Treatment at Home
Among those seeking help for involuntary childlessness, between 50 and 80% have a child before finishing the treatment. You can do something yourselves to obtain pregnancy. A series of lifestyle conditions with the woman have impact on the chance of pregnancy. This concerns the smoking of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and obesity – all are conditions that the woman can affect herself. Smoking reduces fertility and therefore, it is recommended to stop smoking. Women with large alcohol consumption have greater risk of missing ovulation and therefore, it is recommended that women who are trying to obtain pregnancy avoid the intake of alcohol completely. Women with a daily consumption of 5 cups of coffee have reduced chance of becoming pregnant and therefore, it is recommended to reduce the consumption of coffee as to low as possible. Obese women have a greater risk of missing ovulation and therefore, it is recommended that women have a BMI of less than 25.
What can we do ourselves?
You can try with intercourse during the time of ovulation and in the days up to it. Exactly, at this time there is a possibility that egg and sperm can meet.
Three different methods for determining when the woman is ovulating is described under here:
The calculating method
Normally, ovulation occurs 14 days before the beginning of the next menstruation. It is, however, difficult to determine precisely when the woman has her next menstruation. However, if the woman has regular menstruations it is possible to calculate when she will ovulate, with a starting point in the previous menstruation. A woman with 24 days in between 2 menstruations (from the first day to the first day) normally ovulates around (24 minus 14) 10 days after the first day of the previous menstruation.
A woman with 34 days between 2 menstruations (from the first day to the first day) ovulates around (34 minus 14) 20 days after the first day of the previous menstruation. Such a calculation is not certain, if the woman’s menstruations are not completely regular.
Ovulation pain
Some women feel a sting in the stomach in the days surrounding ovulation. The sting is well-known by the woman since it occurs regularly every month approximately in between the two menstruations.
Test for Ovulation
The women can determine herself when she ovulates, by examining her own morning urine. At the pharmacy you can buy a test (the LH test). The test is used 1 week after the previous menstruation every morning for 7 days in a row – or until it is positive. When it is positive, the woman ovulates within the next 36 hours.
It has not been proven with certainty that the methods mentioned are more effective than having as regular intercourse as possible.