American scientist: It turns out that there is really the best season for pregnancy!

American scientist: It turns out that there is really the best season for pregnancy! After controlling for seasonal changes, the researchers found no significant changes. These factors include frequency of sexual intercourse, intake of sugary drinks, smoking, and medication.

On January 31, 2020, Human Reproduction magazine, an Oxford academic journal, published an online research paper on scientific pregnancy preparation. Researchers pointed out that the best time for couples to prepare for pregnancy should be late autumn and early winter because of the speed at which the wife conceives. Faster.

The title of the paper is: Seasonal patterns in fecundability in North America and Denmark: a preconception cohort study. The Chinese translation is “Seasonal patterns in fecundability in North America and Denmark: a preconception cohort study.” The main author is from Boston University Public Health. College.

Data of 14,331 pregnant women

This study used data from 14,331 pregnant women who had not been pregnant for more than six months. These data came from two independent survey programs, which were based on 5827 American and Canadian women under the Boston University PRESTO program, and Ohu, Denmark. 8504 Danish women in the SG/SF program of the University of Slovakia.

Note: Denmark is a Nordic country with a higher latitude.

Subsequently, every two months, the researchers will conduct a detailed examination of these women until they are pregnant or preparing for a 12-menstrual cycle. During this period, each woman needs to provide information about the frequency of sexual intercourse, menstruation, smoking, diet, education and All information such as income, as shown in the figure below.

After controlling for seasonal changes, the researchers found no significant changes. These factors include frequency of sexual intercourse, intake of sugary drinks, smoking, and medication.

Women’s fertility peaked in late November

After obtaining the data, the research team explored the seasonal patterns of couples’ conception. The results showed that women’s fertility would decline at the end of spring and reach a peak at the end of autumn, as shown in the figure below, where figure a is The women’s data in the PRESTO survey, and Figure b is the women’s data in the SG/SF survey. It can be seen that this cyclical trend is more significant among couples in low-latitude regions (PRESTO)! Note: “Fertility” refers to the probability of conception within one menstrual cycle.

In this regard, lead author Amelia K. Wesselink pointed out that compared with Danes, North Americans are more likely to start conceiving in the fall, perhaps because they prefer to give birth in the less busy summer.

Subsequently, after taking into account the influencing factors of fertility patterns, the researchers found that, as shown in the figure below, the combined effect of seasonal factors on human fertility in North America was as high as 16%, while the Danes only appeared 8% in autumn and spring. In the southern states of the United States, the seasonal birth pattern brings even greater population changes (45%). Among them, late November is the peak period of conception.

Research summary

This study reveals the time when couples are most likely to start conceiving. Researchers have found that women conceive faster in late fall and early winter, especially for residents of the southern states of the United States.
In addition, the study also found that although couples in North America and Denmark are most likely to start trying to conceive in September, they have the greatest chance of conceiving until late November and early December. This situation is particularly noticeable in low latitudes.

Amelia Wesselink, the first author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher in epidemiology at Boston University, believes that “There are currently many studies that focus on seasonal patterns of birth, but these studies do not consider when couples started trying to conceive and how long they were pregnant. .”

The researchers said that although this study has not been able to determine the reasons for the seasonal changes in fertility, future research can continue to explore and verify several hypotheses about seasonal variables and how these variables ultimately affect fertility. Among them, these variables Including meteorological variables (such as temperature and humidity), vitamin D intake, and environmental exposure (such as air pollution).

(source:internet, reference only)

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