Fertility Check List

Client Chart

Do you know? Fertility facts

Fertility Check List free to download 

As many as one in five New Zealand couples experience problems or delays in becoming pregnant.  All too frequently, Natural Fertility NZ Educators see individuals and couples who have put themselves through months of increasingly despondent "trying" before finally seeking help and finding a solution.

In response, Natural Fertility New Zealand, with the input of Family Planning and Endometriosis New Zealand, has produced a Fertility Check List intended to help those planning a pregnancy.  The Fertility Check List has been peer reviewed and approved by the medical boards of all three organisations and is available free of charge from each of their websites.

download your free copy of the Fertility Check List from Natural Fertility NZ or visit

www.familyplanning.org.nz or www.nzendo.co.nz

Fertility problems are often easy to fix, especially when they relate to insufficient understanding of how fertility works and combines to produce a baby or the effect on fertility of certain lifestyle or personal choices.

A common misconception is that expensive fertility treatment is the only option.  This checklist is intended to help people take control of their own fertility and achieve a pregnancy and, if they are still experiencing problems, at what stage to seek medical help.

The checklist poses a series of questions and identifies three key areas where people can make decisions that impact on their fertility.

Your cycle - understanding your menstrual cycle is a vital first step

You and your partner - your partner's health, as well as your own, has an important role to play

Your lifestyle - lifestyle factors such as stress, diet and exercise can affect your fertility.

If you, or anyone you know, is experiencing problems in achieving pregnancy, this checklist is a must! 

It is important that Clients learn from an Accredited Educator to ensure that they are learning from a suitably qualified, professional Educator whose training is continuously updated.

Accredited Educators abide by our :

• Constitution
• Operating Standards
• Code of Ethics
• Policies and Procedures (as audited by DHBs on a three-yearly cycle) 

To become Accredited Educators, they undergo

• theory and practical training - takes most trainees around six months
• a period of supervised practice - around three months
• on-going training annually of at least eight hours
• a clinical audit at least every three years

Accredited Educators are supervised by and have access to:

• Clinical Supervisor
• Theory Supervisor
• Medical and Scientific Advisory Board

By dealing with an Accredited Educator, clients can have confidence that they are dealing with a skilled and qualified professional but, if something should go wrong (and we make every effort to ensure that it won't!), they have a national organisation with a clearly defined path they can follow to complain and seek redress . 

All Educators listed under Contacts are Accredited to NFNZ

click here to download your free chart. 

These charts are are freely available to Clients of Natural Fertility NZ who have been taught the Sympto-Thermal Method of charting.  Natural Fertility NZ does not recommend the use of these charts by anyone who has not been taught by an NFNZ Accredited Fertility Educator.

We just love hearing your news and particularly success stories from our "to conceive" clients.  Lalage, a member of our Hamilton team, was really thrilled to hear about a client's pregnancy and we can't do better than repeat the story as told to her by a very excited expectant Mum.

After eight emotional years of helping raise three of my husband’s four daughters, I was more than ready to have my own child.  After nearly two years of trying to conceive, we sought some advice and did some tests.  I didn’t want to wait too long to find out if there were any issues as I was already in my 30’s and my husband in his 40’s.  Tests revealed that we would not be able to conceive naturally and we got put in the IVF queue. 

It would take a year before we were eligible for funding and then another year on the waiting list.  While we were grateful for the opportunity, I still yearned for a natural conception and we kept trying to conceive.  During this time, a good friend suggested we try Natural Fertility and for my birthday gave me some money towards a one-on-one consultation with one of the educators.  I tucked the money away and after nearly a year of no results, finally booked the consultation. 

We wondered why we hadn’t gone earlier as there was more to cycles and fertility than we’d understood. Lalage also challenged me personally to look at some other priorities that I wanted to change in my life and I was able to reduce some stress, change some work priorities and lose some weight.  We followed the tracking system for about six months and then took a break, as after more than three years of trying (and three years of a rather emotional journey) we wanted to take some pressure off. 

I had learned so much about my cycle that I was able to still keep track of ovulation without much thought at all.  Even though we were trying to take the pressure off for a while, I decided it was still worthwhile making the most of the small window of opportunity available to us every month.  What do you know - last Christmas we received an early Christmas present... my wish for a natural conception came true!  We were delighted to touch base with our IVF nurse to tell her the good news - it was as much of a surprise to them.  Our second wish also came true recently – after my husband’s four daughters we were delighted to hear we are having a boy!  We are really grateful to Natural Fertility for the guidance and personal support they gave us and really recommend others give them a go. 

We got our miracle and we also hope you get yours!

Hardly a day goes by without an article in the press about infertility.  Its affect on a couple can be devastating.  However, a low sperm count does not necessarily mean infertility or prevent achieving pregnancy.  A lower than optimum sperm count can be due to lifestyle factors which you can control.

The three biggies that affect quality sperm production are:

1. excess consumption of alcohol
2. carrying excess weight
3. using recreational drugs

The New Zealand Pregnancy Book - A guide to pregnancy, birth and a baby's first three months

Authors: Sue Pullon and Cheryl Benn

Publisher - Bridget Williams Limited, Wellington

Third Edition released 2008

A book designed for New Zealand and all who live here!

At Natural Fertility NZ our professionally trained educators who are accredited annually work alongside you to answer your questions and offer ongoing support. For personalised service click here to contact a qualified and Accredited Natural Fertility NZ Educator.