If you’re looking for ways to increase your chances of getting pregnant, you might want to consider some natural fertility treatments.
Of course, most complementary and alternative therapies still aren’t as well studied as traditional fertility boosters — so they do come with caveats. But as long as you try them with the guidance of your practitioner, these natural remedies may give your chances of getting pregnant a lift.
Hypnosis
If images of a magician’s act come to mind when you think of hypnosis, it’s time to reframe how you think about this form of trained concentration. Hypnosis is used to treat a range of conditions, such as anxiety, eating disorders, and, yes, fertility.
Some experts think hypnosis can enhance fertility by promoting relaxation, which may help prime the body for baby-making — especially if stress or anxiety has been standing in the way of your pregnancy plans.
How does stress interfere with fertility? It creates a fight-or-flight response that tells the body to release hormones such as cortisol, which in turn upsets the hormonal balance needed for ovulation, fertilization and the implantation of an egg.
It follows, then, that decreasing stress through hypnosis could boost fertility. But scientific research hasn’t yet established a link between hypnosis and increased fertility. If hypnosis sounds like something you might want to try, you can learn the technique with a therapist.
The caveats: Since there’s been little scientific research on hypnosis for fertility, it’s unclear whether it’ll be effective. However, it won’t harm you or your chances of getting pregnant. The worst-case scenario? You commit time and money getting spellbound without a positive payoff.
Yoga
Yoga is a 5,000 year-old practice that combines physical postures (asanas) with breathing techniques and meditation. Research shows that yoga can help boost fertility rates among women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART),[1] possibly by lowering stress and the hormone cortisol, which can interfere with fertility.
Read This Next
Plus, yoga firms and strengthens the body, which can help prepare it for pregnancy. In fact, some fertility clinics have even introduced “fertility yoga” sessions to their agendas.
The caveat: Stay away from Bikram yoga, which takes place in a room that’s heated to between 95 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead, take your workout to a cooler room, which is safer for your developing baby.
Keep in mind that there’s no evidence showing that yoga can boost your fertility directly. Struggling to conceive can be stressful, so practicing activities that promote relaxation, such as yoga, might help relieve some of that stress.
Stress relaxation techniques
Beyond hypnosis and yoga, other mind-body relaxation techniques such as meditation, guided visualization, and talk therapy (one-on-one with a counselor or in a support group) can help relieve stress and help you get in a baby-making frame of mind and body.
The caveats: While mind-body relaxation techniques can certainly be helpful, if you’re over 35 and you find that it’s taking you longer than six months to get pregnant, or you’re younger than 35 and you’ve been trying to conceive for longer than a year, you might want to talk with your practitioner about your options beyond natural fertility treatments.
You won’t want to delay finding other help that could get you on the baby bandwagon, even if you are lowering your stress levels while you wait.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a Chinese medicine practice that involves the insertion of tiny, thin steel needles into the skin to stimulate specific points in the body. The goal is to unblock energy (or chi) and increase blood flow to promote a state of balance in the body. Evidence suggests the needles stimulate the nervous system to release chemicals that help alleviate pain and promote healing. (MRIs even show that acupuncture has an effect in the brain.)
Where fertility is concerned, acupuncture may improve blood supply to reproductive organs, stimulate hormones, regulate ovulation and decrease stress — all of which may help increase your chances of getting pregnant.
For this reason, acupuncture is one of the most popular natural fertility treatments.
Acupuncture can be a treatment in and of itself or it can be part of a holistic treatment plan that may include herbs, nutritional counseling or other holistic techniques.
The caveats:
Experts debate the merits of acupuncture, and not all studies show that it’s effective on the fertility front. Plus, in order for it to have a chance at working, you’ll likely need to have regular acupuncture sessions, which can be pricey. Check with your insurance company to see whether sessions are fully or partially covered.
Be sure to choose a reputable acupuncturist and discuss any suggestion of herbal supplements with your practitioner.
Exercise
Exercise can help get your body in shape — baby-making-shape, that is. Women who do moderate amounts of physical activity can also see a small boost in their fertility levels, suggests some research.
Another reason it’s a good idea to start a workout regimen: Once you do get pregnant, exercise can lower your risk of complications like gestational diabetes and speed up your recovery after giving birth.
The caveat: It’s possible to have too much of a good thing — and exercise is no exception. Doing a lot of strenuous physical activity, such as five or more hours of high-intensity exercise, might actually make it harder to get pregnant, possibly because you may be sapping your body of the nutrition needed to conceive.
Weight management
About 12 percent of all infertility cases are the result of being under- or overweight, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM),[2] so it follows that keeping your weight within the recommended levels can boost your odds of reproductive success.
Women with a body mass index (BMI) of 18.4 or less might stop making the hormone estrogen, which can cause irregular menstrual cycles and hamper ovulation (i.e. the release of an egg from the ovary). Being overweight or obese (with a BMI of 25 or higher), however, could also cause your body to make more estrogen, which can likewise interfere with your period and prevent you from ovulating.
Weight gain is also one symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which the ovaries produce a high level of androgens (male sex hormones that are usually present in women in small amounts). PCOS affects about 1 in 10 women in their reproductive years and can interfere with fertility.
The caveat: Talk to your doctor before you try to lose — or gain — weight. The goal is to get your BMI within the healthy parameters safely, often by changing your diet or exercise habits.
Diet and nutrition
Need a good reason to shore up your pre-pregnancy diet? There’s solid evidence that eating a healthy diet filled with dark leafy greens, folic acid and other nutritious foods can help you conceive. Experts advise that women who are trying to get pregnant take 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid (found in a prenatal vitamin and called folate in food form) for at least a month before trying getting pregnant.
In fact, keeping your weight at a recommended range and consuming foods rich in high-fiber foods, vegetable proteins and monounsaturated fats are all linked with promoting fertility.
The caveat: There’s no magic diet that will help you get pregnant, but in general, it’s a good idea to eat more vegetables and healthy fats, while cutting back on sugary carbohydrates and trans fat.
Dark leafy greens are a particular good pre-pregnancy diet choice — experts tell women who are trying to conceive to start eating 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid for at least a month before trying getting pregnant.
Vitamins and supplements
Getting enough of certain nutrients could potentially help you conceive. Some research suggests that women who have a harder time getting pregnant might be lacking in certain nutrients, including vitamins D, B6 and B12. And taking antioxidants such as vitamins C and E might help boost fertility levels by strengthening your body’s defenses against harmful free radicals, which, in too-high amounts, could make it harder for you to ovulate or for egg cells to mature.
The caveat: If you’re already getting enough nutrients in your diet, popping more of them in pill form isn’t likely to give you more of a baby-making edge — and could even be harmful if those supplements haven’t been tested for safety. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate herbal and other supplements before they go to market, so you can’t always be sure that the contents in the bottle match up with those on the label. If you want to try a supplement, talk to your doctor first and then look for a packaging seal from a third-party group, such as ConsumerLab.com, USP and NSF International. These groups regularly test and certify supplements for bacteria, heavy metals and pesticides.
Chiropractic care
Some research indicates that chiropractic adjustment (the manipulation of the spine and other areas of the body) may enhance fertility. How? The nerves to the reproductive system run through the spine — and manipulating the spine may help improve hormone balance and improve the chances of getting pregnant.
The caveats: There’s no scientific evidence that chiropractic care can help with fertility, so there’s no guarantee that it will work. Plus, as you might imagine, chiropractic care could be dangerous in the hands of the wrong practitioner. Making spinal adjustments is a very tricky business, so you’ll want to be sure to get a referral to a reputable chiropractor.
The bottom line? While it's not a sure thing, some natural fertility remedies may help make your dreams of having a baby come true. Talk to your doctor about taking advantage of sound complementary and alternative practices that could give your fertility a boost and increase your chances of getting pregnant.
Yes 
No 
Trending On What to Expect
