A recent article in The Guardian suggested that couples are more likely to conceive when their love life is passionate and wild.

"Forget books, special diets and particular times of the month. Couples who want a baby should put their energy into having the wild, uninhibited sex of their early days together.

The better their quality of love-making, the greater their chances of conception, scientists say. What one fertility expert calls "gourmet sex" - where both partners take time to ensure the other has a satisfying experience - gives a couple the best chance of producing a baby.

"Couples who are trying to have a baby often mention that the sex becomes a bit of a chore, a bit mechanical and routine. That's the wrong thing to be doing," said Dr Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at Sheffield University.

"The sex should be as wild and thrilling as it was when they first met, when they weren't thinking about babies, to give them the maximum possible chance of having a baby," added Pacey, secretary of the British Fertility Society.

Men usually produce about 250 million sperm during intercourse. But those who are fully stimulated because they are enjoying "gourmet sex" will ejaculate up to 50% more than that, according to research revealed in a Channel 4 documentary tomorrow. An extra five minutes of sexual activity before ejaculation can produce an extra 25 million sperm, said Pacey. That, plus the fact the extra sperm released are of a higher standard, means there is a greater chance of the sperm and egg fusing to create a new life.

"The better the sex, the better the chances of conception," Dr Joanna Ellington, an American expert in reproductive physiology." 

Read more