Smoking also increases the risk of miscarriage, so give up before you try to get pregnant. If a pregnant woman drinks heavily it puts her unborn child at risk. Restrict your alcohol intake as soon as you want to try for a baby, to a maximum of 21 units a week for men and 14 units a week for women. In particular, avoid binges. Recreational drugs such as cocaine may also reduce fertility and be harmful during pregnancy.
Stress can be a major factor in infertility.
Take a look at your life, spot the stress and try to find ways to deal with it. Some risks to fertility can't be avoided - but being aware of them now will keep you alert to the possible need for extra help. There are some tests that you can do which might help to give you an idea whether things are generally working as they should - although these are no guarantee that you are fertile. This isn't usually done until a couple are actually being investigated for infertility - but if you are worried because, for example you have had mumps as an adult, it may be possible to have a sperm test done as soon as you start trying for a family. However, this may not be available on the NHS and again it is no guarantee of fertility.