Trying to conceive a child isn’t always a walk in the park, and with many factors to take into consideration whilst trying to get pregnant, most women don’t realise that sleep can play a big part in the process. Fertility specialists recommend that women should aim to get between 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night to help boost their fertility levels.
Researchers from Kobe, Japan, asked 208 women who were struggling to get pregnant to complete a survey discussing their sleep quality. The researchers took into account how many hours of sleep they get, whether they suffered any disturbances whilst they slept, use of sleeping medication and how much alcohol they drank.
The study found that 26.8 per cent of the women suffered mild sleeping difficulties and 8.2 per cent suffered severe difficulties whilst trying to sleep. The study also reported that “Good sleep patterns can be one of the important daily habits for patients to improve their response to fertility treatments and increase their chances of pregnancy.”
Sleep is essential in order to have a healthy mind and body. This is because whilst we have our down time sleeping our bodies are repairing cells and regulating hormones, so we need the right amount of sleep for bodies to be able to this effectively.
Other tips
A main factor to a good night’s sleep is staying fit and eating well.
Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday, to help your body get into a sleeping pattern which will after time become a lot easier for you to fall asleep at a certain time.
Make sure you’re in a comfortable sleeping environment where you will find it easy to relax (fresh bedding and a dark room usually does the trick.)
Finally, turn your phone off when you go to bed to reduce late night social media temptations and a great night’s sleep should hopefully come your way.