Study shows women can produce better eggs and provide a crucial boost to fertility simply by taking a daily dose of multi-vitamins.

Taking a daily multi-vitamin pill can boost a woman’s fertility and almost double her chances of becoming pregnant, British researchers have found.

Doctors from Leeds University who carried out the study said that a woman can produce better eggs by taking a daily multi-vitamin pill.

The researchers studied 215 women undergoing In Vitro Fertilisation to become pregnant.

In the ‘test-tube baby’ process, a woman’s eggs are surgically removed and then fertilised in the laboratory to create an embryo, which is then implanted in her womb.

Doctors examined the eggs of the women undergoing treatment.

They found that in women taking multi-vitamin pills, fluid surrounding the eggs was rich in vitamins C and E.

The fluid is used to nourish the eggs and these vitamins could provide a crucial boost to aid fertility, the researchers said.

Both vitamins C and E are known for their antioxidant properties, meaning they ‘mop up’ potentially harmful pollutants in the body.

They are also crucial for the production of collagen, which promotes healthy tissue growth.

The researchers said that other minerals or vitamins included in the pill could also have combined to help improve overall fertility.

Their research showed that women who took a multi-vitamin pill had a 40 per cent better chance of pregnancy, compared to those not taking a tablet.

The researchers said it was impossible to say whether multi-vitamin pills would help all women, but she believed they would be well worth taking by anybody trying to get pregnant.

‘Future research may help us identify groups of women who might be most likely to benefit,’ they add.

‘For instance, we already know that smoking depletes vitamin C levels drastically.

‘So, if someone is a smoker and wants to get pregnant, multi-vitamin pills could help.’

The pills could also be beneficial to non-smokers and older women wanting to get pregnant.

‘Our research suggests that the pills can also help fatter women to conceive, because their bodies have a higher requirement for certain vitamins, due to their overweight,’ said Dr Matthews.

Taking vitamins daily had a ‘highly significant’ effect in improving pregnancy rates and could lead to healthier babies.