Madonna says she wants another child at 45. Louise Holden looks at ways those 'Trying To Conceive' can improve their chances

Madonna has revealed that at 45 years of age she wants to have another baby. She admits that in order to achieve this she may have to give up on her extreme Ashanti yoga and energetic stage antics for a while. With her announcement this month comes a raft of new research on fertility. If recent research is to be believed, Madonna will also need a hypnotist, a chiropractor, a herbologist and a high carbohydrate diet to get pregnant. And her husband, Guy Richie, will have to get off the phone.

A team from Soroka University, Israel, found 28 per cent of women in a test group who were hypnotised became pregnant, compared with 14 per cent of those who were not.

The Israeli researchers were looking to see if hypnosis could make the embryo transfer stage of IVF more successful. It was hoped hypnotherapy could help women relax and therefore improve the chances of success. Other experts said the research failed to account for key differences between the two groups.

Another study published this month suggests that Atkins dieters may be reducing their chances of getting pregnant. The Colorado Centre for Reproductive Medicine carried out tests which showed that if mice ate a diet containing 25 per cent protein, it would affect embryo and foetal development. They told a Berlin fertility conference this could mean women whose diet included more than 30 per cent protein may have trouble conceiving. But an Atkins spokeswoman said they had seen cases where the diet improved women's chances of becoming pregnant. She said the diet did not set limits on how much protein people should eat.

So, if not bread, how about herbs? A nutritional supplement known as FertilityBlend has "shown promise" in helping previously infertile women conceive, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. The supplement contains folic acid; vitamins E, B6 and B12; iron; magnesium; zinc; L-arginine - an essential amino acid that benefits sexual and reproductive health; chasteberry - a herb that is thought to optimise ovulation; and green tea and selenium - antioxidants that may promote sexual health.

A small US study has drawn the tentative conclusion that a misaligned spine could cause fertility problems in women. Dr Madeline Behrendt in Milwaukee led the study involving 15 women who struggled with infertility. Each went to the chiropractor, 14 became pregnant and are now new mothers. The chiropractor identifies spinal distortions, which are called subluxations, and once they were detected and corrected, the fertility function improved.

Dr Sandra Ann Carson of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine warned that the study is too small and worries it might give couples false hope. "Until chiropractic care is compared to standard infertility treatment in a clinical trial, we don't really know what the side-effects are to either treatments or the benefits of one versus the other," she said.

The final piece of research this month is aimed at TTC dads (that's shorthand for Trying To Conceive in pregnancy chatrooms). Researchers from the University of Szeged in Hungary have suggested that carrying a mobile phone could significantly affect a man's fertility. Radiation from the phones could cut the number of sperm a man has by a third, the scientists said.

The research, presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) meeting in Berlin, studied over 200 men. But other experts have criticised the study, saying it did not take any other aspects of the men's lives into account.

So, no definitive findings for Madonna and Guy or the countless other TTC couples out there. One thing is certain - stress is no good for fertility so perhaps a session of hypnosis with the mobile phone turned off followed by a nice cup of green tea couldn't hurt.