If you want a baby and it’s not happening

If you want a baby and have been trying for a year or more to get pregnant then some friendly advice might be helpful. Fertility is helped by good emotional and physical wellbeing and there are many ways to improve your chances.

If you have been trying for a baby for more than a year, are fit and healthy then some helpful advice and guidance might make all the difference.  As, despite everything you were told as a teenager, getting pregnant naturally is hit and miss affair and lots of things have to happen at the same time.

To get pregnant

  • a woman has to produce a mature egg
  • a man has to produce healthy sperm
  • an egg has to be released from woman’s ovary into the fallopian tube
  • sexual intercourse needs to take place around the time the egg is released
  • sperm have to swim up the vagina, through the womb up into the fallopian tube towards the egg
  • an egg has to be fertilised by the sperm and form an embryo
  • an embryo has to embed (plant itself) in the woman’s womb.

At every stage something can go wrong, and even if it gets this far, the embryo sometimes fails to develop properly and the pregnancy is lost as a miscarriage.

Snowdrops at Bourn Hall

Here are six common reasons why women find it hard to get pregnant:

  • Ovaries may not be releasing eggs (ovulating) regularly: this affects one third of women and it is a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) caused by hormone imbalance.
  • Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes: this affects about 15 in 100 women who haven’t been able to get pregnant.
  • Endometriosis affects about 5 in 100 women who can’t get pregnant. This is when cells from the lining of the womb (the endometrium) start growing outside the womb, sometimes around the ovaries or fallopian tubes. It can cause severe period pains.
  • Age: a woman’s fertility starts decreasing from the age of 35 and more quickly for those over 40.
  • Early menopause: this when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. It happens to all women, normally between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.
  • Fibroids: large non-cancerous growths called fibroids may stop a fertilised egg from growing in the womb.

Common male factor reasons:

Men also have fertility problems, and the issue could be male factor, female factor or a combination of the two.

Most men with fertility problems have one or all of these problems:

  • Too few sperm (low sperm count) or no sperm
  • Abnormally shaped sperm, which are unable to move normally or fertilise an egg.
  • Sperm that don’t swim well.

That’s a lot that can go wrong!

Want a baby – here is the good news

The good news is that you can boost your chances of natural conception (and successful treatment if required) through improving your nutrition, maintaining a healthy BMI and lifestyle changes … and we can give you advice on this. Our Nutritional Therapist, Angela Attwood provides a free short consultation.

We offer a consultation with a fertility nurse specialist and more information about our Fertility Health + Wellbeing Tests is available here.

If the tests show that any of the above reasons apply to you many of these problems can be treated by lifestyle changes, medication or surgery, to restore your fertility – we can tell you about this too.

If nutritional supplements are recommended it is advised that these are obtained through reputable sources.

Bourn Hall has partnered with Fertility Family to offer Impryl, a balance of micronutrients for men or women and also Inofolic Alpha, which provides a source of inositol, which may relieve the symptoms of PCOS.

Lastly, if you do need assisted conception such as OI, IUI or IVF then you will be talking to the experts – Bourn Hall was the world’s first IVF clinic.

More information

More information about our events.

Common reasons for female infertility and treatment.

Common reasons for male infertility.

Read about women who have overcome PCOS here.

Click here to read about people who have made lifestyle changes to boost fertility.

To have a consultation with a fertility nurse specialist just complete the form below.

Bourn Hall believes that when undergoing IVF treatment, you should have every opportunity to optimise your health and lifestyle to get the best out of your fertility treatment. Our Nutritional Therapist Angela Attwood is available to help you achieve this as part of your treatment plan. You can contact Angela at [email protected] for further information, she also offers free consultations.

Bourn Hall has partnered with Fertility Family to offer nutritional supplements including: Impryl, a balance of micronutrients for men or women and also Inofolic Alpha, which provides a source of inositol, which may relieve the symptoms of PCOS.

Bourn Hall offers a wealth of support at every stage of the fertility journey.

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