National Baby Making Day: Why 2 January Is The Most Popular Day For Couples To Conceive | HuffPost Life

Parents also shared methods they believe helped them conceive.

Doug Shields— SWNS

Today [2 January] has been dubbed ‘National Baby Making Day’, with most parents-to-be planning to have sex shortly after 10pm tonight.

Official figures show the most common day for a baby to be born in the UK is 26 September - 38 weeks after 2 January, which is the length of the average pregnancy.

ChannelMum.com surveyed 2,139 couples and the majority agreed that 2 January is the top day for trying to conceive as “the drinking and partying is over” and they want to spend time together.

And 10.36pm was revealed to be the most common time to have sex for 71% of couples surveyed.

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The study revealed almost a quarter of parents (23%) want Christmas-conceived babies, with 17% having previously fallen pregnant over Christmas, while a further 6% plan to do so in 2018.

The most popular reason to want a Christmas-conceived baby is so he or she would be born in September, making them the eldest in the school year, with 27% of mums and dads claiming this was important to them.

Channel Mum also shared some of the things parents tried that they believe helped them conceive.

“Falling pregnant isn’t always easy so couples who have been trying a while will attempt almost anything to help,” said Siobhan Freegard, founder of ChannelMum.com.

“While there isn’t much medical science to back up these tips, our members swear they have all helped and we have hundreds of bouncing new babies to prove it.”

Some of the “tips” were strange (eating McDonalds chips immediately after sex, tried by 3% of mums) and random (one in 10 claimed wearing socks in bed and keep the woman’s feet warm helped them become a mum), while others proved to be pretty popular - getting the woman to put her legs in the air and pretend to ride a bicycle for at least three minutes was a method used by 58% of mothers.

But for those who really want to improve their chances of conception, the NHS has science-backed advice for couples. These include:

1. Have sex within a day or so of ovulation (when your ovaries are releasing an egg). This usually happens about 14 days after the first day of your last period.

2. Quit or reduce smoking and drinking - The NHS states: “Smoking may reduce fertility in women, including passive smoking”.

3. Ensure your weight is “healthy” - Your weight is considered “healthy” if your body mass index (BMI) is between 20 and 25. Women whose BMI is more than 30 or under 19 may have problems conceiving.

For more information on increasing your chances of conceiving, visit the NHS website here.

Before You Go

10 Things You May Not Know About Your Fertility

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1. Your fertility is mostly determined by genetics, which influences how many eggs you are born with. Doctors believe that the number of eggs you have at birth determines the length of time you will remain fertile. At birth, women have about two million eggs in their ovaries. For every egg ovulated during your reproductive life, about 1,000 eggs undergo programmed cell death. Other things, such as smoking cigarettes and certain types of chemotherapy, can accelerate egg cell death and promote an earlier menopause.

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2. Regular menstrual cycles are a sign of regular ovulation.Most women have regular cycles lasting between 24 and 35 days. This is usually a sign of regular, predictable ovulation. Women who do not ovulate regularly have irregular menstrual cycles. Those who do not ovulate at all may have a genetic condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

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3. Basal temperature charting does not predict ovulation.An older method of tracking ovulation involves taking your oral body temperature each morning before getting out of bed. This is called basal body temperature. This method is used to spot a rise in basal temperature, which is a sign that progesterone is being produced. The main problem with using this method is that your temperature rises after ovulation has already occurred. This makes it more difficult to time intercourse at an optimal time for conception. A better method is to use over-the-counter urine ovulation predictor test kits such as Clearblue Easy. These kits test for the hormone that prompts ovulation, which is called luteinizing hormone (LH).

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4. Most women with blocked fallopian tubes are completely unaware they may have had a prior pelvic infection.About 10 percent of infertility cases are due to tubal disease, either complete blockage or pelvic scarring causing tubal malfunction. One major cause of tubal disease is a prior pelvic infection from a sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia. These infections can cause so few symptoms that you may be completely unaware your tubes are affected. This is why fertility physicians will order a dye test of the tubes, called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), if you have been trying and failing to conceive for 6 months or longer.

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5. In most cases, stress does not cause infertility. Except in rare cases of extreme physical or emotional distress, women will keep ovulating regularly. Conceiving while on vacation is likely less about relaxation than about coincidence and good timing of sex.

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6. By age 44, most women are infertile, even if they are still ovulating regularly. Even with significant fertility treatment, rates of conception are very low after age 43. Most women who conceive in their mid-40s with fertility treatment are using donated eggs from younger women.

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7. Having fathered a pregnancy in the past does not guarantee fertility. Sperm counts can change quite a bit with time, so never assume that a prior pregnancy guarantees fertile sperm. Obtaining a semen analysis is the only way to be sure the sperm are still healthy!

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8. For the most part, diet has little or nothing to do with fertility. Despite popular press, there is little scientific data showing that a particular diet or food promotes fertility. One limited study did suggest a Mediterranean diet with olive oil, fish and legumes may help promote fertility.

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9. Vitamin D may improve results of fertility treatments. A recent study from the University of Southern California suggested that women who were undergoing fertility treatments, but had low vitamin D levels, might have lower rates of conception. This vitamin is also essential during pregnancy. At Pacific Fertility Center, we recommend our patients take 2,000-4,000 IU per day.

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10. Being either underweight or overweight is clearly linked with lowered levels of fertility. The evidence in recent years is that obesity is clearly linked with a longer time to conception. Having a body mass index less than 18 or over 32 is associated with problems ovulating and conceiving, as well as problems during pregnancy.

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