Are you disappointed again this month, frustrated that your period has arrived once more? When considering overcoming infertility problems, when trying for a baby, it is interesting to remember that when you were at school there was so much focus on you not getting pregnant.
That was the only message that was given to you.
Sex education focused on preventing pregnancy.
There was no advice to prepare you for the future, to help you avoid potential problems or pitfalls when trying for a baby.
Today, with our modern lifestyle, the incidence of not being able to conceive is quoted as "one in seven" by the fertility experts.
Therefore, doesn't it make sense to devote some time to discussing the potential problems in conception? If this is not addressed then there will be a lot of unhappy and frustrated couples out there trying for a baby.
AGE Age can be a big barrier to conception.
Today couples are leaving having a family later and later, putting their own lives and careers first.
Aiming for that next promotion, taking that expensive holiday, the time is just not right! Of course there will always be the exception to the rule, women can and do get pregnant with healthy babies well into their forties.
But, if you are having problems getting pregnant then consider the following.
The experts state that a woman is most fertile between the ages of 20-25 with fertility then decreasing, so that by the age of 35 she is half as fertile as she was in her 20s.
So why is this? Well the older a woman is, the older her eggs are.
It is understood that around the age of 35 a woman has fewer viable eggs due to a decline in her ovarian reserve.
Also the older woman has more of an irregular pattern to her menstrual cycle therefore making predicting ovulation more difficult.
The lining of the womb becomes thinner as the woman ages, making it less able to accommodate a fertilised egg.
This does not indicate that all couples in their early twenties should go off and get pregnant, nor should the woman in her thirties panic.
It serves to remind you that the older you are, the longer it may take to get pregnant.
OVULATION Timing of sexual intercourse is important when you are aiming to overcome infertility problems and trying for a baby.
There are only a few days in each month when you are most fertile and pregnancy is possible.
Taking into account that sperm can live for up to 5 days inside the woman and the egg when released, only lives for 24 hours, there is a total of approx 6 days when you are most fertile.
The experts say that on any of these 6 days having intercourse increases your chance of getting pregnant, however, you have the highest chance if you have intercourse on the 3 days prior to ovulation.
So it makes sense then to try to get the timing right.
How do you know when you ovulate? Most women ovulate around 12-14 days before the end of their period.
You should be able to calculate this if you keep a record of your periods for a few months.
Then you can count back 12-14 days from the end of your last period.
However this only works if you have regular periods of around 28 days.
It is much more difficult to calculate if your menstrual cycle is irregular.
There are commercially prepared Ovulation Kits available that you can buy to help you work out your dates in these circumstances.
Also, there are Ovulation Calculators available, so check out some of the pregnancy websites.
BAD HABITS! If you want to overcome infertility problems when trying to conceive a baby then consider your lifestyle.
Do you or your partner smoke or drink alcohol? The experts' state that smoking can damage your ovaries - this can lead to miscarriages, so the advice is to stop now.
There are many products on the market to assist you in giving up but remember they contain chemicals too so may not be the most appropriate to use if you are planning to get pregnant.
The experts claim that it takes around 3 months for your fertility to return to normal after giving up smoking.
Remember once you are lucky enough to get pregnant then smoking is dangerous for the development of your unborn baby.
Alcohol in excess can affect both the man and the woman.
In the man it can interfere with sperm production and the tubes of the male reproductive system.
While in the woman it can disrupt the menstrual cycle and interfere with ovulation.
So if you are trying to conceive and are having problems then it may be best to cut out the alcohol all together.