By Adeola Ogunlade
The Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi has advise couples having challenges with conceiving naturally to engage in regular and unprotected sex as it remain the sole natural way for a woman to conceive.
Ajayi said this in an interaction with journalists on practical ways that couples can conceive in the New Year, said that regular and unprotected sex at least three times a week is also very crucial if a woman wants to conceive.
“For couples who want to conceive naturally, I want them to be aware of three things. These are the need to have regular, unprotected intercourse, the age of the woman, and her ovulation potential”, he said.
Ajayi stressed that regular and unprotected sex will enable sperm to enter into a woman’s vagina, find its way into the fallopian tube that links an ovary to the uterus and then fertilizes an egg; if the fertilized egg successfully travels down the fallopian tube and implants in the uterus, an embryo starts growing.
Ajayi, who recently launched its High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Centre in Abuja, further said that anyone planning to conceive a child naturally should have it in mind that the woman’s age is a major determinant.
“If a woman is under 30 years, her chances of becoming naturally pregnant are between 20 to 25 percent. A woman has less than 5 percent chance at age 40.
“We consider the fact that a woman can wait a year if she is under 35 before seeing a specialist, and can wait no longer than six months if she is over 35.
Ajayi posited that the knowledge and understanding of ovulation is another factor.
“Married couples must be aware of ovulation and should understand when and how ovulation occurs. It is important because ovulation is the period when an egg is released.
“If an egg is not released, it cannot be fertilsed, so it is important for women to understand this ovulation period and be able to detect if they are ovulating or not.
“For people who do not live together, it becomes even more important. If you are going to start timing intercourse, you need to have an idea of the fertile period. “When we say regular intercourse, we mean that intercourse should occur two to three times in a week.
“Ovulation is important because that is the fertile period. Unfortunately, we cannot detect the exact time with 100 percent certainty. Most of the tests that we have either detect it just before or just after.
“But you need to know that your ovulation occurs 13 days before your next menses, and that your fertile period is about five days before your ovulation until the day of your ovulation. So it is important that if anyone is going to time intercourse, they need to get the ovulation period correctly.”
Noting the importance of a healthy lifestyle for good fertility, he remarked, “We are what we eat . Fertility depends on the kind of food that you put into your mouth. It depends on your weight, your BMI, your fitness level and general habits.
“An unhealthy sexual lifestyle is a negative attribute because of the risk of STIs. Weight affects egg production and increases the problem of DNA fragmentation.
“Try to indulge in a diet that is rich in antioxidants such as folate, zinc, veggies, and walnuts; avoid trans fats like butter, hydrogenated vegetable oil, refined carbohydrates, soft drinks, etc. Put in more fibre, and substitute animal protein with plant protein.”
He urged that caffeine should be avoided or limited to not more than one or two cups. “If you want to have a baby naturally, beware of recreational drugs and avoid smoking completely. Smoking ages the ovaries prematurely by at least 10 years, hinders ovulation and is hazardous to sperm count.