One in eight couples battles with infertility, which, according to one organization, is more than seven million people.
Your odds of getting pregnant automatically go down with age. The chances slowly begin decreasing around age 35, according to Dr. Faith Wittier from Legacy Community Health obstetrics & gynecology.
Here are the daily habits she said people may be doing to further hurt their chances of having a baby:
Smoking
Wittier said patients are sometimes unknowingly doing something wrong when trying to get pregnant and other times they know something like smoking is bad but they don't admit to the habit.
“Smoking can cause an environment where these babies have a greater mortality so there's morbidity and mortality in the pregnancy from smoking,” Wittier said.
Exercise
Wittier said to tell your doctor about everything, even healthy habits like exercising, because that could also come with a warning.
“If you've been exercising, we do encourage that because we think that it actually improves not only the pregnancy but also delivery,” Wittier said exercise is good but taking on new, intense routines is not recommended.
Laptops and cellphones
Dr. Wittier said even though there's no proof laptops and cellphones lower sperm count or harm pregnant women, she said our usage has outpaced the studies. She encourages patients to try keeping devices off your lap just to be sure there's no harm done.
Chemicals and hair dye
She recommends the same approach for chemicals, which she said, even though she doesn't see clear proof chemicals in cleaning products or hair dye hurt your chances, it's better to be safe than sorry.
“Chemicals do have a negative impact on the pregnancy and so what I tell patients is… put some gloves on. If you're going to be around strong chemicals, you know wear masks, things like that. Try to avoid it, avoidance.”
Birth control
Wittier said even when you go off contraceptives, anticipate that pregnancy may not come instantly.
She says the majority of women may take a year of trying after going off something like the pill.