Planning or deciding to have a baby can be quite a difficult and stressful situation for most working women. While being in a better position professionally is quite important but at the same time, deciding to have a baby at the right age is equally important.

We see lot of women coming to us for infertility treatments which might range from basic treatment to advance IVF treatments. The commonest problem we encounter nowadays is of low AMH. AMH or anti-Mullerian hormone is a blood test done to find out about your egg reserves. As we age, the number of eggs in our ovaries decline. We see women planning to have a baby in their late 30’s. In lot of women, we find low AMH to be the main issue. Also, we see lot of young women also having low AMH.

If a lady cannot afford to have a baby due to professional and career reasons, we nowadays can offer them to preserve their eggs which can later be utilized when they are ready to have a baby. Hence planning to have a child can be done not only at the right age but also at the right time.

Once a couple decide to have a baby, we do certain basic tests for both. It includes basic hormone tests for the women and sperm analysis for the men. Also, we advise to do Rubella and Varicella IgG tests to check whether the lady is immune to Rubella and Varicella. If these tests come negative, we offer the woman to take vaccinations against these infections since if such infections are contracted during pregnancy, it can lead to abnormalities in the baby.

The couple is then counselled regarding the fertile period of the cycle which can help them to conceive early. It might also involve doing follicular scans to check the exact day of ovulation. Having intercourse one day prior to one day later ovulation is the most fertile period to conceive.

Many women ask us about the precautions to be taken when you are trying to conceive. It is always a good idea to have a healthy life-style when you plan to have a baby. You should have a balanced diet and exercise regularly. There is myth that women should not exercise after ovulation or during implantation which is totally wrong. You can exercise throughout your cycle irrespective of your ovulation and implantation.

Women should avoid X-ray exposure. If you get sick, it is always advisable to tell your physician that you are in the process of having a baby so that they give you medications which are safe for you.

Smoking and alcohol are not allowed. Men should stop smoking and tobacco consumption since it can affect the sperm count and motility adversely. They should avoid passive smoking as well.

There is also a myth that you cannot travel after ovulation and during implantation which is also wrong. There are lots of myths about intercourse positions. There is no need to keep your legs up after intercourse. The only thing that we advise is to not wash immediately after intercourse. Lot of women complain that the semen comes out of the vagina which they think might be the reason behind not conceiving. This is totally normal. After intercourse, semen deposited in the vagina is semi-solid. It liquifies in 15-20 mins. After this the motile sperms swim up into the uterus and the remnant seminal plasma comes out. Hence the fluid which comes out might not contain the most motile sperms.