Is your lifestyle behind the cause of infertility? Fertility experts answer
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 2.0 in 2019-21 and health experts have also witnessed an increase in the infertility rate among younger couples in metros.
This may be due to lifestyle or late marriages and as the fitness experts tried to deep dive into the reasons, lifestyle-related infertility and long working hours were found to be recognizable correlates of infertility.
Common reproductive issues affect women’s fertility, including endometriosis (pelvic inflammatory disease), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or irregular ovulation cycles. Male partners suffer from low sperm count due to stress levels due to long working hours, geographical and climatic conditions and bad lifestyle choices.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Purnima Sood, Co-Founder and Head of Fertility Coach Programs at Fertility Dost, revealed, “Yes, 70% of infertility cases are due to lifestyle issues. We have seen that the couples from urban cities often overcome infertility easily when they focus on managing and moderating lifestyle. Lack of sleep, sedentary lifestyle, high stress, unmindful eating, smoking, drugs, alcohol and not drinking enough water are all responsible for affecting reproductive health. PCOS and low sperm count are the most common issues leading to infertility and interestingly both of these can be tamed with lifestyle modification.”
Shuchita Gupta, Co-Founder of Care4parents.in, shared, “The entire relationship of a couple is based on the level of love and companionship they share amongst themselves. A couple should be a unit, who sit and share and talk and discuss anything and everything. The process of sharing de-clutters the mind and a relaxed mind helps with all the other senses in the body and to share properly from both the sides requires enough time between reaching home after work and going to bed. If any of the spouses comes back late regularly, talking and sharing become less and less giving way to arguments and fights or just discussing some pressing matters which must be attended to. Emotions like stress and anxiety can negatively affect one’s hormones.”
She added, “During Covid-19, a lot of people went to their hometowns as it was work-from-home and surprisingly, a lot of patients undergoing fertility treatment were suddenly reporting success in their endeavour to start a family. The only logical conclusion seemed to be the change in scenery, change in the pace of life and consequently change in the stress levels of the couples in question.”
Infertility can be conquered with the right tools, information and the right path. Don’t waste anymore time as age impacts infertility.