Infertility & Reproduction Health Center

To decrease your risk of fertility problems and increase your chances of becoming pregnant, use the following guidelines.

Track ovulation at home

• Estimate when you are ovulating by practicing fertility awareness. This means:
  • Tracking your cervical mucus changes.
  • Tracking your basal body temperature on a monthly Fahrenheit temperature chart(What is a PDF document?) or Celsius temperature chart(What is a PDF document?).
  • Tracking your luteinizing hormone (LH) levels with a home ovulation predictor test. Many doctors now recommend these home tests as the best way to track ovulation at home.
• Try this interactive tool to calculate your peak fertility .
• Try having sex every day or every other day during a woman's fertile period. This can improve the chance of pregnancy.
• If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise can cause women to ovulate less often.

Protect sperm count and quality

• If you use a vaginal lubricant during sex, select one that doesn't kill or damage sperm.
• If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise may be a cause of lower sperm counts in some men.
• Avoid hot tubs and saunas. High scrotal temperatures decrease sperm count and quality.³
• Try to control fever when you are ill. High fever has been known to have a harmful effect on sperm for 2 to 3 months afterward. (Sperm take this long to grow from germ cells to mature sperm.)

General measures

Women who are trying to get pregnant should avoid using alcohol and medicines, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin.