by Liz Sinclair

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

Most couples, at some point, will want to start a family. The journey of conceiving a baby can be exciting and deepen a couple's relationship, but it can also become stressful and take the fun out of having sex. Many couples become anxious if several fertile cycles come and go without the woman becoming pregnant. Even if all conditions are optimal, a woman still only has a 25-30% chance of conceiving during her fertile cycle.

The thing to remember is that conception is a mutual effort and may take time. Couples can both take steps to assure they are avoiding foods and activities that limit fertility and including those things that promote it. There are many natural ways to increase fertility, including diet, exercise, reducing stress levels, tracking ovulation and overall health.

Here's a list of tips to help improve fertility naturally:

1. Women should begin taking essential supplements when they start trying to get pregnant, to build up vital nutrient reserves in their bodies. Taking daily doses of at least 400 micrograms of folic acid, two to three months before conception, reduces the chances of having a baby with a neural tube defect by 50 - 70%. Take at least 2.4 micrograms of Vitamin B12 daily. B12 deficiency is also linked to neural tube defects. Women also need to build up blood iron levels before conception, as pregnancy will use up reserves of this essential mineral. Women with low blood iron levels at the beginning of a pregnancy can wind up with post-partum anemia.

2. Make sex fun. Couples cannot have babies without having sex, but if they view it as just for baby making, then sex will start to feel like work. The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby states, "Do not have sex every day. If you're trying to maximize your chances of conceiving, it's better to go every other day around the time you are ovulating. You are also more fresh, and therefore can put your heart into making sex as pleasurable and romantic as possible."

3. Make sure to have pre-conception checkups with a doctor or midwife. Ask for the last daily appointment so the health provider will have time to answer questions without other patients waiting. Several key items on a pre-conception checklist for a woman should be sexually transmitted disease (STD) screening, learning how to monitor basal body temperature to determine her fertile days and getting a blood test to check for anemia.

4. A woman should get tests for STD's before she tries to conceive. Make screening part of a pre-conception

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