Things NOT to do in the TWW

[bluemoon2468]

I'm aware that, in reality, none of these things are likely to have an overwhelming effect on implantation, but I'm relatively new to TTC and I've been reading into things that have been found (in some studies) to have a significantly negative impact on conception if they take place during the TWW. I'm trying to compile a list of the things I will try to avoid this cycle! So far I have:

Caffeine
Alcohol
Anti-inflammatories
Hot tubs/saunas/very hot baths
Sex (mixed evidence for and against)

Is there anything else that anyone's read up on that I've missed?

Anything that is likely to give you food poisoning (which isn’t much, unless you are in a habit of eating at dodgy restaurants!)

You sure about avoiding sex? I’m sure I read something about sex after conception has no effect on initial pregnancy rates, but actually has a slight correlation with positive outcomes by 6 weeks.

Alcohol doesn’t have to be totally avoided during the TWW. Your baby doesn’t exchange substances with your blood stream until the placenta has developed, so unless you’re getting totally paralytic there’s no impact. Likewise, caffeine only really needs to be avoided during TWW if you have a short luteal phase (10 days or less between ovulation and bleeding), and the evidence even for that is quite limited.

Do you have any reason to believe there might be problems with your cycle? If not, I wouldn’t advise being overly strict, it just increases the pressure on you, and as you’ve been reading up, I bet you’ve seen the correlation between stress and low fertility....

I would be careful which studies you are looking at that state 'significance'. Lots of studies are flawed and not peer reviewed properly.

Even if these studies were reliable, you cannot live your life stressing about what to avoid whilst ttc. It could take you a good while so make sure you are keeping yourself healthy, happy and relaxed.

Good luck :)

@crazychemist sex is a tricky one. One study found that sex helped implantation for women undergoing IVF, whereas another very large study found that women conceiving naturally were half as likely to conceive if they had sex 2+ times during the TWW. They thought it might be something to do with contractions of the uterus during orgasm. Alcohol and caffeine have also been found to lower implantation rates in women ttc with no known fertility issues.

I know it doesn't help to be stressed 😊 Things like baths, caffeine and alcohol are very easy for me to cut out during the TWW without causing any stress at all, so if they're going to improve my chances of conceiving I just feel like I might as well give it a go!

To be fair I understand trying to be careful but with my first I didn't know I was pregnant so in my tww I trained hard (running, weights) drank a lot of coffee and alcohol, had sex and ate whatever I wanted to and she stuck and is now a healthy 3 year old. I personally therefore think it's safe to do these things and I can't justify putting my life on hold for a bfp that might not even turn up. I think we can put our lives on hold too much when ttc and this then leads to more stress and this is probably what affects fertility the most. You hear of women ttc for months and months and the month they stop and chill, drink etc they then get their bfp.
Try not to stress too much it'll happen xx