NEWS fertility
Fertility
fables
IT’S A
fact
BEING ON THE PILL FOR TOO LONG
DELAYS PREGNANCY
Absolutely not true. Depending on the kind
of birth control you were using before you
started trying to conceive, the rate your
cycle regulates may vary, but not by much.
As for users of the Pill, many cases show
that your cycle should get back on track
pretty much right away, so you should
expect to ovulate within just a few weeks.
Studies have shown that within one year
after stopping the Pill, 80 per cent of
women who want to get pregnant do.
WOMEN CAN’T GET PREGNANT FROM
INTERCOURSE DURING THEIR PERIOD
AUSTRALIA’S PEAK FERTILITY RATE
WAS RECORDED IN 1961 AT 3.55
CHILDREN PER WOMAN. THE LOWEST
RATE WAS IN 2001 AT 1.74. IT’S
GRADUALLY INCREASED SINCE THEN.
ASSISTANCE, PLEASE
A new study has suggested women giving
birth after fertility treatment are more at
risk of depression than women who go
through an unsuccessful attempt at artificial
insemination. According to new research
from the University of Copenhagen, the
women who give birth are five times more
likely to develop depression within the first
six weeks after giving birth compared to
women who don’t fall pregnant. “The new
results are surprising because we had
assumed it was actually quite the opposite,”
says lead author Camilla Sandal Sejbaek.
“It can be a tough process, and our
findings show there is not a greater risk of
depression if the treatment is unsuccessful,”
says Associate Professor Lone Schmidt.
Compared to men of a healthy weight, obese men were
two-thirds more likely to be infertile, and three times
more likely to be unsuccessful with assisted reproduction.
12 practical parenting january 2016
*University of Adelaide
True, a woman can’t get pregnant during
her period because the hormonal levels that
trigger ovulation are completely opposite
during menstruation. However, a woman
can get pregnant from intercourse during
her period if she has an early ovulation and
has sex on day five or later of her cycle.
To add to the confusion, not all bleeding
is a period! Some women can have a few
days of bleeding during her cycle, which
can be confused with a period.
STRESS CAUSES INFERTILITY
The role stress plays on fertility is complex.
Stress doesn’t prevent conception, however,
it can delay ovulation by suppressing the
hormones necessary for it to occur.
A WOMAN CAN GET PREGNANT
ONLY ONE DAY PER CYCLE
It’s true that a human egg is only viable
for 12 to 24 hours, although a woman
can actually get pregnant from an act of
intercourse occurring anytime from five
days prior to ovulation to even occasionally
two days after. Sperm can survive up to
five days inside the woman’s reproductive
tract, and a woman can release two or
more eggs within a 24-hour period. So
theoretically, a woman can get pregnant
for about one week per cycle.
BREASTFEEDING = BIRTH CONTROL
It’s true that breastfeeding can keep women
period-free for longer and, therefore, less
fertile, but this isn’t true in all cases. If
a woman’s exclusively breastfeeding on
demand, hasn’t had a period, and the baby
is less than six months old, the chance of
conception is around two per cent. This
is called the lactational amenorrhoea
method of contraception, and while safe,
it’s definitely not failsafe!
Words by Alex Harmon Pictures Getty Images
3.55
There are many myths about falling
pregnant. Dr David Knight from Demeter
Fertility debunks some of the most
common fertility myths.