Health: The body clock blues: why there's no need to panic; It's a dilemma faced by all of us who want a baby: the younger you are, the better your chances of conceiving - but you don't feel ready yet. Fear not, there are ways to maintain your fertility for longer.

Byline: Anita Naik

One of the best things about being a woman in the 21st century is the extra choice we have when deciding if and when to have a baby. But it sometimes seems that women pay very dearly for delaying the decision to be a mother. Worry about the way our fertility declines as we age can cause many of us sleepless nights. You've probably read the statistics: that your chances of failing to conceive within a year of trying when you are under 30 are one in ten, compared to one in seven between the ages of 30 and 35, and one in five between 35 and 39.

But there is an untold story that these scary statistics don't reveal. And this is that, assuming you have not gone through the menopause, one of the biggest factors influencing your ability to conceive is not your age but your general state of health. The proof of this lies in a three-year programme by Dr Marilyn Glenville, in which couples with previous infertility problems made certain adjustments to their lifestyle and diet. The results were astounding - 81% of the couples, two thirds of whom had unsuccessfully tried IVF, conceived.

Dr Glenville, chairman of Foresight, the Association for the Promotion of Pre-Conceptual Care, says the conclusion we can draw from this is that the answer to enhancing fertility lies in being as healthy as you can be. The British Naturopathic Association and the charity Maternity Alliance are both in agreement, as is Zita West, complementary practitioner to celebrities such as Kate Winslet. Like Dr Glenville, West believes long hours, stress and a bad diet all reduce your chances of having a baby. `What couples have to do,' says Zita, `is make essential lifestyle changes for at least four months before trying for a baby.'

Dr Glenville's programme

You can increase your chances of conceiving - now or in the future - by making the same basic changes as the couples in the study.

Change your diet Much of our food is processed and covered in pesticides and additives, leaving many of us lacking in the vitamins and minerals we need to conceive.

l Eat more nuts, seeds and oily fish - essential for omega-3 and omega- 6 essential fats, which are vital hormone balancers, and selenium, a powerful antioxidant, for optimum fertility.

l Add soya to your diet as it contains phyto-oestrogen - a natural plant oestrogen that can stabilise hormone levels in the body - and has been shown to prevent heavy or long periods, which can affect fertility.

l Choose organic food to reduce your intake of growth promoters and antibiotics, which can have a direct effect on fertility.

l Increase your zinc levels. A deficiency can lead to reduced fertility and an increased risk of miscarriage. The recommended daily dose is 15mg and the best sources are wholemeal breads, cheese, poultry, tuna, eggs and beans.

l Cut out coffee. A study in medical journal The Lancet showed that drinking just one cup a day can halve your chance of conceiving.

l Eat less cheese, cream and meat. A diet high in saturated animal fats can stimulate oestrogen production and compromise fertility.

l Take folic acid supplements. Apart from helping to prevent spina bifida, it is also one of a number of B vitamins needed to produce DNA. The Department of Health recommends women get at least 400mcg a day while trying to conceive and during the first three months of pregnancy.

Quit smoking and cut down on alcohol Smoking alone as much as halves your chances of conception. This is because cigarettes contain cadmium, a heavy toxic metal that stops zinc (essential for fertility) from being absorbed into the body. Researchers in Denmark and at Harvard University have also found that women drinking five or fewer units of alcohol a week were twice as likely to conceive within six months as women who were drinking double that amount.

Maintain a healthy weight In fact, it is body mass index (BMI) rather than what it says on the scales that counts. Your BMI identifies the percentage of body tissue that is fat. As female sex hormones can only be produced with the help of fat cells, a BMI lower than 20 can stop egg release taking place. Being overweight (above a BMI of about 25) also lowers fertility.

Learn to relax Studies have shown that stress can affect a man's sperm count and the quality of sperm produced. In women, the release of the stress hormone prolactin can not only affect her ability to conceive but in extreme cases can stop her ovulating. If you're stressing out about having sex on certain fertile days, remember that research shows that the more enjoyable the sex, the more likely you are to retain active sperm. This is because the contractions caused by an orgasm draw more sperm, and arousal makes the vaginal environment less acidic, allowing sperm to survive for longer.

Further reading

Natural Solutions to Infertility by Marilyn Glenville (pounds 10.99, Piatkus Books); Working Woman's Pregnancy by Hilary Boyd (pounds 10.99, Mitchell Beazley); Natural Pregnancy by Zita West (pounds 12.99, Dorling Kindersley - out in July). A leaflet called Getting Ready for a Baby is available from The Maternity Alliance. Send pounds 1.50, plus a SAE, to The Maternity Alliance, 45 Beech Street, London EC2P 2LX. Call Zita West's clinic on 020-7467 8300.

THE FREEZING OPTION

Freezing your eggs sounds like one way to delay motherhood without compromising your ability to conceive. But it's not easy. James Yeandel from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says, `It is up to individual health authorities to apply for a cryopreservation licence, though to my knowledge no authority has yet asked to do so, and they would in theory give priority to cancer or early menopause sufferers. You could pay for it - there are two private licensed centres (The Care at Park Hospital, Nottingham, and The Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre, London), but egg freezing and fertilisation is not yet 100% successful.' The HFEA granted permission for eggs to be frozen in 1998, but only in the last year has it allowed fertilisation of frozen eggs to begin. The cost of the egg removal and freezing procedure is pounds 1,500, plus pounds 2,800 a year to keep them frozen.