Trying for a baby? Get seven hours sleep every night and go to bed and get up at the same time each day

Women trying for a baby could drastically improve their chances of conceiving if they sleep for between seven and eight hours a night, researchers claim.

Having a routine – going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day – may also significantly boost success rates, they say.

Conversely those who regularly lie in – or those who don’t get enough sleep – are harming their chances of becoming pregnant, according to a study.

Sleeping for between seven and eight hours a night will drastically improve a woman's chances of conceiving, researchers claim

Academics believe the amount of sleep we have alters the levels of certain hormones which affect fertility.

They also suspect a woman’s sleeping habits are strongly linked to her lifestyle including diet, exercise and drinking habits which will all influence her ability to reproduce.

In a study of 656 women having IVF, they found those who had between seven and eight hours sleep a night were 25 per cent more likely to become pregnant than those who got nine hours or more.

Similarly they were 15 per cent more likely to conceive than women who slept for less than seven hours a night.

Although their research only concerned women having IVF, the academics believe all women trying for a baby would benefit from having seven or eight hours sleep a night. It was suggested this could start from three weeks before trying to conceive.

For years experts have advised adults to sleep for between seven and nine hours each night to cut the risk of heart disease, obesity, certain cancers and even dementia.

But until now there has been very little research into its effects on fertility. Dr Daniel Park and colleagues from Inje University in South Korea found women having IVF who got between seven and eight hours sleep a night were 53 per cent likely to become pregnant.

Having a routine by going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day may also significantly boost success rates

The rates fell to 43 per cent for those who got nine hours or more and 46 per cent for those who had less than six.

Dr Park, who presented his findings at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Boston, said: ‘Most commonly people think that sleep can only have a good impact on fertility but my study showed excessive amounts – more than eight hours – can be bad.

‘Heavy sleepers may have irregular lifestyles, they get up late, miss breakfast, go to bed late and this all affects their fertility.’

Dr Park does not yet have an explanation for his findings but other experts believe that sleep affects certain hormones.

Dr Hyan Shim, who runs a fertility clinic in Hwasung, South Korea, said too much sleep raises the levels of the hormone prolactin which is known to impair fertility. And women who get too little sleep are likely to have higher levels of certain stress hormones such as cortisol which have a similar negative effect on their ability to reproduce.

Dr Park is now planning to research whether the time women go to bed and get up affects fertility. He suspects those who keep to the same bedtimes and set their alarms for the same time each day will have higher success rates.

Professor Charles Kingsland, who specialises in reproductive medicine at Liverpool Women’s Hospital said: ‘It’s an interesting study for many reasons.

‘What needs to be considered is that whether too much sleep is affecting the IVF or whether it’s reflective of someone’s lifestyle.

‘If a person only has a short amount of sleep it may be that they are stressed. If they sleep for more than ten hours you might assume that they don’t exercise, are overweight which all affect fertility.’

And Dr Stuart Lavery, a consultant in gynaecology at the IVF Hammersmith Clinic in London said: ‘This is a fascinating question.

‘Sleep as well as exposure to light is thought to have important impacts on reproductive function in animals.’

But despite the findings Dr Lavery said it was too early to officially advise all women trying to have babies to get seven or eight hours a night.

There is now compelling evidence that the lifestyles of both women and men including their diets, how much they exercise and even how stressed they are greatly influence their fertility.

Only yesterday research showed that men who eat just one rasher of bacon a day could be impairing their chances of becoming fathers.

Harvard academics found that processed meat appeared to damage the quality of sperm.

Those who want to boost the odds of having a child should eat fish instead. they said.



