I was watching a local talk/news show this morning, and was interested in their story, “Why Can’t I Get Pregnant?” . I was surprised by some of the statistics quoted. Some women out there that have problems with infertility may already know these stats, but as a Mom without that problem I had never heard them.
I’m more interested in them now because I’m a little older. I want to know my odds of getting pregnant again if I decide to have my third. Women often get frustrated with not getting pregnant right away. But, according to the local OBGYN that was on the show, she said the following:
“There are some basic statistics that are important to understand for women who wish to get pregnant. First, if you take 100 twenty year-old women and they are sexually active on the day of ovulation, ONLY 20 of the 100 women will become pregnant that day. The simple math is that 80% of couples will fail attempting pregnancy when they get the timing right, and lots of couples get the timing wrong.
Now if you take the same 100 women and now they are 40 year-old, only 10 will get pregnant with sexual activity on the day of ovulation, a 90% failure rate. The older your eggs are the higher the failure rate.”
When you think of Pregnancy in terms of these statistics, it can be both comforting, and frustrating for the mother trying to conceive. Conceiving a child is miraculous when you think of the odds. It makes me feel so blessed that the first two children were easy for me to conceive. My first, we got pregnant within 4 months of trying. Once I figured out my ovulation date, I got pregnant with my second on the first try.
In this story, they also talked about knowing when your ovulation day is. Obviously that is extremely important. One tip this OBGYN gave was to try and conceive earlier in your cycle rather than later. She also gave another comforting statistic. She said that 86% of couples will conceive in the first year. That’s a high number right? She went on to say that if you try an additional year, the number jumps to 93%.
Knowing the statistics may just help you relax a little, and increase your chances of getting pregnant. Because stress is also a risk factor for difficulty conceiving. So, the moral of the story, just keep trying! If you have been trying for 2 years, it might be time to see a fertility specialist.
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