are raw or undercooked meat, poultry and eggs (including homemade food made with raw eggs); liver and liver products containing high levels of vitamin A; soft, ripe cheese such as Brie; blue vein cheese such as Stilton; and soft cheese made from unpasteurized sheep or goat's milk.
In addition, caffeine and alcohol should be kept to a minimum, and you should quit smoking straight away. A study in the United States found that drinking three cups of coffee per day could reduce the chance of getting pregnant by 27%, compared to a woman who drinks no coffee. It is believed that as little as five units of alcohol per week can also have a huge impact on your likelihood of conception. It is best to avoid alcohol completely when you are trying to conceive, and then follow the advice of your doctor in relation to alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Good news for the women is that men should pay attention to their drinking habits too; it has been established that alcohol can affect sperm production and motility, and drinking three to four units of alcohol per day can lower testosterone in the short term and shrivel the testicles in the long term. There are direct links between smoking and infertility. Again, male fertility is just as much of an issue as female fertility. Male smokers are thought to produce fewer sperm when they ejaculate, and smokers of both sexes are more likely to produce children with genetic defects.
You may have read that you can use intercourse to determine whether you will have a boy or a girl. While this sounds like fun, there is no scientific proof that it works. However, you may want to give it a go anyway! The most common myth is that if you have intercourse standing up, you will produce a boy. However, some studies have shown that the foods you eat when you are trying to conceive can affect whether you have a boy or a girl. It is possible that a diet rich in potassium and sodium-such as bananas, spicy foods and red meat-will be more likely to result in the conception of a baby boy. A diet high in calcium and magnesium, on the other hand, may be more likely to produce a girl. The consensus from health professionals, however, is that there is not enough evidence to back these claims up and your focus when trying to get pregnant should be on a well-balanced, nutritious diet.
