Did you know that staying well-hydrated plays a very important role in achieving and maintaining fertility?

This should come as no surprise as water plays an important role in almost all bodily functions. About 55-60% of your body is made up of water. For a newborn baby, that percentage is much higher at about 78%.

Being dehydrated negatively impacts your health under normal circumstances and definitely hampers your chances of getting pregnant in many ways. For men, dehydration can lead to decreased sperm quality and less volume of semen. For women, dehydration results in poor egg health, and less cervical mucus secretion which is vital for the transportation of sperm to the fallopian tubes.

Once the egg is fertilized, the endometrium needs to become a thick, cushioning, and nourishing environment for the embryo to grow. As your body expands during pregnancy, your blood volume also increases. Hormones need to be transported to different parts of the body, harmful toxins must be flushed out and eliminated, and essential nutrients need to be carried to the growing baby. Water is the primary mover in all these functions. In addition to these physiological functions, becoming dehydrated can put you in a bad mood, disrupting the mind-body connection, which is important for maintaining your fertility.

For a woman, the recommended daily water intake is 2.2 liters or 9 cups and for a man, it is 3 liters or 12 cups. This will vary depending on the weather, your age, activity level, and other food and fluids that you consume. A simple way to know if you are well hydrated is the color of your urine. Straw-colored urine indicates good hydration, dark-colored urine indicates dehydration, and colorless urine indicates you are drinking too much water.

Other signs of dehydration include dry lips, dry skin, tiredness, irritability, and headaches. Drinking sufficient water will help you avoid all these symptoms, along with putting you in the right frame of mind to welcome your baby.