I am 44 years old and trying to get pregnant for the first time. Do I need to take Folic acid?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have just got married and I am planning to have a child. I am 44 years old have not had a child before and have no medical problems. I wish to check if I need to take any medical tablets like Folic acid, etc or shall I just go proceed naturally. As mentioned before, I have no health issues and neither do I smoke or drink.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Congratulations on your wedding. First thing you should do is to start Folic acid and try for timed intercourse. For that, if your periods are regular you can download an application of period tracking. It will tell you the most fertile days of your cycle. Since you are 44 where ovarian reserve may be on a lower side I will not advise you to waste much time. So while you try for a month or two for natural methods of conception I want you to also get tested in the meantime so that you are ready for any medical intervention for fertility enhancing if needed after two months. So please go for LH (leutinizing hormone), FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), AMH (anti-Mullerian hormone) and TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) blood levels. Also get an OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) and ultrasound pelvis. Your partner can also go for semen analysis to see if the quality of his sperm is good enough. Eat healthily, sleep well and ask your partner also to avoid smoking and alcohol.