Learn how to improve your egg quality and get pregnant On this page Overview Lifespan of an egg What reduces egg quality? Poor ovarian reserve Improving egg quality Self-help book 1. Overview In terms of male and female fertility there is a massive difference. Men on average eject between 40 million to 1 billion sperm compared to the woman that generally only produce one egg a month. Therefore it's critical to improve the quality of the woman's egg to maximise the chances of getting pregnant. 2. The lifespan of an egg Knowing how to improve egg quality will improve your fertility and help your chances of conceiving and having a baby, where it's natural conception or using assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF. Each egg has a life span of around 85 days. During those 85 days, the quality of the egg is based on the woman's general health. The human body is a survival organism, it will only support fertility if there is enough resources left after your daily needs have been meet. It doesn't understand that your job is secondary to your fertility, it just sees what's going out in terms of energy and what's coming in and what's left over for egg quality. 3. Factors that reduce egg quality If you're dieting, working or exercising excessively or don't get enough sleep, your body will be weak and there won't be enough resources to produce good quality eggs. To improve natural fertility, you need to improve your general health over the lifespan of the egg (120 days). Avoid this things which can cause poor egg quality: Smoking Trans fats Illegal drugs such as cocaine and mdma Free radical damage Plastics Chemicals (environmental factors) Reproductive medicine (over stimulation of the ovaries and exposure to oxygen in the fertility clinic) PGS/PGD testing Freezing your eggs Poor mitochondrial function Poor overall health Oxidative stress, which your reproductive endocrinologist will try to minimise It's especially important to improve the quality of your eggs before starting any reproductive medicine treatment such as IVF. Most fertility clinics don't think or help you improve your egg quality before starting fertility treatment and will start straight away and will stimulate your ovaries to produce around a dozen eggs. 4. Poor ovarian reserve If your overall health is poor or you have a low AMH level, stimulating your body to produce this many eggs can dilute the quality of them, making it less likely to reach blastocyst (day 5 embryo) in the fertility clinic lab before it's transferred back into the woman's uterus. Having poor egg health can increase the occurrence of chromosomal abnormalities. If you have a low AMH level (poor ovarian reserve), you should try my top 12 tips below and allow several months before trying either naturally or with IVF. 5. How to improve egg quality Here is my top tips to improve your egg quality: It's a good idea to take nutritional supplements such as DHEA 25-75mg, coenzyme Q10 600mg and melatonin 2-4mg every day Don't diet. If you need to lose weight exercise instead Eat 3 meals a day and optimise your fertility diet with foods that are high in protein with lots of sea food Don't work night shifts Don't sleep after 10pm, sleep before Don't exercise more than 3 times a week Have acupuncture weekly Practice mindfulness or meditation to reduce anxiety and stress Take Chinese fertility herbs Take a good quality prenatal supplement every day Reduce stress by having acupuncture or practising mindfulness, meditation or yoga 6. My Fertility Guide Read more on how to improve egg quality in my best selling book My Fertility Guide. Available as a paperback, Kindle and audiobook.
Learn how to improve your egg quality and get pregnant On this page Overview Lifespan of an egg What reduces egg quality? Poor ovarian reserve Improving egg quality Self-help book 1. Overview In terms of male and female fertility there is a massive difference. Men on average eject between 40 million to 1 billion sperm compared to the woman that generally only produce one egg a month. Therefore it's critical to improve the quality of the woman's egg to maximise the chances of getting pregnant. 2. The lifespan of an egg Knowing how to improve egg quality will improve your fertility and help your chances of conceiving and having a baby, where it's natural conception or using assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF. Each egg has a life span of around 85 days. During those 85 days, the quality of the egg is based on the woman's general health. The human body is a survival organism, it will only support fertility if there is enough resources left after your daily needs have been meet. It doesn't understand that your job is secondary to your fertility, it just sees what's going out in terms of energy and what's coming in and what's left over for egg quality. 3. Factors that reduce egg quality If you're dieting, working or exercising excessively or don't get enough sleep, your body will be weak and there won't be enough resources to produce good quality eggs. To improve natural fertility, you need to improve your general health over the lifespan of the egg (120 days). Avoid this things which can cause poor egg quality: Smoking Trans fats Illegal drugs such as cocaine and mdma Free radical damage Plastics Chemicals (environmental factors) Reproductive medicine (over stimulation of the ovaries and exposure to oxygen in the fertility clinic) PGS/PGD testing Freezing your eggs Poor mitochondrial function Poor overall health Oxidative stress, which your reproductive endocrinologist will try to minimise It's especially important to improve the quality of your eggs before starting any reproductive medicine treatment such as IVF. Most fertility clinics don't think or help you improve your egg quality before starting fertility treatment and will start straight away and will stimulate your ovaries to produce around a dozen eggs. 4. Poor ovarian reserve If your overall health is poor or you have a low AMH level, stimulating your body to produce this many eggs can dilute the quality of them, making it less likely to reach blastocyst (day 5 embryo) in the fertility clinic lab before it's transferred back into the woman's uterus. Having poor egg health can increase the occurrence of chromosomal abnormalities. If you have a low AMH level (poor ovarian reserve), you should try my top 12 tips below and allow several months before trying either naturally or with IVF. 5. How to improve egg quality Here is my top tips to improve your egg quality: It's a good idea to take nutritional supplements such as DHEA 25-75mg, coenzyme Q10 600mg and melatonin 2-4mg every day Don't diet. If you need to lose weight exercise instead Eat 3 meals a day and optimise your fertility diet with foods that are high in protein with lots of sea food Don't work night shifts Don't sleep after 10pm, sleep before Don't exercise more than 3 times a week Have acupuncture weekly Practice mindfulness or meditation to reduce anxiety and stress Take Chinese fertility herbs Take a good quality prenatal supplement every day Reduce stress by having acupuncture or practising mindfulness, meditation or yoga 6. My Fertility Guide Read more on how to improve egg quality in my best selling book My Fertility Guide. Available as a paperback, Kindle and audiobook.