There are many reasons why a woman may struggle — as Gabrielle Union, Christie Brinkley, and Courteney Cox did — to become pregnant and/or carry the fetus to term. Around 14% of women ages 30 to 35 struggle with that. And the older you are, the greater the challenge.

A new study reveals that you can increase your chance of conceiving and giving birth if you eliminate some or all of five risk factors:

1. Unhealthy body mass index (BMI)

2. Unhealthy diet

3. Nonuse of folic acid supplements

4. Smoking

5. Alcohol intake of more than one drink per week

The study published in JAMA Network Open found that the more risk factors you eliminate, the greater your chance of conceiving and carrying full term. And if you have only one or none of them, you reduce your risk of nonconception by 34%.

So if you're struggling to have a child, write down which risk factors apply to you. Then make a plan to eliminate them:

• Talk to your doctor about getting started.

• For additional help with healthy eating, go to myplate.gov and read "What to Eat When."

• For weight loss, consider a healthy eating plan and emotional support from groups such as Overeaters Anonymous and Weight Watchers. Adopt a plan to increase your metabolic rate by walking 10,000 steps a day and doing core resistance training.

• For help with smoking, check out www.smokefree.gov. To overcome alcohol abuse, consider an AA meeting and call SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-435.