Tag: Infertility

Preconception Care

Congratulations! You’ve decided you want to get pregnant, this choice being the first exciting step in your journey. The next step could be schooling yourself on preconception care to optimise conception and your pregnancy experience. Let me help with that side of things.

Getting ready for pregnancy

Congratulations! You’ve decided you want to get pregnant, this choice being the first exciting step in your journey. The next step could be schooling yourself on preconception care to optimise conception and your pregnancy experience. Let me help with that side of things.

So, what is preconception care and why is it important?

Preconception care is the time before pregnancy where you and your partner take extra care with your body and mind for at least 3-4months before you start trying to conceive. 3-4months is the time it takes for both sperm and eggs to fully mature, and the time in which you can have a positive effect on this process. Research shows preconception care can play a role in the health of the mother and baby. If we can influence that, surely, it’s worth putting effort into trying!

First steps before trying to get pregnant…

  • Booking an appointment with your GP and letting them know you want to get pregnant. They will request bloods to assess things like rubella immunity, and prescribe supplemental folic acid and iodine.
  • Folic acid is important to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Recommended to take 4x weeks before pregnancy and up to 12x weeks into your pregnancy.
  • Iodine is important for your baby’s brain development and growth. Taken the duration of pregnancy.
  • A cervical smear and STI check may be important if you haven’t done one before, or haven’t done one since being with your current partner. Some STIs can affect fertility.
  • Look for a Natural Fertility Educator so you may learn about your unique menstrual cycle and when is the most optimal timing to try for pregnancy. We teach you how to track your cycle using the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM). You may be surprised to learn that you actually can’t get pregnant any old day, like we believed at high school! PS: These appointments are for both you and your partner, their health is equally as important as yours when trying to conceive.
  • Once you have knowledge on your unique cycle, referrals may be necessary for further investigation. We learn a lot about your general health and importantly, your hormones, just by tracking your cycle. Fascinating stuff.

Are you ready to learn about your fertility? Find your fabulous NFNZ practitioner here.

Find an Educator

Things to cease before getting pregnant:

  • Smoking and vaping
  • Recreational drug use
  • The Ministry of Health NZ recommends both partners do not drink alcohol when trying to conceive. Alcohol can harm your baby and increase the risk of miscarriage. It may affect the health of sperm and quantity aswell.

Things to consider before getting pregnant:

  • Check you and your partner’s diet. Are you getting enough protein? Healthy fats? Are you eating enough for your daily energy requirements? Are you eating foods that have a negative effect on your mood and energy? Do you drink many caffeinated beverages? You can always book an appt with an allied health professional such as a nutritionist or naturopath for care in this area. If you are lacking nutrients this may undermine your fertility.
  • How is your and your partners lifestyle? Are you moving your body regularly? Are you getting adequate sleep? What are your stress levels like?
  • What is you and your partners work environment like? If you work with dangerous substances, you must ensure you are wearing the appropriate protective clothing at all times.
  • Are you or your partner taking any medications? Some medications can impact fertility.

This has been a sneak preview into what your preconception journey may look like. Hopefully it’s been a motivating read and you are excited to take ownership of this role you play. Good luck!

Fertility Checklist

Fertility Checklist

If you’re not sure where to start, we have you covered with our Fertility Checklist.

Posted by

Ashly Olsen

If you are ready to take the next step, reach out to one of our Fertility Educators.

Find an Educator

Recent Articles

Shorten the time to Conception with Fertility Awareness

Knowing when you and your partner are fertile can help you to get pregnant faster. How? Well it all comes down to having an understanding of your personal fertility:

Shorten the time to Conception with Fertility Awareness

Knowing when you and your partner are fertile can help you to get pregnant faster. How? Well it all comes down to having an understanding of your personal fertility:

  • When your fertility starts each cycle
  • When you ovulate
  • When fertility ends
  • The time from ovulation until the end of your cycle

Once you know how to identify the start and end of your fertility, there is no more guesswork! No more hard to decipher LH strips, and no more dollars spent on pregnancy tests taken too early.

After you have a few cycles worth of records, you may be able to identify an issue that could be preventing you from getting pregnant, which could mean that you get the help you need sooner.

Combined Fertility – it takes 2

Females are not fertile for their entire cycle, ‘Combined Fertility’ is what we call the time in the menstrual cycle where sexual intercourse can result in a pregnancy. Combined because it takes 2 to make a baby, and we support couples to both learn and apply this understanding to their fertility journey. This turns it into a joint process, which can help to alleviate stress.

Fertility Awareness to know when you are fertile

The perfect 28 day cycle, with ovulation at day 14 is not that common, so if you are focusing your baby making sex around this time – you could be missing the egg entirely. Fertility Awareness will help you to recognise when your fertility starts, and how to identify your peak fertile days.

The second half of your menstrual cycle (the luteal phase) is usually the same length every cycle, a normal luteal length is around 12 – 16 days. If your luteal length is shorter, and you are not breastfeeding, then you may need some extra support. If you are practicing fertility awareness, and your luteal length is 18 days or longer, this technically confirms that you are pregnant – this is the best time to go get that pregnancy test!

Get Fertility Fit

Getting healthy for pregnancy is sometimes an afterthought, or something that happens once you have found out that you’re pregnant. However there is plenty of research to show that if both partners are in good health before they start trying, falling pregnant is easier, the pregnancy has less complications, and baby is healthy and happy.

Get Fertility Fit

Learning Fertility Awareness also goes hand in hand with embarking on a preconception plan that can get you both in tip top shape for a healthy pregnancy and baby.

If you’ve just found out that you are pregnant and have not been taking folic acid, schedule an appt with your GP and / or pop into your local healthshop or pharmacy to get some to get you started.

If you’re not sure where to start, download our Fertility Checklist.

When its taking too long to get pregnant

It can take the average couple up to a year to conceive, which is sometimes a surprise for many to find out – however:

  • If you are under 35 and you haven’t conceived after 1 year of trying (or not preventing), then its time to see your GP for some extra tests.
  • If you are over 35, then its best to seek out help sooner, so make an appointment if you dont conceive in the first 6 months.

This is where fertility awareness can really support you on your fertility journey, as both you and your educator will be able to see if there is something not quite right earlier, and can make the appropriate referral. To understand the process a little better, we have outlined the basic process here.

Posted by

Chantelle Meikle

Naturopath & Fertility Educator living in Lake Taupo, New Zealand with husband, 3 cats, sheep and too many chickens.

If you are ready to take the next step, reach out to one of our Fertility Educators.

Find an Educator

Recent Articles

Can Fertility Awareness help me to get Pregnant?

So you have decided to have a baby – this is an exciting time for you and your partner! Trying to conceive can also be extremely stressful when things don’t go the way that you planned.

Can Fertility Awareness help me to get Pregnant?

So you have decided to have a baby – this is an exciting time for you and your partner! Trying to conceive can also be extremely stressful when things don’t go the way that you planned. Fertility Awareness can help to take some of the stress out for you, by giving you a deep understanding of your fertility, and when to focus your baby making efforts each cycle.

At Natural Fertility NZ, we teach a slightly simpler version of the Sympto-thermal Method (STM) for those who are trying to conceive (TTC). Once you have learnt this, it’s easy to switch to the full STM for avoiding conception. We find that many couples start by learning the STM to avoid conception after coming off hormonal contraception – with the intention of using the method to TTC when they are ready.

Understanding your fertility can shorten the time to conception

Through the process of working with your Fertility Educator, you will be able to:

  • Begin a preconception health plan
  • Identify the start of fertility in any given cycle
  • Know the best times to have intercourse
  • Identify and confirm ovulation
  • Measure the length of your luteal phase
  • Notice if a hormonal imbalance is present

Knowledge is power, and that is especially true when on a ‘to conceive’ journey. The insight you gain through learning fertility awareness will help you to shorten how long it takes to get pregnant.

I have irregular cycles, can I still use Fertility Awareness?

The simple answer is – Yes! If you have irregular cycles, or have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), then fertility awareness can help you to conceive.

The main issue with irregular cycles when trying to conceive, is that you don’t know when you are going to ovulate each cycle, as this day will be earlier in some cycles, and later in others. 

It’s a race to catch the egg sometimes, which can leave you feeling frustrated if you have been trying for some months. It is common to rely on ovulation tests, which check for the surge in luteinising hormone just before ovulation – however there are 2 main reasons why these are not recommended:

  • Your body might gear up to ovulate more than one time each cycle, so you may think that you have ovulated and stop trying – and miss the egg!
  • They don’t give you much of a window of opportunity, which can lead to stress, and potentially leading to the sperm not being in the right place at the right time.

Ovulation strips can also become costly if you are experiencing very long cycles.

With fertility awareness you will learn how to identify the start of fertility, and also confirm once ovulation has occurred. It will give you peace of mind, knowing when to have baby making sex, and when you can take it a little easier.

Preconception Healthcare

Preconception healthcare is an important part of your journey to become a parent, it helps to prepare healthy sperm and eggs, and also to prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy.

At the very minimum, you need to be taking a folic acid supplement (which can be prescribed by your GP).

There 3 steps that you can take as part of your preconception plan:

  1. Visit your GP – they will run some prenatal blood tests, and prescribe you folic acid and iodine
  2. Self care – looking after your health by not smoking or drinking, and eating a balanced diet
  3. Learning about your fertility 

Many of NFNZ’s Fertility Educators have extensive training in natural healthcare and nutrition, they can support you further with making healthy changes, or they can refer you on.

How can I learn Fertility Awareness to help me conceive?

Choose your Fertility Educator, and make an appointment either in person, on the phone, or online. You will have a total of 3 appointments:

  1. At the first appointment, you will learn how to recognise and record your signs of fertility on a paper chart
  2. At the second appointment, you will learn how to identify when your fertility starts and ends on your first chart
  3. At the third appointment, you will bring your 2nd chart, and your Fertility Educator will make sure you understand how to interpret it.

You will also learn about cervical palpation (checking the cervix) which is an optional extra check, and also preconception healthcare.

Find an Educator

How long should it take to get pregnant?

It generally takes 6-12 months for the average kiwi couple to conceive, which is not what many people expect when they start their trying to conceive (TTC) journey.

If however you know when your fertility starts and ends each cycle, you are in a much better position for successful conception.

Infertility

While practicing fertility awareness, along with the support of your Fertility Educator, you will be able to identify if something is not quite right. A report can be prepared for your chosen Health Professional so that further investigations can be made.

  • If you are under 35 and have been trying for 1 year, visit your GP to get a referral for further tests.
  • If you are 35 or over, only wait 6 months before visiting your GP.

Whilst you will be referred to a fertility clinic, it does not mean that you have to go ahead with treatment, but you will have the benefit of getting those extra investigations done which might identify a reason for why it is taking longer for you.

If you are not eligible for a publicly funded referral, the skills that you will have learnt via Fertility Awareness will support you while you get all your other ducks in a row.

Trying to get pregnant can be a real challenge for many, in fact 1 in 4 kiwi couples will have some trouble when trying to conceive. Know that you are not alone in experiencing this (even though it may feel that way!). Fertility NZ is an organisation that offers support to those experiencing all kinds of infertility.

Can I use Fertility Awareness while Breastfeeding?

Yes you can, but not the same version that you used when trying to conceive! In the next article, we will look into how you can delay the return to fertility with breastfeeding.

Read more…

Post-ovulatory ageing of the human oocyte and embryo failure

Post-ovulatory ageing of the human oocyte and embryo failure

Authors: Allen J. Wilcox, Clarice R. Weinberg, Donna D. Baird, Post-ovulatory ageing of the human oocyte and embryo failure, Human Reproduction, Volume 13, Issue 2, 1 February 1998, Pages 394–397, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/13.2.394

Abstract

We carried out a prospective study of 221 healthy women who were attempting pregnancy. During the study, women collected daily urine samples and kept daily records of intercourse.

Ovulation and early pregnancy losses were later identified by immunoassays of urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin and steroid metabolites. We have used these data to examine whether the risk of early pregnancy loss was higher with post-ovulatory ageing of the oocyte. 192 pregnancies were ranked by the probability that the oocyte might have aged before fertilization.

There was a statistically significant increase in the risk of early loss as the likelihood of oocyte ageing increased (P < 0.05). No similar risk was observed for clinical miscarriages. Post-ovulatory ageing of the oocyte prior to fertilization may cause early pregnancy failure in humans as it does in several other mammalian species.

Read full text Article

Fertility Awareness in Women Attending a Fertility Clinic

Fertility Awareness in Women Attending a Fertility Clinic

Authors: Blake D, Smith D, Bargiacchi A, France M, Gudex G. Fertility awareness in women attending a fertility clinic. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 1997 Aug;37(3):350-2. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1997.tb02429.x. PMID: 9325525.

Abstract

Eighty women attending for consultation at a tertiary referral fertility unit over a 3-month period were surveyed for their knowledge of fertility awareness and how they used this information to enhance their chances of conception. It was hypothesized that less than 50% of the subjects had an adequate understanding of when the fertile time occurred in their menstrual cycle. A questionnaire was completed anonymously by each subject and these were scored in 3 categories for fertility awareness by 2 independent Natural Family Planning teachers. Scores ranged from 0 for women who had no concept of fertility awareness, to 6 for women who were highly aware. The results showed that 26% (N = 21) of subjects had a score of 4 or greater which was considered as having an adequate understanding. The hypothesis was accepted, giving reason for concern about the effectiveness of consumer education at all levels of fertility investigation.

PIP: Fertility awareness was assessed in a survey of 80 women presenting over a 3-month period to a tertiary referral unit at the National Women’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, for infertility investigation. It was hypothesized that less than 50% of menstruating women with a history of at least 2 years of infertility have an adequate understanding about the fertile time of their menstrual cycle. 60% of women had been trying to conceive for 2-3 years, 23% for 4-5 years, and 17% for more than 6 years. For 58% of clients, this was their first visit to a fertility clinic. 13% had attended a natural family planning (NFP) clinic previously. On the basis of questionnaire responses, participants were graded from 0 to 2 in each of the following 3 categories: 1) level of fertility symptom awareness (cervical mucus and ovulatory pain), 2) level of understanding of what these symptoms mean, and 3) level of use of this information to enhance conception. Only 21 women (26%) had a final score of 4 or greater–a predetermined cut-off considered indicative of adequate fertility awareness. The largest percentage of women (46%) had scores of 0-1. 80% of women with previous NFP instruction had adequate fertility awareness scores. These finding supported the study hypothesis of a generally poor level of fertility awareness among women presenting for treatment of infertility. Greater utilization of NFP clinics by general practitioners and specialists, as well as incorporation of NFP trained nurses into tertiary referral clinics, are recommended.

Read full text Article