With one in eight couples experiencing it, there are a lot of myths out there surrounding it. We'll tell you what's true and what's not when it comes to getting pregnant.
Valerie Simpson has always dreamed of being a mom, but after losing her first baby at 37 andstruggling to conceive again, she considers baby Adrian, a miracle. Valerie is like 10 percent of women in the United States who have problems with pregnancy.
And with so much information out there, it's not easy for couples to separate fertility fact from fiction. How much do you know about fertility? For instance will adding more vitamins to your diet help you improve your chances of getting pregnant?
"I think we have no data to demonstrate that," Celso Silva, M.D., Director for the Center for Fertility Preservation at the University of South Florida College of Medicine told Action News.
In fact, a healthy normal diet already has the right amount and type of vitamins we need. Smoking, is it ok as long as you stop when you get pregnant?
"We know for a fact that smoking is detrimental in male and female infertility," Dr. Silva told Action News.
Next, does age matter? While about 20 percent of American women have their first baby after age 35, by age 30 you have a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant in any given month. After 35, your chances drop to 10 percent. By 40 it's five percent.
What about cell phone use? Could it lower your fertility? In a Cleveland Clinic study, men who used their cell phones more than four hours a day showed a 30 percent drop in sperm count. True or false, dairy doesn't matter.
A Harvard study found eating two or more low-fat dairy products increases a woman's chances of infertility by 85 percent! Something else to consider, is that many people think fertility is only a woman's problem. While about a third of infertility is due to female factors, another third is due to the male. The final third of infertility cases are because of both partners or unknown factors.
For more information, contact:
Ellen Fiss
Public Relations Manager
Tampa General Hospital
(813) 844-6397
efiss@tgh.org
