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You and your other half have decided that it is time to expand your family, which means you are ready to start embarking the TTC journey. Congratulations, that is a huge step. That means you have to start making the right preparations in order to bring in a new life into the world. Find out how best to go about choosing a fertility clinic. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
If you are a woman that is 35 or older, then you will need to see your doctor if you have not conceived successfully within 6 months.
If you are a woman that is 40 or older, then you need to see your doctor right when you start trying.
- If you have had repeated miscarriages.
- If your cycles have never been regular, or you aren’t finding evidence that you are ovulating.
- If your partner already knows that he has a low sperm count or poor sperm quality.
And, this all means that you will need to find a fertility clinic to go to in order to get help. The question you will understandably have is what to look for when choosing a fertility clinic. Especially since there are clinics out there that are shady, and you will want to make sure that you avoid those. Let’s find out what the criteria are for choosing a fertility clinic.
Listen to your doctor’s recommendation
– A good-quality doctor that you go to will recommended the best fertility clinic that he or she has sent other clients too, and have been successful as well. That means if you trust your doctor, then there is no reason not to trust the recommendation for a fertility clinic.
Stay away from fertility clinics that make too good to be true types of statements
A good-quality fertility clinic will never make promises such as making a guarantee that you will get pregnant in a certain time frame. You will also want to avoid clinics that sell you extra fertility drugs that you really would not need. This is not good for your system, and not even necessary. They are trying to make a profit from selling you extra drugs.
If you look into a clinic that you found advertised online, watch for red flags
It is not recommended to make a bold decision to go to a fertility clinic based on the fact that you saw it advertised online. However, if you do look into it, make sure that it does not sound shady and pull tactics that were already discussed in the point above this one.
Don’t only settle on going to a fertility clinic that is only close to home
If a fertility clinic nearby has mediocre ratings, don’t settle because it is conveniently located. Be willing to travel to get something better.
Find out what your insurance plan covers
Fertility treatments are covered. However, you will need to find out how much of the costs that are covered. And, you will want to find out what procedures are covered as well.
Don’t settle for the cheapest
Fertility intervention can be costly, especially if you have to go through IVF. If the clinic offers cheap drugs, then run. It won’t work which means it will cost you more in the long run.
Find out about the hours
You are going to want to go to a clinic that treats patients after hours, during holidays, and during the weekends. A clinic that is only open during working hours is not worth going to because it will not be helpful. What happens if you are the most fertile on the weekend if you are needing IUI, or if you are doing IVF, what happens if your eggs need to be retrieved?
Ask for additional services
If you are dealing with infertility, you will be stressed and grieving that conceiving your baby the traditional way is not in the cards for you and your partner. Additionally, you are spending a lot of money that you don’t likely have, and are going through grueling treatments. You will need counseling, and to be in support groups with others going through the same thing. You could also benefit from fertility yoga, acupuncture, and advice from a fertility nutritionist. If the clinic does not have these available, then you may want to consider going to a clinic that offers these crucial services.
Find out if there is a payment plan
As mentioned already, fertility treatments are expensive – especially if you are going to go through IVF. If the clinic offers a financing plan, then this is worth it as well. However, if a clinic has good reviews and has everything else you need that does not offer a financing plan, don’t write it off for that reason only.
Ask for recommendations
Anyone can fake an online testimonial. That said you are much better off asking real people whether they are on fertility forums or those who you know about how good the clinic happens to be. If a clinic gets glowing recommendations from real people, then that is a determining factor on whether you use the clinic or not.
That said, as you can see, if you are experiencing fertility difficulties, there are many things to consider when choosing a fertility clinic. You don’t want to waste your money and your valuable time. And, you are dealing with a tough situation. You want to make sure that you make the best decision when it comes to choosing a fertility clinic. Your future depends on it!
Pre-conception Check Up
Since you have made this life-changing decision, you and your other half will need to have a checkup so an appointment with the doctor will need to be booked. This way, you will find out if your health is in good enough shape to start the baby-making process.
If it has been found that you have hypertension or are pre-diabetic, or worse- that you are diabetic, then you will need to be sent to a specialist to help you get to a healthy place. This way, you will need to be monitored by a specialist while you are trying to get pregnant if any underlying condition has been found. The same goes if any STIs or STDs have been found even if you have been asymptomatic.
Obesity and Underweight
More often than not, these issues don’t usually come up, and most couples will get the green light to go. The only issue that does come up where the doctor would tell these patients to hold off for a little while is if there are significant weight changes that need to be made. We are talking about being extremely underweight, or morbidly obese. If you are a little underweight or overweight, but yet not obese, you will still get the green light to go.
However, if you do need to make any kind of weight changes at all, no matter how much or small the changes must be- your doctor will recommend that you work with a dietician to help you get at a reasonable weight by the time you start trying to conceive.
Fertility Friendly Foods
Additionally, you will only want to work with a dietician who knows about foods that are fertility-friendly and to stick with those foods only. That also means to put a tight limit on junk food, whether it is fast food, candy, pastries, sugary cereals, or potato chips. Only eat it once a week in moderation if you really want to have a treat. Otherwise, these types of unhealthy foods will have a negative impact on your fertility.
That is because foods that are high in sugar and trans fat will end up getting in the way of you ovulating properly due to high insulin levels if you consume it too often.
Regular Exercises
And, if you are not exercising enough, then you will need to start getting active by taking 30-minute brisk walks for 5 days a week. You will want to spend some time lifting weights as well. On the same token, if you are athletic or too active, you will need to scale your activity back.
Getting too much exercise, and not getting enough will have a negative effect on your fertility. Living a sedentary lifestyle will not provide you with the proper circulation that you need in order for your reproductive system to function. And, being too active will stress your body out too much which will end up causing the same result- you not being able to conceive easily.
Stress how it affects fertility
Now that we are on the topic of stress, too much stress will also harm your ability to conceive. Even though stress is part of life and there is no way to avoid it- you can find ways to manage stress. You can take up yoga or meditation if you were to find that helpful and relaxing. You will also want to unwind and listen to calming music, watching a light-hearted comedy, or reading an enjoyable book with a cup of tea at night. Especially after a busy day at work.
And, now that we are onto the topic of unwinding at night, you will want to make sure that you are getting good-quality sleep. You don’t want to sleep less than 6 hours a night, and you don’t want to sleep for more than 9 hours. Getting too little or too much sleep will also harm your fertility. That means you must set a time to go to bed each night and to set a time to wake up each morning- and stay consistent.
Tracking Ovulation
Another important thing that needs to be done when you are starting your TTC journey is to chart your cycles by using the BBT method, as well as checking the cervical mucus consistency, or using ovulation prediction kits (but that should only be done once you have a rough idea of when you are ovulating because they can be costly). It is best to determine when you ovulate by evaluating your cycles with these cycle-monitoring tools for about 3 months before you actively start trying. That is because timing means everything.
And, the guys also need to prepare themselves by making sure their sperm count and quality is at its best. The thing they need to do is to avoid situations that can cause their groin area to be overheated. Heat kills sperm, and that means instead of taking long hot showers, it is best to take shorter lukewarm showers. The same goes to wearing boxers instead of briefs to allow the air to flow in the groin area to keep it cool. That also means to wear loose-fitting cotton pants instead of tight-fitting jeans or pants in general.
Quitting Bad Habits
And, a very important thing to do is to quit damaging bad habits like drinking, smoking, and doing drugs. Not only will that harm your fertility, but if you were to get pregnant while drinking, smoking or doing drugs, that will potentially harm your unborn baby or cause you to have a miscarriage. Guys need to stop with these habits as well as their fertility will be affected. If you are having a hard time with quitting smoking, then you will need to do to your doctor to have him or her help you wean off of it.
However, it was believed at one time that coffee was also off-limits for aspiring moms, but further research that has been done has determined that if you consume under 200 mg of caffeine, that is perfectly safe. That means not to exceed more than 2 cups of coffee. Or, it is best to only have 1 cup of coffee if you plan to have some chocolate (but keep it to a minimum as well since sugar is not good for your fertility).
Staying Relaxed
And, most of all, stay relaxed. It can take average healthy young couples up to a year to conceive. That means if you have regular cycles, and you have followed all of the steps mentioned here, then your doctor will not help you until then.
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