Some of the treatments for male infertility actually mirror the treatments for female infertility. For instance, in vitro fertilization can be used to weed out the stronger sperm, fertilize the woman’s eggs in an external environment, and then implant them. In vitro fertilization remains the best medical treatment for a couple trying to conceive when male infertility is an issue.

IUI fertilization

Intrauterine insemination, too, is sometimes used for men with poor sperm quality. By implanting “washed” sperm directly into the woman during her ovulation period, IUI has an average pregnancy success rate of between 6 and 25%. Success rates at or above the higher end of this range occur when the sperm count is between 20 to 30 million per ejaculation and are reduced significantly when the count falls below 5 to 10 million.

IUI is typically not successful in cases of:

• Low sperm count

• Low sperm motility

Clomid

In April 2009, the journal Fertility and Sterility published a study that found that men who took Clomiphene citrate (Clomid) along with vitamin E for six months showed an increase in both sperm count and motility. The men in the study had a 37% success rate of impregnating their partners versus men who took a placebo. Those in the placebo group had a 13% success rate. A study by the World Health Organization several years ago did not show a great increase in fertility in men taking Clomid vs a control group taking a placebo, so it appears that the combination of vitamin E and the Clomid hormone makes the difference.

Natural Fertility Treatments

In many cases, natural fertility treatments can be performed at home such as changes in diet, exercise routines and general health will increase a man’s sperm count and motility.

Decrease temperature of sperm

Sperm do not thrive in constant, overly warm temperatures. Therefore, a man trying to conceive should avoid hot tubs, prolonged warm temperatures and heated blankets. Also, avoid sitting with a laptop on your lap for long periods. (Purchasing a cooling fan that fits under the laptop and runs on power from the PC will protect your sperm count and your computer.)

Many medical professionals say the “boxers or briefs” choice makes little difference, but like many natural treatments, switching to boxers while TTC couldn’t hurt.

Lifestyle changes

In general, any lifestyle changes that positively impact a man’s health can also impact his sperm production. Quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, avoiding illegal drugs, keeping your weight in check, and engaging in moderate exercise can all help increase sperm production and energy levels.

Excessive bicycling – for more than three hours a week – on a narrow bicycle seat can lead to reproductive problems. Avid cyclists need not give up their habit, though, as cycling is a healthy lifestyle choice. Simply invest in a wider, cushioned seat, and stand frequently to shift your weight.

Vitamins
Certain vitamin deficiencies can lead to low sperm count and motility. For improved reproductive health, men should take vitamin supplements and eat a diet rich in the following nutrients:

• Zinc

• Vitamin E

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin B12

• Selenium

• Flaxseed oil

You may find a blend of these vitamins in natural fertility supplements designed for men.

Herbs can increase sperm production

As herbal remedies grow in popularity, more reputable companies are introducing herbal supplements. However, herbs have no FDA regulation, and you can’t always determine the potency or reliability of an herbal supplement. Do your research to insure you’re purchasing from a reputable source and you’re not just wasting your money on what are, essentially, sugar pills.

Additionally, take herbs with caution, following the manufacturer’s recommended dosage. As with any medicine or supplement, do not take more than the recommended dose. Pay close attention to your body and stop taking the supplement if you experience any unusual side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about any interactions between herbs or with any prescription drugs.

Popular herbs to improve fertility in men include:

• Ginseng or Panax Ginseng

• Astralagus

• Saw palmetto

Stress Reduction

Coping with infertility can lead to additional stress on top of life’s everyday stressors. A couple trying to conceive can learn methods to cope with stress together. If you recently experienced a major, life-changing event that causes stress, such as a death in your family, job loss, purchasing a home or moving, you may want to cut back on the TTC efforts for a while. In other words, “stop trying,” have sex regularly and only when you feel like it for fun, and wait until the emotional ordeal passes to renew your efforts.

Author: Dawn Allcot

One way to increase your odds of conceiving quickly is to make sure you are having sex during the most fertile part of your cycle — the days just before, during and after ovulation.

Because sperm can live in the body for up to five days, but an unfertilized egg dies after 24 hours, you increase the odds of having sperm and egg meet by having sex just prior to ovulation. But how do you know when you are ovulating?

If your periods are very regular, and come consistently anywhere from 21 to 35 days apart, you can also use our ovulation calculator to predict when you are fertile.

But by tracking the physical signs of fertility, you will get more exact results, even if your cycle varies slightly each month. You can track your fertility by charting your Basal Body Temperature (BBT), Cervical Fluid, and Cervical Position.

Basal Body Temperature
BBT is the temperature of your body before any activity—your body’s baseline temperature. Your BBT rises slightly on the day of ovulation and remains elevated until just before your next period starts. To track your BBT, take your temperature orally with a BBT thermometer (they sell for about $10 at any drug store) every morning before you get out of bed and chart the results. A BBT thermometer only registers temperatures between 96 to 100 degrees F. and can detect very slight changes in your temperature. Most women have a BBT of 96 to 98 degrees normally before ovulation and 97 to 99 after ovulation.

Cervical Fluid
Cervical fluid, sometimes called cervical mucus, is produced by the lining of a woman’s cervical canal and varies in consistency, color, and amount based on where you are in your monthly cycle.

As you get closer to your time of ovulation, your cervical mucus will change in order to better permit the transfer of sperm into your cervix.

To get a good sample of your cervical mucus at any time, place your fingers (make sure they are clean) inside your vagina. When you pull your fingers out, examine the sample you’ve obtained, noting its consistency and color.
Immediately after menstruation, you will have several “dry days,” where there is very little fluid at all.  What is there may be white or opaque and thick and sticky. As you approach mid-cycle, you will note more moistness, and the fluid will be thin, and possibly cloudy. If you hold some between your fingers, it will be slightly stretchy.
In the few days just before ovulation, which is when you are most fertile, your cervical fluid will be copious, thin and transparent. It will be very stretchy, almost the consistency of egg whites.

Just as your cervical fluid changes throughout your cycle, so does the position of your cervix in order to facilitate the transportation of the sperm and fertilization of the egg during your fertile time. Monitoring the position of your cervix is another way to track your ovulation times. Using these three methods combined will give you the most accurate results.

Begin by checking your cervical position at the end of your period, and check it daily until you reach your time of ovulation. You should do this at the same time each day, and in the same position each time. You can check your cervical position while sitting on the toilet, or it may be easier to place on foot on the toilet and keep one on the floor. Move your middle finger all the way up into your vagina until you hit your cervix, which will feel like a rounded cylinder.

At the beginning of your cycle, your cervix will be low and easier to reach. During ovulation, it will rise to a higher position, and may even be difficult to reach with your middle finger. It will drop back down to a place where it is easier to touch after you ovulate.

Author: Dawn Allcot

When a couple is trying to conceive, thoughts of ovulation dates, cervical mucus (isn’t that a romantic term?), and pre-natal vitamins often over-ride the most fun aspect of making a baby: having regular sex!

Couples can—and do—conceive in any position imaginable. There is no medical evidence to support the fact that certain sexual positions encourage conception. With millions of sperm approaching the cervix after every ejaculation, barring any medical problems the most tenacious one will eventually reach the egg regardless of whether or not you are “helping it out” by lying down, standing on your head or propping your hips up on a pillow.

However, certain positions do keep semen from leaking out of your vagina and also keep sperm in your cervix longer. They might even encourage the flow of sperm into your fallopian tubes. If you are trying to conceive, why not give gravity a helping hand?

Old Wives’ Tales say that standing on your head or lying with your legs up over your head immediately following intercourse will help the sperm travel up your body. This hasn’t been medically proven, but it couldn’t hurt, either. Then again, if you are not physically agile enough to successfully execute the maneuver, it could hurt.

Lying down for 15 minutes after sex offers the same benefit of keeping more sperm in your body. Besides, why jump up right after sex? If anything, it’s a good excuse to cuddle for 15 minutes and bask in the afterglow.

Additionally, intercourse with a pillow beneath your hips will tilt your cervix in such a way that it might “help” the sperm travel to their destination.

Keeping gravity in mind, positions that could make it harder to get pregnant include:

• Standing

• Sitting

• Any position with the woman on top

These positions cause semen to leak out of the vagina, meaning that less sperm will embark on the journey up to the egg.

Ultimately, timing has a lot more to do with getting pregnant than position does, but trying out new positions under the guise of “helping the sperm reach the egg” might keep baby-making sex interesting if it begins to feel like a chore.

Another Old Wives’ Tale says that if the woman has an orgasm during sex – particularly after or while her partner ejaculates — she is more likely to conceive. Uterine contractions that take place during an orgasm help “push” the sperm toward the fallopian tubes.

In reality, painless uterine contractions occur involuntarily all the time, and are more pronounced during ovulation, so your body is already giving the sperm some help. Again, having an orgasm in hopes of conception can’t hurt. In fact, striving to achieve orgasm every time you make love is a worthwhile endeavor, whether or not it results in pregnancy.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different positions, strive for orgasm, and help those little swimmers by staying horizontal after sex, but remember that timing is far more important than position when trying to conceive.

Author: Dawn Allcot

For many women, the very first step in their journey to try to conceive is to stop using birth control. If you’re using condoms, spermicides, a diaphragm or any other form of hormone-free birth control, you can—and it is safe to—get pregnant as soon as you stop.

If you use any hormone-based birth control methods, which offer protection from pregnancy by preventing ovulation, you should talk to your doctor before you begin trying to conceive.

Here is an explanation of what it takes to conceive after using many common forms of birth control.

Oral Contraceptives (The Pill) – Most oral contraceptives (and there are many on the market!) contain estrogen and progesterone to prevent ovulation. Some women can get pregnant right away after going off the Pill. For others, it may take as long as three months for their menstrual cycle to return to normal. Fertility rates for former Pill users are about the same as the national average; 90 percent of all women get pregnant within one year of coming off the Pill. Most doctors recommend waiting one or two cycles before trying to conceive after you come off the Pill, because of a very small risk of birth defects if the hormones are still in your system.

According to NuvaRing, there is no need to wait one cycle before TTC with this hormone-based, insert-able ring. A clinical study indicated that most women’s cycles return to normal quickly, with ovulation occurring within 13 to 28 days after the ring is removed.

Mirena and other IUDs – This intrauterine contraceptive (IUC) is estrogen-free and, as with any IUD, you can begin trying to conceive immediately after its removal. Your fertility should return fairly quickly.

Permanent Birth Control

Tubal Ligation (Tubes Tied) – This is the most “permanent” of any birth control method for women and is not easily reversed. Chances of a successful reversal range from 20 to 70 percent, depending on the type of tubal ligation and the health of your fallopian tubes.

A tubal ligation reversal is major surgery, where the surgeon rejoins the remaining sections of the fallopian tubes. If both fallopian tubes are at least four inches long and are equal in diameter, the chances of a successful reversal are higher. IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is another option for women who want to get pregnant after having their tubes tied.

Vasectomy – The success rate of a vasectomy reversal for your partner is even lower than tubal ligation reversal. You’ll only want to consider permanent forms of birth control if you both feel fairly certain you do not want to conceive any more children.

Author: Dawn Allcot

Besides doing the deed with your partner, there are several things you should do before you decide to get pregnant both for your health, your babies health and an increased easiness in conceiving.

___ Family history for both mother and father
___ Blood types of both mother and father
___ Rubella, 5th’s Disease and Chicken Pox immunity
___ Prenatal vitamins
___ Prescription medicines
___ Weight control
___ Foreign substances (smoking, alcohol, drugs)

Family History
During your first prenatal appointment your doctor or her nurse will probably just draw blood and ask a bunch of questions regarding your health and the history of health problems in both yours and the father’s family. Questions regarding birth defects, cancer, Downs Syndrome, and other general health questions. If you know these answers ahead of time it will make that first visit go much faster.

Blood Types
The blood type is very important for both you and the baby’s father when you decide to get pregnant. There are rare occasions where the mother and father’s blood type will not be compatible. In this case the baby’s blood type may not be compatible with the mothers. This can cause rejection of the fetus by the mother’s body, or lead to serious problems after the baby is born. Knowing the blood types before getting pregnant can easily solve any problems before they occur.

Immunities
Diseases such as Rubella, Chicken Pox and 5th’s Disease can be very dangerous to a pregnant women and her baby. There are blood tests that can be done before a woman gets pregnant that tests her immunity to these diseases. If a woman finds that she is not immune to one or more of these diseases she might be able to take the vaccines prior to getting pregnant to assure that she doesn’t get the disease while pregnant.

Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are very important for a woman once she gets pregnant. They help provide enough folic acid and iron as well as other essential nutrients that the woman will need to help sustain a healthy pregnancy. However, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, it is never too soon to begin taking the vitamins as an attempt to help maximize your health.

Prescription Medications
Be sure to review any prescription medications that you are currently taking with your doctor before trying to get pregnant. There are several medications that are not safe for you to take while pregnant and could cause harm to the fetus. In most cases there are alternate medications that you can take that are safe during pregnancy.

Weight Control
Before you get pregnant it is a good idea to be at the best weight you can be. A woman who is in the right span of weight for her height will have an easier time getting pregnant and staying pregnant. Women who are over or under weight may have a harder time getting pregnant as their body is not working to its’ full capacity.

Smoking, Alcohol, and Drugs
If you use any foreign substances you should stop. Smoking while pregnant can lead to fetal death, underweight babies and cause later health problems such as asthma in your child. Alcohol can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome which can damage parts of the brain. The same is true for recreational drug use. If you are addicted to a drug then your baby can also be born addicted to that drug causing him more long term problems in the future.

Question
“I’d like to have a baby. Should I aim for a particular time of the month for intercourse — a particular few days in my menstrual cycle?”

Answer:
It seems funny — or sad — that one couple makes a baby the very first time they have sex (whether they want a baby or not) while another couple can try and try for months without getting the child they want so badly.

People trying to have a baby have often been advised to aim for the woman’s fertile time midway between her periods. They are told to have intercourse on the day the woman ovulates, or a couple of days before or afterward. Our Institute scientists, taking precise data on more than 200 healthy women trying to have a baby, have determined that you’re actually most likely to get pregnant if you have sex the day you ovulate or the five days before.

It seems that a man’s sperm may be longer-lasting than some people previously believed, while a woman’s ovum, or human egg, disappears more quickly.

Three days after intercourse, there might still be active sperm swimming around that can impregnate and fertilize a newly released egg. But if the sperm is not introduced until after the day of ovulation, a two- or three-day-old egg would be unlikely to still be in good enough shape to be fertilized, even by the freshest of sperm.

You will have a problem, however, knowing when you’re five days away from ovulation. There is no test to pinpoint that. A further problem: Your ovulation and fertile “window” – the time when you’re likely to get pregnant – can wander around. It’s like a moving target.

Older guidelines for getting pregnant assumed that the average woman is fertile between days 10 and 17 of her menstrual cycle. But that’s a very rough approximation — an “average” that may not mean much for you as an individual woman.

Seventeen percent of the women were fertile by day seven of their cycle. Two percent of women were fertile by day four!

Our study also showed very late ovulations occur, even in women who said their cycles were usually regular. Because of these late ovulations, 4 to 6 percent of the women were potentially fertile more than 28 days after the start of their cycle.

In fact, even women who regarded their cycles as “regular” had a 1 to 6 percent probability of being fertile on the day their next period was expected.

Question:
If ovulation times vary widely – and you can’t accurately predict them five days ahead of time — what should a healthy young woman do? How, in other words, should you go about trying to get pregnant?

Answer:
Well, the director of our NIEHS study, Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., suggests many couples are best off forgetting about getting the timing “right.”

Dr. Wilcox says, “If the average healthy couple wants to get pregnant, they are just as well off to relax and forget “fertile windows” and simply engage in unprotected intercourse at least two or three times over the course of each week.”

That’s easy-to-follow advice. And you’re likely to hit “right” two or more times within the fertile days occurring in each of your cycles.

If you don’t conceive the baby you want in a year or so of regular intercourse, talk to your doctor. You may be the one couple in six that has a fertility problem. Simple tests can often pinpoint and help overcome it. The problem can reside in your man about as often as in you, so he will need to be tested too.

At some point, you may be referred to a fertility clinic or specialist. You may be prescribed a drug to trigger ovulation, and your mate’s best sperm will be introduced by the doctor at that time. There are other technologies, too – some of them very expensive. There is also some risk of triggering two or more eggs and having a bigger family than you expected.

Question:
“Will my baby and I be healthier if I see a doctor as soon as I get pregnant?”

Answer:
Certainly, your doctor can increase your chances for a healthy outcome if you see him or her as soon as you’re pregnant. But to get the very best odds for yourself and your baby, you should try to see your doctor well before you get pregnant.

Your doctor will have diet and life-style suggestions that should make for a healthier baby, and a healthier you as well. You shouldn’t wait until you know you’re pregnant to eat well and take vitamins. You should check out what drugs you need to stop to prevent harm to your baby – before you even know you’re pregnant. Also, as mentioned, seeing that you are having trouble getting pregnant, your doctor can help with tests and suggestions that fit your situation.

Even with the best of care, there are hazards ahead.

In an NIEHS study of healthy women who wanted a baby, about one in five fertilized eggs failed to survive six weeks. That would be before you and/or your doctor even would know you are pregnant. It may be Nature’s way of sparing a mother the burden of carrying an embryo that cannot survive. Further along in pregnancy, a much smaller number of additional fetuses are lost in spontaneous miscarriages. That’s always sad, but 95 percent of the women losing a fetus in the study got pregnant within two years afterward.

Most women’s miscarriages, like most birth defects, have no clear cause. But genetic defects have been seen in some lost fetuses. Surely, the environment also plays a role, just as it does in the birth of preemies – early, underweight infants. (The newborns of smokers, for example, are more likely to be born prematurely than the newborns of non-smokers.)

Question:
“How do the things I eat and do affect my child?”

Answer:
What you eat, drink and do during pregnancy and just before pregnancy is vital to your child because, for nine months, your body is your child’s environment. Your circulatory system feeds nutrients to your unborn child’s system through an organ, called the placenta. Your circulatory system also removes waste materials from your child via this organ, which is attached to the wall of your uterus and to the bellybutton of your baby.

We used to think that the placenta kept poisons from reaching the unborn child. That popular idea was dealt a death blow in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, when many women took a sedative called thalidomide which caused hundreds of children to be born with flipper-like limbs where their arms and legs should be.

Then in 1971, after it was prescribed for more than 20 years to try to prevent miscarriages, diethylstilbestrol, or DES, was found to have produced rare cancers and reproductive abnormalities in “DES daughters,” the daughters born to the women being treated. (At NIEHS, we did some of the research that showed DES’ adverse effects. Later, in test animals, NIEHS scientist Retha R. Newbold also found that harm may extend to “DES granddaughters” and to “DES grandsons.”)

Illegal or “recreational” drugs are risky, too. Cocaine’s use during pregnancy has been shown to increase malformations of the urinary tract five-fold. There are also risks of low birth weight, miscarriage, brain damage and fetal death.

Because the dangers have been publicized, many women who get pregnant know to stay away from illegal drugs, and from many nonprescription and prescription drugs as well.

If you’ve ever taken Accutane (isotretinoin) for very severe acne, you know this drug is an extremely strong cause of gross birth defects. Before taking this drug you must have a test to show you are not pregnant. Then you must take birth control measures beginning a month before you start the acne drug, throughout the treatment period and, because of its persistent effect, for a month after you stop.

Drugs to treat cancer, such as methotrexate, also cause birth defects – and pregnancy should likewise be avoided when getting such treatment.

Even aspirin carries a risk of bleeding complications for mother and child, but it may be prescribed by a doctor under certain conditions.

Thus, the best advice to pregnant women (or women who may become pregnant) is: Ask your physician before taking any prescription or non-prescription drug, including herbal medicines and other “natural” therapies.

But don’t panic unnecessarily. Some drugs have been used in pregnant women for a long time without doctors observing any problems.

If you need a drug to control high blood pressure, asthma, lupus or other chronic problems, don’t stop the moment you find you’re pregnant. Talk the situation over with your doctor first. Talking it over with your doctor before you become pregnant is even better, since the fetus may be particularly susceptible to injury at its early stages, before you even know you’re pregnant.

Epileptic? A pregnant woman’s seizures can cause damage to the unborn baby’s brain. Thus, women with epilepsy and their doctors usually decide that continuing the medication that controls the seizure is the path of less risk.

There’s a similar trade-off for women who must take insulin daily to control their diabetes. They are several times as likely to have a baby with a major defect. However, if a woman stops her insulin, neither she nor her unborn infant may survive. That’s another reason to see a doctor before conceiving a baby — yet only about one woman in four does so.

Increasingly, we are seeing that our unborn babies can also be hurt by what we eat (or don’t eat), what substances we handle at work, at home and in the farm or garden, as well as many other environmental factors. Some of these substances can subtly influence the IQ, health, development and motor skills of children still to be born – still, in some case, to be conceived.

For example, lead may be passed along. It can accumulate in the bones of a young girl exposed to it and be released, years later, exposing her unborn child. The lead can lower the child’s IQ. One study shows lead may even contribute to a child’s chances of getting into trouble with the law.

A mother’s exposure to mercury can delay her child’s development. That may also be true of PCBs, still another NIEHS study suggests. There are undoubtedly other chemicals, metals and other exposures that also produce such effects.

Harm can also result from deficiencies — from substances a pregnant woman fails to get. If you have been eating a diet without sufficient folate or folic acid, a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, when you become pregnant there is a greater risk of deformities called neural tube defects of the brain and nervous systems. In these defects, the infant may fail to develop a brain or, more commonly, the spinal column may fail to close around and protect the spinal cord. Without this protection, the baby’s spinal cord may be injured during the upheaval of birth so that the baby may be partially, but permanently, paralyzed.

The Food and Drug Administration now requires that rice and flour products be fortified with folate. It is difficult to get enough from an ordinary diet otherwise. Even with the fortification, government experts and others advise all women of child-bearing age – that is, girls and women from puberty through menopause – to take an ordinary, folate-containing multiple vitamin pill each day. Taking folate after pregnancy starts is not as effective.

In other ways, too, good nutrition when you make your baby may be more important than we generally think. Studies of women giving birth during World War II showed that women who conceived when near starvation were more likely to have babies with malformations than women at near-starvation when they delivered.

The idea that a pregnant woman is eating for two is true. In some cases, Nature may favor the child. The mother’s bones and general health suffer. In other situations, the baby or both mother and child are affected. Talk to your doctor or nurse-midwife about a good pregnancy diet. “Eating for two” does not mean eating twice as much but getting the appropriate amount of nutrition for both you and your unborn child.

Question:
“Will my man make a good father of healthy children – and will I be as good a mother as my Mom was?”

Answer:
You can both be fine parents of fine children — especially if you make sure your environment is free of harmful exposures.

Remarkably, each tiny, one-celled egg or ovum that you produce every month or so has actually been within your body since you yourself were born! As a result, some scientists speculate that environmental influences might impact on those ova at any time over the years they are being carried — in other words, at any time over your lifetime.

Though sperm are produced “fresh,” fathers-to-be aren’t off the hook either. Whereas women used to be more likely to be blamed, the causes of childlessness are now broken down more evenly – about 50/50.

Environmental influences, such as vitamin status, radiation, drugs, diseases, and occupational exposures, can influence the quantity and quality of a man’s sperm. Such exposures can also prevent a man from getting or maintaining an erection. So it isn’t “unmanly” for industrial, medical and agricultural workers to take advantage of lead shields, protective masks and clothing, and after-work showers. Quite the reverse.

Infections, such as mumps, are well-known causes of male infertility, but pesticides and other chemicals can present a risk of infertility and birth defects. These defects may occur if a damaged sperm fertilizes an egg and the egg does not develop properly. The result may be a miscarriage or a potential health problem in the baby later on.

Men and women may track in lead dust from building sites where old, lead-painted buildings have been knocked down, contaminating their homes and exposing their families.

Farm workers risk problems for themselves and their families if they needlessly go into recently sprayed fields and/or don’t wear long-sleeved shirts and other clothing that covers their skin. Family exposures can be minimized if workers strip off contaminated clothes at work or as soon as they return home, and the clothes are promptly washed – separately from other clothes. The exposed workers themselves should also shower promptly.

We all also have habits, good and band. You may also be interested in some NIEHS work that suggests that the old habit of female douching reduces fertility — as may too much coffee.

Alcohol can be harmful. It is regarded by the March of Dimes as the leading cause of preventable mental retardation, as well as the most common known cause of fetal damage. Major physical and mental problems occur in the children of drinking women, especially those who use alcohol a lot. Many doctors recommend you avoid all alcoholic drinks during pregnancy.

Women born with a birth defect themselves often worry that their children will be similarly affected. Working with Norwegian scientists, we studied this risk among a half-million Norwegian women (born with defects between 1967 and 1982) and their offspring. Less than 4 percent of the offspring turned out to have birth defects – and generally only at the same level of risk as other women’s children. The only significant increase in risk was for having the same defect as the mother’s. (In a follow-up study, the offspring of men who had been born with birth defects proved to have an increased risk of the same defect, compared to other men’s children, plus an increase in other birth defects as well.)

Tips

You wouldn’t expect this discussion to end without some do’s and don’ts, would you? So here (at the risk of a little repetition) are some environmental tips if you are of child-bearing age — from your teen years to menopause:

• You should not eat swordfish, shark, king mackerel or tilefish while you are pregnant or can become pregnant. These large, long-lived ocean fish accumulate mercury pollution as they eat smaller fish. If you then eat these fish, the mercury can accumulate in you and hurt the development of nervous system of your unborn child. The Food and Drug Administration also advises you not to eat these big fish when you’re nursing a baby – and not to fee these fish to small children.
• Eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables AND swallow a multi-vitamin containing folate, or folic acid, (a B vitamin) every day, before and during pregnancy.
• Avoid soft cheeses. Those delicious brie and Roquefort cheeses, particularly those famous unpasteurized products, are easily contaminated by a tough bacteria called Listeria. Ordinarily, people are not much affected by Listeria, but in pregnant women the bacteria then can cause violent vomiting, flu-like symptoms and loss of your unborn child. This loss can occur even before you know you’re pregnant.

  Mexican-style soft cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, queso de hoja, queso de crema and asadero are susceptible, as are such other soft cheeses as feta, or goat cheese, brie, Camembert and blue-veined cheeses such as Roquefort. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that pregnant or potentially pregnant women should instead eat hard cheeses made from pasteurized milk or marked as aged for 60 days or longer.

• Take care with all foods. To reduce food poisoning risks, FDA also recommends 1) thoroughly heating meats purchased at deli counters, whether cured (like salami) or not, before you eat them; 2) washing fruits and vegetables with water, 3) keeping your refrigerator, counter top and utensils clean; 4) washing your hands and utensils with warm soapy water after contact with raw foods, especially raw meats, and 5) cooking meat, poultry and seafood thoroughly. Follow “use by” dates and other instructions for refrigerating foods.

  To err on the side of caution, some environmental health experts suggest that pregnant women – despite those infamous cravings we are supposed to get – avoid overdoing any single food or beverage in the diet. Varying your diet guards you against getting a massive dose of a problem substance, if there should be an accident that unexpectedly contaminates a particular food.

• Beware raw meat – and your cat. They may harbor a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. If you get it while pregnant, your unborn child has about a 40 percent chance of contracting it too. In early pregnancy, this can cause the child to be blind, deaf and mentally retarded.

  The parasite can be found in cat feces, soil and infected meats that have not been thoroughly cooked. Cats get it from eating infected birds, mice and rats. So keep your family cat indoors to reduce its chances of getting the parasite – and have someone else clean its litter box, so that you don’t get it.

• Protect yourself from pesticides and other chemical exposures. We don’t know enough about the safety of home and occupational pesticides and chemicals in pregnancy. So it is a good idea to be cautious. Ask your employer to give you copies of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) for any hazardous materials in your work, as required. A few substances of concern are lead, carbaryl (Sevin), bromine vapor, carbon disulfide, ethylene dibromide, mercury vapor and styrene and acetone used in plastic production.
• Use farm and industrial materials with caution, following all the precautions on the label
  You can be exposed to chemicals in the air you breath, through your eyes, or in your food and water. So store chemicals in sealed containers when not in use, follow recommendations for ventilation. A major route of contamination is through your skin, so wear protective clothing and gloves. Wash off any spilled materials immediately. Wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking.

  If you are a farm worker, factory worker or scientist, or you have one as a husband, partner or family member, you and/or that other worker should shower at work at closing time or as soon as you/they get home. Clothes contaminated by pesticides, chemicals or metals should be washed at work, if possible. If they must be washed at home, they should be washed separately from other clothes, and as soon as possible.

  If you are a dentist, dental assistant or hygienist or work with the anesthetic nitrous oxide (N2O) in human or veterinary medicine, you should know be cautious because this gas has been shown to cause defects in the offspring of exposed lab animals. Adequate ventilation, tests for leaks and other guidelines should be followed to limit your exposure. Women working as potters, with solder, or as home remodelers may encounter lead, which has been associated with miscarriages, stillbirths and infertility for more than 100 years. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health also warns of reproductive problems among women viscose rayon workers exposed to carbon disulfide (CS2) and among electronic and semi-conductor workers exposed to ethylene glycol ethers such as 2EE and 2ME.

  And if you’re planning to decorate a room as a nursery, why not ask a pro or a partner to do the painting (while you go elsewhere and avoid the fumes.)

• Avoid smoke, as well as smoking. Smoking increases the risks of an underweight baby and of stillbirth, the birth of a dead fetus. Smoking and also passive smoke exposure may double the risk of a rare but devastating condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. In this condition, infants starve for oxygen because blood is not pumped through the lungs to the body but continues to flow as it did before birth and the activation of the lungs. Without successful surgery to correct the flow, the infant may die. Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are also more likely to have asthma and other respiratory problems. They also are more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome – SIDS. SIDS reduction campaigns emphasize positioning infants on their backs for sleeping as well as keeping cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke away.
• Avoid x-rays, hot tubs and saunas. They pose environmental risks for pregnant women. If x-rays are needed for medical reasons, your doctor will shield your abdomen (and thereby your fetus) from the rays. The March of Dimes also suggests pregnant women try to avoid infections. Rubella (German measles) during pregnancy can cause ear, eye and heart abnormalities. You can be tested to see if you’ve been exposed and are immune. If not, you can get vaccinated – but then should wait three months before getting pregnant. For avoiding many infections, frequent hand-washing can help.
• Stay faithful to one, uninfected and equally faithful partner to prevent the tragic consequences of a new-born with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Discuss your own and your mate’s sexual history (and any injected drug use) with your physician – and get tested for HIV or other infections, as appropriate. Even if you have HIV, for example, proper drug treatment can often prevent your child from becoming infected.
• Exercise moderately. Walk, swim, ride a stationary bike and/or join in a special prenatal aerobics class three or more times a week. Even a vigorous workout is ok for most women and may help you carry your baby to full term. Not so advisable: bouncing or jerking movements, toe touches, knee bends and sit-ups. Doctors generally counsel against any vigorous exercise that has you lying on your back after the first three months of pregnancy. Injury-risking sports – skiing, rock-climbing, horseback riding – aren’t good bets. But regular, safe exercise can make labor easier and prepare you to get back in shape afterwards.
• Relax, too. You don’t need a lot of stress during pregnancy, or before pregnancy either! Summing up, you just need a good clean, healthy and uninfected man; a doctor; a good diet; a vitamin pill, and a work and home environment where you won’t be needlessly exposed to tobacco smoke, pesticides, alcohol and other potentially harmful chemicals, drugs, mercury, soft cheese, undercooked meats and kitty litter.

About this Article
Provided by the National Institite of Environmental Health Services.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

While it may seem farfetched to some people, many of my clients remember what they felt and experienced while still in the womb. Comments such as these are not unusual:

“I knew even before I was born that my mother didn’t want me.”

“I could feel my mother’s fear and anxiety even before I was born.”

Parenting does not start once the child is born. Good parenting starts even before getting pregnant. It starts by caring about what you eat, how much exercise and sleep you get, and by making sure that you are taking responsibility for your feelings of anxiety and stress. Your baby will feel what you feel, so learning how to be in peace and joy before getting pregnant is part of good parenting.

I loved being pregnant. I had always wanted children so I was thrilled to be pregnant. I loved feeling the baby moving within me, awed by the very fact of creating new life. I loved feeling an elbow or a knee slide across my stomach. I loved that my body could be a receptacle for bringing through this soul, this angel from heaven. I could not think of anything more profound, more worth doing. Who was this unique little person growing in my body?

I read every book I could on parenting and thought endlessly how I wanted to be a different parent than my parents were.

The problem was that I have never thought about how much my relationship with myself and with my husband might affect this child.

My husband was angry, distant and withdrawn during my pregnancy and the first three months after giving birth to our son. He was a person who wanted control and he was not happy that I got pregnant six months before we had planned. He didn’t open his heart until our son smiled at him at three months of age.

Being young, I had no idea how to handle the loneliness I felt at not having my husband joyfully involved in the hugest event of my life. Had I known then what I know now, I would have done anything I could to get the help we needed to bring our relationship back into caring. We can’t go back, but I’m sure that my son felt the lack of joy that existed between my husband and me. I’m sure he felt the depth of my loneliness. I wish I knew then what I know now about taking responsibility for my own feelings.

Being pregnant and giving birth are enormous events in a woman’s life, especially the first child, which changes your life so dramatically. If you do not know how to take responsibility for your own feelings of anger, hurt, anxiety, depression and loneliness, things will only get worse after giving birth. A child does not solve problems for you.

It’s hard to imagine before having a child what it is like to be responsible for another life 24/7. If you have not learned how to lovingly parent yourself before giving birth, you might find yourself getting lost as parent your baby. Good parenting starts before getting pregnant, with learning how to take loving care of yourself.

If you have a desire to be a good parent, here are steps you can take before getting pregnant:

1. Physical health: make sure that you are in good physical shape by eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners. Start to shop in health food stores and buy only organic products. Eliminating pesticides and food additives is essential for good health. Also be sure to get enough exercise and sleep.
2. Emotional health: instead of having your eyes on your partner, turn your eyes inward and begin to compassionately notice your own feelings. Start to treat your own feelings in the same way you are planning on treating your future child’s feelings – with caring and understanding. In addition, start to practice taking loving action in your own behalf – standing up for yourself, speaking your truth, taking time for yourself. Practice taking loving care of your own feelings instead of making your partner responsible for how you feel. Begin to notice what you think and do that may be causing you stress. Changing thoughts and behavior that cause your stress before getting pregnant is essential for good parenting.
3. Spiritual health: practice opening to a higher source of guidance, wisdom, strength and comfort. This can be your own highest, wisest self within you, or a Higher Power outside of you. You will find that being able to turn a source of wisdom and comfort within or without will go a long way in helping you stay loving and stress-free with yourself, your partner, and your baby. In addition, this will help you know what to do in different challenging situations with your baby.

If you are planning on having a baby, start today in becoming a good parent!

About the Author
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

When it comes to eating the right foods before you get pregnant in order to help you conceive and have a healthy pregnancy, it basically comes down to common sense. There are some things you should keep in mind however.

Healthier Eating
You should try to stay away from foods that are high in fat and sugar content. Look for more healthy choices and eating more vegetables and items that will not only help you be healthy but will give your baby a better shot at being healthy. Try to buy foods that are organic and pesticide free, as well as hormone free dairy products.

You should try to stay away from uncooked fish, meat and poultry, as well as cooked fish such as swordfish, shark, and king mackerel which may contain large mercury counts which would not be good for your baby if you were to get pregnant. A woman should also stay away from raw eggs, including batters and dough made with them, as well as unpasteurized milk and certain soft cheeses. You should always make sure you clean and cook raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating them.

Folic Acid
Folic acid is a big ingredient to getting pregnant, staying pregnant and having a healthy baby. Before trying to conceive a woman should make sure that she is getting enough folic acid a day either from prenatal vitamins or from foods including leafy green vegetables, fortified cereals, breads and orange juice.

Beverages
You should cut back on all beverages including coffee and soda, while trying to drink more water daily. It is recommended that a person drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day, while some say that a person should drink half of their body weight in ounces of water a day is a good rule of thumb.

Caffeinated beverages will only help to dehydrate you. Studies have shown that a large intake of caffeine can lead to it taking longer to conceive (International Food Information Council Foundation). However when these studies looked at smoking and alcohol use while drinking caffeinated beverages the results were inconclusive. It is best for a woman to just steer clear from caffeinated beverages before and during pregnancy.

The most vital time of a baby’s development often occurs before a woman even knows she is pregnant, between 3 and 8 weeks. Because of this and the damage that alcohol can do to a fetus, it is suggested that a woman should stay away from all alcohol leading up to and during the time she is trying to get pregnant, as well as while she is pregnant.

The most important thing for a woman to remember is that everything she eats or consumes while trying to conceive is in her body when she is trying to conceive and can affect her baby. While many of us will eat and do things that we know are not good for us, would we willing give our child something that we know is not good for them? The best time to start developing healthy habits for your child is before you conceive that child.

By Denice Moffat

Did you know?

Also known as the Chinese Pregnancy Chart or Pregnancy Calendar, this chart is supposed to predict the sex of your baby based on how old you were in the month that you conceived.

As rumor has it, this chart was found buried in a royal tomb around the year 1000, and is on display at the Beijing Institute of Science in China. No one claims for it to be completely true and accurate so don’t base your attempts at trying to conceive on it, or decorate your nursery by the chart before the doctor tells you the sex of your baby.

It is fun, but how accurate is it really? Some people swear it has been correct for all their children. It was correct for my third son, but wrong on both of my first two children. It is a lot of fun guessing however at the sex of the baby and taking bets with family and friends on if the Chinese Conception Chart is accurate or not.

Month of Conception

Age Of Mother At Conception

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

18

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

19

M

F

M

F

F

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

20

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

M

21

M

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

22

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

F

F

23

M

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

F

M

M

F

24

M

F

F

M

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

25

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

M

26

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

27

F

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

28

M

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

29

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

30

M

M

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

31

M

M

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

F

F

32

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

M

F

M

33

F

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

34

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

35

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

36

M

F

M

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

F

F

37

F

F

M

F

F

F

M

F

F

M

M

M

38

M

M

F

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

M

F

39

F

F

M

F

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

40

M

M

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

41

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

42

M

F

F

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

F

M

43

F

M

F

F

M

M

M

F

F

F

M

M

44

M

F

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

M

45

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

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