Q: I read somewhere that trying too hard to get pregnant can have the opposite effect. Is this true?

A: Many people have the misconception that getting pregnant is easy. But if you’ve been trying to conceive for many months or even years, you don’t need reminding that having children does not come easily for everyone. In fact, each month, a woman has only a twenty to thirty percent chance of conceiving. Most women will conceive within a year of trying but a small percentage of women will still not conceive even after a year of trying.

If you have been trying to conceive for any length of time you have probably been given advice from well-meaning or not-so-well-meaning friends or family. You have likely heard the suggestion that you need to relax and stop trying so hard. Maybe you were told something like this ‘I know this couple who tried to get pregnant for years but as soon as they decided to adopt, guess what she got pregnant.’ All this may make you wonder if there is something after all in the saying that trying too hard really can stop you getting pregnant. Add to this the recent research about the impact of stress on fertility. Some researchers believe that stress significantly impacts fertility and limits the success of assisted conception.

Although stress may have an impact on it is more likely that stress is the result of infertility not the cause. Most couples conceive within a year of trying and for those who don’t there is often an identifiable physical cause. It is also simply not true that fertility improves when you stop trying. The percentage of women getting pregnant after adopting is about 5 percent, which is the same as women who have infertility and do not adopt.

But what about the theory that having too much sex stops you conceiving? It’s another common misconception because the more sex you have when you are trying for a baby the more likely you are to get pregnant. Most experts recommend having sex at least every other day during a woman’s fertile period. It was once suggested that men with low sperm counts abstain from sex prior to ovulation to increase their sperm count. However, recent studies have not shown that abstaining improves sperm count. In fact in men with low sperm counts, the researchers found the volume of semen increased after prolonged abstinence, but the quality got gradually worse the longer the men held back.

To sum up, the difference between a couple that conceives when trying and a couple that does not is not based on how hard they try and suggesting that not trying increases your chances of getting pregnant only adds to the frustration of couples trying to conceive. Exactly how do you try less when you desperately want a baby?  For help with  boosting fertility see my book ‘Natural Solutions to Infertility’.

Q: Do complementary therapies hamper IVF?

A: A recent study carried out by Cardiff University has found that women who combine complementary therapy with IVF treatment are 30% less likely to fall pregnant than those who undergo IVF alone.

While this headline-making statement implies that complementary therapy somehow interferes with the IVF process, this does not mean couples should not seek help from complementary therapies during fertility treatments. Apart from the fact that numerous studies indicate potential benefits there could also be alternate explanations for these findings.

Of the 818 Danish women who took part in the Cardiff study almost 1/3 undertook some form of complementary therapy along with their IVF treatment; with reflexology and nutritional supplements being the most popular. It was found that these women had more fertility treatment and a lower rate of pregnancy than those who used no form of complementary medicine at all. However, the research also found that those who complemented IVF with alternative therapies had experienced more medical fertility intervention prior to the start of the study and were also significantly more stressed about the IVF process and its possible outcomes.

It is indeed possible that the findings of the study simply show that the women who were having more trouble conceiving prior to the cycles of IVF started to become more stressed about their fertility and looked to complementary therapies as traditional methods alone did not seem to be working.

It is also possible that the elevated levels of stress reported by those who chose to use a form of complementary medicine were responsible for their inability to conceive successfully and as a consequence drove them to use alternative treatments in an attempt to relax and facilitate the process.

While it is unlikely that physical therapies such as reflexology interfere with IVF, previous research has found that some herbal supplements such as St john’s wort, Echinacea and ginkgo biloba may have an adverse effect on fertility so this could all help to explain the findings.

Finally, the Cardiff University research is preliminary and there are plans to monitor the women over a 5 year period. Until we know more, complementary therapies during fertility treatment should not be abandoned – there is too much evidence of their beneficial efforts.

Agar, also known as agar agar and kanten in Japan, is a red seaweed, where the flakes or powder are produced by cooking and pressing the sea vegetables and then freeze drying.

Agar is tasteless and is not eaten on its own but used as a gelling agent.  It is different from gelatine, the traditional gelling agent, in two ways.  One is that it is not an animal product but a vegetable and two that it sets at room temperature.

Agar is rich in fibre and is a good source of vitamins E, K and B5, folate, zinc, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese.  It is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

You can substitute powdered agar into any recipe which called for unflavoured gelatine and you just use the same amount.  If you can’t get agar powder which is easier to use as it dissolves more easily, then one teaspoon of agar powder equals one tablespoon of agar flakes.

Agar has zero calories and using it as a weight loss fad has become popular in some parts of the world.  It is known as the Kanten Diet and seems to be working because of the high fibre (approx 80%) content which is helping people to feel more full and has a mild laxative effect.

Agar is also used in the scientific world as a culture medium to grow microbiological speciments.