Vienna In Vitro Center, Sofia, Bulgaria Diagnostics Lifestyle

Lifestyle: ready for pregnancy

The pregnancy is a special period and the childbirth is a special moment in a woman's life. The life style during this time is very important for the pregnancy progress and the childbirth itself.

Therefore it is important to be well prepared for the desired pregnancy. No one can say if the fertility treatment will lead to a pregnancy. It is certain however, that general changes in everyday life increase the chance for an eventual success. With the following information, we want to help our couples to be "ready for pregnancy".

Smoking

Couples with ChildWish should quit smoking!

Nicotine damages the fertility of men and women and can lead to delay in the ChildWish fulfillment.

The ovaries have a worse blood supply and consistency of the endometrium of the uterine cervix can be altered.
Smokers have lower sperm counts and a greater part of malformed sperms than non-smokers.

However, nicotine is not the only danger. Results show that the cigarette smoke contains over 4000 different substances. Among these are tar, arsenic and hydrogen cyanide. At least 43 of those are suspected to cause cancer. Nicotine contracts the uterine blood vessels, which lowers the chances of nidation.

. The success rate of smoking IVF patients is lowered by 25 %. Moreover, smokers have a double miscarriage rate.

Because of the negative impact of smoking on the ovaries, women that respond badly to stimulation should quit smoking a good time prior to the ChildWish treatment and not take any substitutes (nicotine patches nicotine chewing gum etc.)
Quitting smoking is one of the few things which can demonstrably improve the sperm quality. Even smokers with a "normal" semen analysis have sperms with higher rate of genetic damage (DNA fragmentation) than non-smokers.
Smoking during pregnancy leads to low-weight babies and raises the risk of miscarriage.

To support couples who want to quit smoking before their ChildWish treatment, we offer an addiction weaning with our psychotherapist.

Alcohol

How much alcohol is not dangerous before and during the pregnancy?

Since alcohol circulates unhindered through the mother's blood stream and the placenta into the embryo, it should be avoided during pregnancy

Occasional alcohol consumption (one-two alcoholic beverages per week) is surely unthinkable, but even daily consumption in minute amounts can lead to increased risk of learning and speech disabilities for the child. Usually, these children are hyperactive and have reduced concentration ability. High regular alcohol doses can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome. These children have severe disorders in their physical and mental development and show behavioral anomalies. They usually have malformed faces, hearts or kidneys. It depends on the developmental stage of the embryo during alcohol consumption which organs are damaged.

If you have a ChildWish, you should reduce your alcohol consumption or avoid all alcohol. The organs are developed during the first third of the pregnancy and in this time malformations and disorders occur easily.

Even men should reduce their alcohol consumption, since high amounts of alcohol could significantly reduce the quality and even the numbers of sperm cells.

Stress

4 out of 5 couples say that they suffer from stress. Stress is our body's response level to external irritations. Different hormones are secreted into the blood, which mediate different reactions (quickened heartbeat, improved supply of oxygen to the brain and the lungs). In principle, this is not a bad thing. It becomes problematic when the stress conditions persist. Continuous strain, i.e. continuous stress can have dramatic effects on one's well-being and lead to disorders (high blood pressure, gastritis ...).

Stress can have a myriad of causes. Stress in the office through high demands, great workload, risk of unemployment, overtime or pressure to perform is just one side. The unfulfilled ChildWish adds a level of "personal" stress: in the relationship, in the family, fear of failure, stress of missing the right time point or stress of aging.

It is not simple to measure the burden of stress. It is known, however, that strong stress has an impact on a woman's fertility. If a woman is under strong stress, the ovulation or the menstruation can completely miss. In some cases, the stress hormone prolactin lengthens the monthly cycle.

The application of stress-reducing measures has a markedly positive effect on the initiation of pregnancy.

In case of a strong, pressuring stress situation, it is advisable to seek work-off and stress reduction through psychological measures.

It is also sensible to learn and apply relaxation methods and techniques (such as autogenic training, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, self hypnosis) in order to improve the chance of getting pregnant.

Do not forget, gymnastics and sport can also reduce stress.