About one in four couples is affected by infertility problems. A rather common situation therefore, but which sometimes becomes burdensome for those who want to give life. Europe 1 looks at the desire to design in Well done for you, in order to understand how to boost your fertility and become parents. On the antenna of Europe 1, Professor François Olivennes, obstetrician gynecologist specialist in PMA and Claire Schneider, editor-in-chief of the magazine magicmomshare their tips for conceiving.
Go to a pre-conception visit
“You should know that the woman is fertile one day a month. So, if you have sex once a week, you only have a chance in seven of falling on the right day, explains Pr. François Olivennes on Europe 1 antenna. Hence the need to have regular sexual intercourse, “every two or three days” or else “use small ovulation tests from pharmacies which are very effective”. sex isn’t the only thing to consider when having a child.
“A pregnancy, it takes preparation”, underlines Claire Schneider. Not only during, but also before. For this, there are pre-conception visits, little known but very important, to be done “even before the start of the ‘baby’ trials”. This visit is a complete check-up: “to see if we are up to date with vaccines, to have advice on lifestyle, to see the family history”, lists the specialist. A visit that Professor François Olivennes also considers “very important”, to start the adventure of pregnancy in the best conditions. The visit can, of course, be done as a couple.
Freezing Your Eggs to Preserve Fertility
To maintain fertility, several methods can be used. Recently, French law has been changed and it is no longer mandatory to go abroad to freeze your eggs. “This convenience or societal freezing, even if you are not sick, is authorized”, confirms the professor on Europe 1. For François Olivennes, it is something to do before his 35th birthday. “It’s the limit, beyond 35 years, the conservations still work much less well.” It is enough to “take a consultation in a center and see how her ovaries are and possibly do this freezing”, explains the professor.
This limit of 35 years, although variable from one woman to another, is also a key figure for PMA and natural pregnancies. From this age, the results are weaker and the percentages of success continue to dwindle. Hence the importance of thinking about preserving your fertility upstream, even if you are not yet ready to start a family.
Tobacco, stress, medical treatments… The harmful influence of external factors
Prof. François Olivennes notes that fertility is not only a question of the reproductive organs, but is also influenced by external factors. “It may depend on psychology, it may depend on environmental factors.” There are medical treatments that can influence fertility, alcohol or of course tobacco which “destroys the ovaries”, quotes the gynecologist. “Women who smoke are more menopausal than women who don’t smoke.”
“In general, I think that to boost your chances, you have to have a healthy lifestyle, summarizes Claire Schneider. “Food, physical activity, stress, sleep: today, really, we try to see it as a whole “Being overweight or being too thin affects the quality of spermatozoa or reduces the chances of women undergoing PMA, for example. “Pro-fertility” diets even exist, specifies the gynecologist on the antenna of Europe 1.
In addition, there is also a whole offer that is developing around complementary therapies to take care of yourself with a view to conceiving: yoga, osteopathy, acupuncture… “It would be a shame to deprive yourself of it”, adds Claire Schneider. Professor François Olivennes concludes by emphasizing the importance of believing in yourself. He takes the example of one of his 40-year-old patients, who wanted to have a child. “She had little chance on paper, but there was no impossibility”. Shortly after the consultation, this same woman became pregnant, “because it was at the right time, but also I think because I told her it was possible”.