Naturalpath

Healthnotes Newswire (December 6, 2007)—One in six couples experiences infertility at some point during their reproductive years. A new study has found that eating a healthy diet, being physically active, and maintaining normal weight can help ensure normal ovulation and therefore improve fertility.

I work with an acupuncurist who offered me this connection (and I would not have guessed) between body-image and pregnancy; but now that she said it it makes much sense. After all, a woman who has fears of becoming fat may subconsciously be sabotoging her pregnancy through her intention, and yet her conscious mind does want a child.  

Fertility rates are on the decline, this is true. Martin O'Connell, chief of the fertility statistics branch of the Census Bureau, said the changes in the last nine years, though significant, were rather small when compared with earlier decades. In 1960, he said, the rate was about 120 births for every 1,000 women of childbearing age; in 1970, it was about 90. Thus, he said, ''The fertility rate now is about half what it was in the late 1950's and early 60's.'' There are many environmental factors contributing to why, including pesticides in our foods, chemicals and pollutants in the air, wireless radiation, and the growing number of women choosing to have children at a later stage in their lives. Stress, however, a clear link to the mind/body connection, may very well be the most overlooked contributor to infertility.

There's now a new at-home fertility test which measures male sperm motility as well as testing for females for a follicle-stimulating hormone.

These are just two indicators of a couple's ability to reproduce, but are often important barriers to getting pregnant.

Dr. Fisch discusses the tests in this NPR podcast. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10712488.

Dr. Harry Fisch, the director of the Male Reproductive Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

More and more IVF clinics are inclined to implant  developing eggs at the day 5 over day 3.  What are the reasons? And what is the basis on which one to chose? 

Pro:

On a most basic level 25% of 3 day embryos are normal vs. 65% of 5 day, which are now a blastocytes,  are normal.   Most clinics want to have the highest success rates possible.  People chose to come to a clinic based on its success rates.  So there is a survival mechanism to one element.  That is one of the reasons they have an age limitation to whom they will work with.  At some point it is against the odds that you will conceive.

“There seems to be a growing body of evidence in scientific literature, data and studies coming out of many different organizations – the World Health Organization, the National Institute for Health - even JAMA is producing more and more studies showing how environmental toxins are effecting our health in addition to our nutritional status.

“This is leading to Americans becoming more and more aware of how eating organic food is important to them or, conversely, not eating food that’s laced with pesticides, which act as endocrine disruptors and can effect a hormonal imbalance within one’s body.