9 surprising things that could be affecting your ability to get pregnant

Many of us have spent years trying to stop ourselves getting pregnant, but once we’ve make the tricky decision to start trying for a baby we hope it is going to be a relatively smooth, er, ride.

But fertility can be a complicated, confusing and, in some cases, crushingly disappointing beast. And it turns out your ability to conceive can be affected by many more factors than you might have thought.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 people conducted by RMANJ, over 90% of the respondents thought that getting pregnant wasn’t going to be a problem at all.

But aside from the birds and the bees basics, many of us aren’t aware just how many things can have a bearing on our ability to conceive. In fact, a recent survey by the American Infertility Association (AIA) revealed that only one in more than 12,000 women could answer 15 questions about their reproductive life cycle! Yikes.

“The medical community doesn’t yet understand every single factor that impacts a woman’s chances of conceiving, but one thing we do know is that it’s not always as simple as ‘have sex, get pregnant,’” explains Lindsay Meisel, Science Editor for fertility bracelet Ava.

“There are several lifestyle factors that we know have a negative impact on fertility, and luckily, they are easy to avoid once you know what they are.”

So if you’re currently on the TTC (that’s trying to conceive in fertility forum speak) merry-go-round or you’d just like to ramp up your chances of getting pregnant, here are the surprising things that could be hindering your baby-making potential.

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