This content is for educational purposes only. It has been reviewed for scientific accuracy, but it does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding medical questions or fertility treatment decisions.
Reviewed for scientific accuracy by: Dr. Mona Bungum
Last reviewed: October 2026
Lifestyle matters for fertility. A BMC Public Health study found that women with 4–5 healthy habits had a 59% lower risk of infertility.
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takes 3 minutes to complete00:00:01 Ever wonder what happens when you're asleep, or think about why you even need sleep? A lot of people think that sleep is just this unconscious event, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Sleep is very much this active, critical, complex and biological process that we need in order for our brains and bodies to function and thrive. In fact, in certain stages of your sleep cycle, your brain is just as active as it is when you're awake. sleep cycle, your brain is just as active as it is when you're awake.
00:00:37 Sleep impacts every aspect of our health and well-being, including our physical health, our cognitive health, and our mental well-being. During the night, muscles and tissues get repaired, your immunity gets boosted, and sleep helps regulate and balance your hormone levels. Sleep also contributes to your metabolic health, which refers to a person's levels of blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, a person's levels of blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure,
00:01:03 and weight, and these factors directly relate to a person's risk for things like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Learning gets consolidated during sleep, and importantly, sleep is absolutely necessary for stress and overall emotional regulation. So how does this all relate to fertility? In a nutshell, you want your brain and body to be in an optimal state In a nutshell, you want your brain and body to be in an optimal state of health to conceive, and getting good quality sleep and getting
00:01:34 enough sleep can help you get there. On the other hand, not getting the sleep that you need may have a negative impact on fertility. While there is still a significant lack of research on the impact of sleep disorders on reproduction, there is growing evidence that indicates sleep may be essential to reproductive function in a number of direct and indirect ways. For example, number of direct and indirect ways. For example, disrupted sleep patterns or insufficient sleep can interfere with
00:02:08 hormone levels and other processes that are critical for fertility. We know that elevated stress levels and stress hormones. So things like cortisol, for example, can interfere with the secretion of reproductive hormones. And there's this really important bidirectional relationship between stress and sleep. Sleep helps lower your levels of stress and anxiety, but stress can Sleep helps lower your levels of stress and anxiety, but stress can also prevent you from sleeping. Poor sleep or chronic sleep
00:02:37 deprivation can disrupt the menstrual cycle and lead to irregular ovulation, and not getting enough sleep can also contribute to weight gain and insulin resistance, both of which can negatively affect fertility. For men, inadequate sleep can reduce sperm quality and lead to lower testosterone levels. And for both sexes, short sleep duration may lead to And for both sexes, short sleep duration may lead to reduced libido, which can decrease the likelihood of conception.
00:03:06 Think about it if you're tired, stressed, and worn out, You're probably not as motivated to make a baby. If you're someone who has trouble sleeping at night or feeling energized during the day, or are just looking at ways to optimize your sleep to help optimize your fertility outcomes, well, I have really good news for you. You can improve your sleep. I have really good news for you. You can improve your sleep. As a former insomniac, I fixed mine and as a sleep coach,
00:03:36 I can help make your sleep better. Sleep is a modifiable behavior, meaning you can change it for the better through some really simple behavioral and lifestyle changes. Part of my job is to identify and address the imbalances that are impacting a person's sleep. But I'm also a sleep educator, so before my clients make any big changes, it's really important for them to know the biological changes, it's really important for them to know the biological basics about how sleep happens. So I want to share some of that
00:04:05 info with you. What guides your sleep wake cycle is something called your circadian rhythm and sleep, drive or otherwise known as sleep pressure. You can think of your circadian rhythm as your body's master clock ticking away inside your brain on about a 24 hour cycle. This clock influences many brain on about a 24 hour cycle. This clock influences many biological processes in our body, like when we feel hungry or full. Your body temperature, heart rate, the release of hormones,
00:04:38 and the sleep wake cycle. So when you sleep and when you're awake now, your body loves having consistency and routine. And so if you do things like eat, sleep, move, and get the right amount of light at around the same time each day, that helps regulate and strengthen that internal body clock, which is key for sleep. The second thing that causes sleep to happen is something called sleep pressure or sleep drive. And that kind of refers to the amount of time you can stay awake before you start feeling sleepy again.
00:05:15 Every moment you're awake, a sleep promoting chemical called adenosine builds up in your brain. And the more time you spend awake, the higher your sleep pressure will be. I like to imagine that sleep pressure is like a balloon that fills up as the day goes on. So when you wake up in the morning, fills up as the day goes on. So when you wake up in the morning, there's no air in the balloon. But as you go about your day, there are things that you can do to make that balloon bigger.
00:05:40 For example, being physically active or waking up at the same time each day and staying awake longer. On the other hand, there are things that can take the air out of that balloon or decrease that sleep pressure, such as drinking coffee too late in the day or taking a really long nap. Now you want your sleep pressure the day or taking a really long nap. Now you want your sleep pressure to be nice and full and tight, because the higher your sleep pressure is, the more likely you'll be able to fall asleep and have that
00:06:10 really good quality deep sleep. So these two things, your circadian rhythm and your sleep pressure work together to make sleep happen. And when people have sleep issues, it can be due to something that's disrupting these two forces. But it could also be a range of other factors. It's important to tackle sleep other factors. It's important to tackle sleep issues from a holistic perspective. That is taking into account all the factors that are going on in your life.
00:06:42 When I help my clients, I examine what I refer to as the five pillars of healthy sleep. So I'm looking for imbalances in their sleep and wake schedules, their environment, head space. So things like stress, nutrition and other substances and physical activity levels. It's also important to rule out any and physical activity levels. It's also important to rule out any medical issues or medications that may be interfering with your sleep. Sleep can be complicated, but improving your sleep may be
00:07:11 easier than you think. Check back in with me to learn more about top sleep disruptors and what you can do to make your sleep better. To improve your chances of conceiving.
