Over the last 20 years, there have been numerous studies that have looked at the impact of lifestyle on fertility and miscarriage. Several studies in the 1980s and 1990s have shown that caffeine reduces fertility, the ability to get pregnant and increases the risk of miscarriage . More recently, a large, well performed study found that even small amounts of caffeine can cause miscarriage. Women who drank large amounts of caffeine had almost double the risk for miscarriage. Other studies have demonstrated that drinking alcohol is linked with infertility and that smoking is associated with infertility and reduces In vitro fertilization pregnancy rates.

New study on lifestyle and fertility

A new study presented at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) has again found that drinking caffeine during pregnancy is as bad as alcohol use or being obese and could significantly decrease a woman’s chances of getting pregnant. In the study, drinking large amounts of coffee reduced a woman’s chances of getting pregnant by over 25%. The study examined 8000 women who had previous IVF treatment. 16% of these patients went onto conceive naturally in the following years. Of these subjects, women who drank coffee daily were 26% less likely to conceive naturally. This number is comparable with other factors known to inhibit a woman’s ability to conceive naturally. Patients who drank alcohol 3 times a week or more were also 26% less likely to conceive naturally. Smokers who smoked as little as one cigarette a day were 44% less likely to conceive and overweight women were 29% less likely to conceive. Recommendations

These results show that women have the ability to influence their fertility by making healthier choices. By losing weight and removing caffeine, alcohol, and smoking from your life can result in a significant increase in the chances for pregnancy and reduce the risk for miscarriage.