Many People Trying To Conceive in U.K. Not in Best Physical Condition, Study Says

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 05 Sep 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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Many couples in the United Kingdom do not take steps to guarantee they are in optimal health while trying to conceive, according to a survey of more than 2,000 women by... Pregnancy & Birth magazine, BBC News reports. Forty-four percent of respondents attempting to conceive said they tried to eat a healthy diet, 68% said they continued to drink alcohol and 20% said they drank "far too much." Of the 49% of respondents who were smokers, 26% quit while trying to get pregnant. Forty-seven percent of respondents said their male partners smoked, and out of that group, 23% quit. In addition, one-third of women surveyed and their male partners trying to conceive were overweight, and 30% of couples said they took recreational drugs. "People need to realize the way they live has a direct effect on their fertility," Sarah Hart, the magazine's editor, said, adding, "Giving up smoking and alcohol gives couples a better chance of conception and also means their baby will be free of these major pollutants during the early weeks of pregnancy when all the major organs of the fetus are forming" (BBC News, 9/1).

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