What can I do to promote female fertility?

Healthy lifestyle choices can help you promote fertility. Take steps to:

• Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or significantly underweight can inhibit normal ovulation.
• Prevent sexually transmitted infections. Infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea are a leading cause of infertility for women.
• Avoid the night shift, if possible. Regularly working the night shift might put you at higher risk of infertility, possibly by affecting hormone production. If you do work the night shift, try to get enough sleep when you're not working.

While stress won't keep you from getting pregnant, consider minimizing stress and practicing healthy coping methods — such as relaxation techniques — when you're trying to conceive.