One of the queries we receive most often is from worried women because they don't get pregnant. But many times this concern comes early, which could in turn negatively affect the conception.
So, When to start worrying if pregnancy does not arrive? It is claimed that it is after a year trying to get pregnant, when frequent sexual intercourse is maintained for it and it is not achieved. But let's see with some more figures that it is not so easy to get pregnant "at first".
If we talk about women between 20 and 29 years old, it has been estimated that the number of intercourse needed to get a pregnancy is 108 in women (another study spoke 104 times). But of course, it is not the same if the woman is older (then the number of intercourse increases).
Another factor to consider is the importance of the frequency of sexual intercourse and not just the number. According to the investigations, the relations maintained every two or three days optimize the possibility of pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends that to increase the chances of having a child, the optimal withdrawal time is between 2 and 7 days.
There are also studies that increase the number of relationships and recommend making love every day to achieve pregnancy. Paradoxically, it can be counterproductive to carry out the relationships programmatically, controlling ovulation to calculate fertile days, due to the stress that this entails.
But it is also true that we can keep track of our menstrual cycle without becoming obsessed or stressed and thus take advantage of our body's knowledge to achieve pregnancy.
All of the above determines that in each ovulatory cycle, couples without fertility problems and regular and unprotected sex have a 20-30% chance of getting pregnant.
With regular sex and in the absence of contraceptive measures 85% of couples will conceive during the first year; If we wait another year, 93% of couples will do it.
But it is not usual to wait so long before worrying and also after twelve months we can go to the specialist to interview us and do the relevant exams to determine if there are any fertility problem. He will advise us about the steps to follow to determine them.
Twelve months and there is no pregnancy, are we sterile?
Probably, nothing worrisome happens and you are simply in that percentage that achieves the second year. But the anxiety that produces not knowing anything, worrying because pregnancy does not occur and we don't know the reason, it also affects the chances of achieving it. But it is the specialists who have to determine if there are problems, performing the relevant analysis and recommending the steps to follow in each case.
Remember also that the decrease in reproductive capacity is very significant with age, both for women (especially from 35-40 years) and for men, although to a lesser extent. Reproduction options are a good help in many cases (also for younger women in cases of male fertility problems ...).
The ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology) therefore defines what it is fertility and infertility in the following terms:
- Fertility: ability to get pregnant after a year of regular exposure to intercourse.
- Sterility: inability of the couple to get pregnant after a year of regular exposure to intercourse.
If it takes more than a year to get pregnant does not mean that there is infertility. As we have indicated above, more couples become pregnant throughout the second year. In this case, ESHRE introduces a new concept:
- Subfertility: ability to get pregnant without medical help but in a period longer than one year.
But don't wait so long to consult the specialist. Answering the headline's question: If I don't get pregnant, when do I start worrying? Go to the specialist after twelve months of not achieving pregnancy and you will see how there is probably no reason to worry and it is a matter of a few more months.
Photos | Thinkstock More information | Serfertility in Babies and more | How many times you have to make love to get pregnant, how to improve male fertility?
