Chances designing more than 40 years

Chances designing more than 40 years

If you try to get pregnant and fear that menopause can affect your chances of conceiving, try not to worry too much. Although fertility declines naturally after age 35, women over 40 are one of the most common age groups who get pregnant accidentally. In fact, it is not uncommon for women as old as 50 to get pregnant naturally! In your 40 years, your periods start to become very irregular as your body prepares for menopause (last period). But you do not become completely sterile until you have not had a period of at least one full year. So as long as you take care of your body and your fertility, you might be able to conceive, even without the help of assisted reproductive technology.

Pregnancy during perimenopause

You are probably aware that women are born with all the eggs they will ever need, and that supply of eggs decreases drastically when she approaches the age of 40. Once this supply is exhausted, the woman is said to undergo menopause. However, exciting new research shows that women can continue to produce eggs after birth. This study can be found in the journal Nature, suggests that the ovaries may have a hidden reserve of eggs. If further research can confirm this finding, it could be the most important finding in reproductive medicine since the development of in vitro fertilization.

A similar discovery in the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine offers hope to older women trying to conceive. Eighty-six women who were going through premature ovarian failure or early menopause participated in an egg donation program at the institute. During the program, seven participants were able to ovulate successfully and three gave birth to healthy babies. The researchers suggest that it is possible for the ovary to find some functions naturally or with the help of drugs, as long as the ovaries were not damaged by chromosomal abnormalities or radiotherapy. So if these two conditions are not a problem, you still have a good chance of getting pregnant after 40 years. How to increase your chances of conceiving when you're 40

Just because your chances of getting pregnant naturally at 40 are good, it does not mean you should let fate take its course. 

There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

* Do not wait to get infertility testing and treatment. Your biological clock is ticking and you can not afford to waste a year or more trying to conceive regardless of the obstacles to your fertility. Visit a reproductive endocrinologist and get fertility tests. You may need to take a test of ovarian reserve, which will tell you how many eggs you have left in your ovaries. Based on the test results, your reproductive endocrinologist may recommend treatments that will help you get pregnantfaster. Some of these treatments may include assisted reproductive technologies, egg donation, or fertility drugs.

* Eat to boost your fertility. Studies show that processed foods, trans fat and refined sugar are detrimental to fertility. Avoid foods and eating more fruits, vegetables, rich in milk fat, and other nutrient-rich foods.

* Stop smoking and drinking to design optimal health. The chemicals in cigarette smoke and excessive alcohol consumption can affect your ovarian function. You must stop smoking if you are trying to conceive or going through IVF. Although some people are trying to conceive think the occasional cocktail is safe, your chances will improve if you give drinking altogether.

* Take a prenatal vitamin with folic acid. Folic acid is a B vitamin that reduces the risk of serious birth defects associated with a deficiency in this vitamin. The FDA recommends that any woman trying to conceive should take care of folic acid, especially if it is approaching menopause. In addition, recent studies have shown that taking folic acid can increase conception rates.