Pregnancy is indeed the most cherished phase in the life of a woman. However, due to some reasons, many women are subjected to a long wait before they enjoy this phase. As per a survey, only eight out of ten women tend to get pregnant within twelve months of trying out, while the rest face difficulties in getting pregnant without putting in all the efforts. 

Fertility drops, as one gets older. Therefore, it is important for women to attain pregnancy at the right time so that there are no complications ahead. But as said, due to certain reasons, pregnancy in some women gets delayed which apparently causes anxiety among them. Let us here understand what are the probable causes that tend to delay pregnancy thus affecting your fertility. 

1. Irregular Periods: This is one common problem that affects your fertility. An irregular period will cause several health issues that would further delay pregnancy. It even disturbs your ovulation cycle that prevents you from knowing your fertile days in a month. It can even be indicative of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a condition responsible of affecting your hormone levels, periods as well as ovulation.  

2. Past pelvic infection: Any sort of pelvic infection that results into unusual pain during intercourse or at the time of menses, can prevent you from getting pregnant timely. 

3. Unhealthy lifestyle: Your lifestyle also plays a major role in helping you attain pregnancy. If you are in the habit of gorging on street food or too much of fatty foods, chances are high that your fertility will get affected. Also, if your body abstains from any physical activity including exercise, fertility certainly stands at a risk. Smoking and drinking too can cause problems when trying to get pregnant.

4. Stress: You might be wondering as to how stress has made it to this list. Well, health experts say that though stress is not the decisive factor affecting pregnancy but it does play a role. It affects hypothalamus; the part of brain meant to regulate hormones that are needed to release a woman's eggs. When stress takes a toll on the body, the ovulation process gets delayed thereby causing a delay in pregnancy. 

5. Sperm: The quality as well as the quantity of your partner's sperm too affects your chances of becoming pregnant. The production of sperm gets majorly affected by any untreated sexually transmitted infection, smoking, drinking and any injury to the testicles.

6. Implantation: There are times when fertilization does take place however, the egg fails to implant safely in the womb lining and is thus lost at the time of your next period. This is because of the length of your luteal phase.

How to boost your chance of becoming pregnant?

• Be aware of your cycle so that you can track your ovulation time.

• Both you and your partner must abstain from smoking and drinking 

• It would be better if you both can indulge in moderate and regular exercise regime 

• Stick to a healthy diet and avoid gorging on junk food

• Cut down weight if you happen to be overweight

• Limit your intake of coffee as well as other caffeine drinks

• De-stress yourself and make effort to keep stress at bay

• Sleep for 6–8 hours every night

When to seek medical help?

If you happen to be a younger woman, you can wait for 12 months before checking on the reasons affecting your fertility. But if you are older than 35 years, try for six months and in absence of a satisfactory result, get medical help without further delay.

Also, keep in mind that both you and your partner will have to undergo the fertility tests as it is not a problem confined only to women. The fault can be with anyone, the sooner you get help, the better it would be!