Questions about lifestyle and its effects on the treatment are asked in the CRG every day. Your way of life can indeed have an influence upon the chances of your treatment being effective. Our way of life does indeed have a strong influence on our health and our fertility. But can it be proved that certain external factors have (positive or negative) effects on your chances of a successful fertility treatment?

Indeed, for some things it can. Smoking is a good example of that.

      

It is well known that smoking during pregnancy presents many risks to the babys' health and development.

But less known, is the fact that women who stop smoking before they plan to try to become pregnant, increase their chances of doing so dramatically. According to studies, women who smoke take up to three times longer to fall pregnant than non smokers.
Further studies have shown that harmful substances produced from the break-down of nicotine, lead to a faster depletion of reserve egg cells in the ovaries, as a result of which (according to several experts) smokers can enter the menopause up to four years earlier than non smokers. Furthermore, smoking increases the risk of miscarriage, genetic abnormalities and even the chance of ectopic pregnancy. The chances of the latter are four times higher in heavy smokers (more than 20/day). You might well ask yourself why people smoke at all, when you consider how harmful it is. 

    

The above information is important for all women who are planning to have children. But it is absolutely vital that you stop smoking if you are to commence IVF treatment. Various studies have shown, that women who smoke need about twice as many IVF attempts in order to achieve a pregnancy!
This is not only applicable to women. Men should stop smoking too. A smokers' sperm is significantly poorer in quality than that of a non smoker. Additionally, it has been shown that men born of mothers who smoked during pregnancy have an equally poor sperm quality.

In conclusion, it is worth considering that passive smoking, - if a smoking man exposes his partner to his cigarette smoke - can have an equally detrimental effect on her fertility. Stopping smoking for example will not only increase your chances of becoming pregnant, but will improve your health immensely in a multitude of ways!

If you really want to get pregnant, the first thing you BOTH should do is STOP SMOKING!

   

In women, obesity can lead to subtle hormonal changes which can eventually lead to infertility, mostly because of ovulation problems. But it also reduces the chances of IVF being successful. A recent study in the Netherlands suggested that overweight women were a third less likely to deliver a child after IVF, than women with a normal weight. Therefore, if you are overweight, it is recommended that you try to lose it before you commence IVF treatment.

     

Coffee, stress?
At the moment, no definate answer can be given to this question. However it has been suggested that drinking coffee may lead to a slight increase in the incidence of miscarriage, but this cannot be said with certainty.

Even about the influence of stress, there's little information. It has been known for years that psychological stress has an immediate effect upon the function of the ovaries and can in extreme cases lead to interruption of ovulation. However the effects of stress on IVF treatment are less known. Certain studies suggest a negative influence, but the results are not very convincing.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that fertility treatment itself can be a very stressful and trying experience.

    

shouldn't i stay overnight after my embryo transfer?
Countless studies have examined whether or not bed rest following an embryo transfer makes a difference to the outcome. The answer was conclusive: there is no evidence at all to suggest that bed rest improves the chances of pregnancy following the transfer. One study even suggests that bed rest longer than 24 hours reduces the chances!

    

Some sports can have an effect upon ovulation and sperm. Deep sea diving under high pressure can lead to a drastic reduction in sperm quality. In women, 'over' training can cause the ovulation and periods to stop. There is no real reason to suggest that normal levels of sport activity will have a negative effect on fertility treatment. If you do do sport, you can continue to do so moderately.