Working couples hardly see each other during the week.Travelling, work load and other stress factors leave you bogged down with no energy and enthusiasm to have sex.

Sometimes when a couple is trying for a baby, sex becomes a mechanical process. If you take a break to try for a baby, more often than not, it becomes a compulsive activity and automatically you don't feel like doing it.

If you are trying to have a baby, you consistently need to have sex three times a week during the ovulation period.

How does your diet affect Infertility?

There are a lot of myths in India regarding foods that cause infertility. For example, you should not eat papaya or pineapple if you are trying for a baby.

These are myths. No food can cause infertility or boost fertility. What you need is a balanced diet.

If you have a balanced diet with good amounts of fruits and vegetables, you are likely to have healthy eggs. Obesity is one the major causes of infertility. When you have too much fat in your body, the FSH hormone level increases and that tampers with your ovaries.

So many patients have conceived immediately after they managed to lose the excessive amount of weight.

Whether you are overweight or underweight, both will make it difficult for you to conceive. So think before you go on any of those yo-yo diets while trying to conceive.

Does drinking and smoking cause infertility?

Excessive smoking in men can bring down the sperm count drastically.

For example, if your husband is a chain smoker, his sperm count will fall from 80 million to 15 million over a period of time.

But even if he leaves smoking or cuts it down to one cigarette a day for 3 to 4 months, his sperm count will come back to normal.

So make sure he stops smoking when you are trying for a baby. Excessive drinking and smoking will tamper with fertility as well.

However, social drinking once in a while will not affect fertility.

What are some of the precautions one must take before trying for a baby?

After consulting your gynaecologist, you can start taking folic acid tablets while you are trying for the baby. These tablets prevent nuero-tubal defects in the foetus.