By Dr. Abayomi Ajayi,

It’s the little things that count when you are dealing with infertility. For some couples, getting pregnant could be the easiest thing in the world.

For others, assisted reproductive technology initiatives like IVF is their only hope for conception. There is a steadily growing number of couples playing the fertility “waiting game.

While some are yet to turn to technology, others may have failed to discover their problem even in a high-tech arena. For such couples, the search is on for the little factors that might make the a difference.

There could be times everything looks good from a treatment standpoint, but still pregnancy remains elusive. The next best thing may be to look behind the fertility smokescreen at other factors that might play a role.
Among the  most obvious outside factors militating against fertility is something as “ordinary” as smoking. To a large extent, smoking is not “ordinary” when it comes to matters of conception.

Fact is that cigarettes and pregnancy don’t mix, but itmay sound odd that not everyone appears to appreciate the impact that smoking really has on fertility. For practical purposes, smoking can dramatically reduce both male and female fertility and negatively impacts conception rates.

For instance, it is know that sperm counts could average as low as 17 per cent lower in smokers. Smoking dramatically loweres sperm count and disrupts the health of sperm. Women whos,smoke not only have a higher rate of infertility overall, but also those who do get pregnant take a much longer time to conceive. In similar vein, couples who smoke and undergo fertility treatments usually require much higher doses of fertility medication than nonsmokers.

The point to note really is that it’s not just the smoke from your own cigarettes that matters. Secondhand smoke is just as bad at reducings pregnancy rates in women undergoing high-tech infertility procedures. But there is good news. The good news is that reduction of exposure to cigarette smoke enables faster and easier pregnancy. Men who stop smoking have been known to experience rise in sperm count of up to 800 per cent.

Stress is another often overlooked factor. Although the links between stress and fertility are slightly less clear, we know it exists. Even if there is no specific data showing an obvious direct link, we are seeing more and more smaller studies that indicate stress-reduction techniques do have an effect on fertility. It’s only a matter of time before someone puts all the pieces together and sees the overall impact of stress on the reproductive system. Several women who undergo stress-reducing therapies are better encouraged to eal with the frustrations of infertility and more often than not, actually get pregnant — simply by learning how to relax.

How about diet? What links does it have to fertility? While not many people connect diet to fertility, we do know for a fact that very often, women who are infertile are also lacking important nutrients in their diet. It has been discovered that almost four in every five infertile couples have a lower-than-average intake of foods high in antioxidants — like fruits and vegetables.

Such finding becomes even more significant considering the important roles played by vitamins C and E in male fertility. Vitamins help improve the quality and quantity of the sperms.

Fertility experts have been compelled to advice that if you are having trouble getting pregnant you might want to try eating less seafood, in order to avoid mercury poisoning, which decimated spem count and motility.

Obesity is also considered a leading fertility blocker in women, hence cutting down on calories overall can give fertility a boost for some groups of women.

While a number of factors can help boost fertility, there are several that can diminish chances of conception.