4 Natural Ways To Boost Your Fertility And Get Pregnant (That Help You Avoid IVF)
You don't need to go through such a painful procedure.
getty Fertility is a funny thing. It is not a given. We live in an era of advanced medical technology which allows us to conceive regardless. Yet, perhaps by modifying our lifestyle, as is a consideration of traditional approaches, we could not only be fertile but also increase the well-being of our children.
It is not uncommon that as a child we know nothing about fertility. As a teen, we get all giddy and dreamy.
Later, we know our bodies are ready but our minds and hearts are not. We are terrified of it and go to medical or social extremes to avoid it. Then, mind, body, and heart unite. We become obsessed with how to get pregnant and go to the opposite medical and social extreme to harness it.
A couple of years into child-rearing, we are done and once again take all measures to suppress any inkling of our fertility, until it takes its leave of us. Our hormones can go off kilter at any one of those ages and stages. If they do, our life can spiral in directions never imagined.
Sometimes, after years of preparing a solid foundation upon which to have and raise a family, we realize that getting pregnant can be a challenge.
Both infertility and In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) have been reported to be on the rise, according to Global News-Canada.
While IVF has gifted women with children and couples with families, and the word on the street is that it is a safe process, the test of time may still running with respect to long-term effects.
Professor John Aitken from the University of Newcastle has studied and written prolifically about the topic of male and female fertility and the biology and the sociology surrounding this important issue. He cautions that "we have to remember as a society that the more you use assisted contraception in one generation, the more you’re going to need it in the next."
Controversy suggests complexity. To add to the complexity, this issue is particularly emotional as it spears the heart of families around the world.
Our present modern solution is arguably costly IVF, with "live birth rates … now exceed[ing] 50 [percent] per egg retrieval for women under the age of 34 years," according to the Medical Journal of Australia.
Perhaps if you find yourself needing several rounds of IVF, or while you are saving money for your next procedure, you may wish to may wish to explore some of the lifestyle changes which may increase your chances of fertility.
Here are 4 best ways to get pregnant naturally and boost your fertility:
1. Turn the lights out!
Joyce deFelice studied Light Elimination Therapy for the Treatment of Fertility. She concluded that "the presence of ambient light during sleep can have a fundamental and independent effect on a woman’s reproductive function."
While further research needs to be done to more fully understand the relationship between light during sleep and fertility, removing all ambient light during sleep is generally a low-cost manageable home-based and natural approach with demonstrated increase in fertility within 6 months for 54 percent of the women in this trial.
2. Ensure quality and quantity of sleep.
While the verdict is still out on exactly how much sleep to get for optimal fertility and at what times to sleep and wake up, there is research that suggests that quality and quantity of sleep plays a role in fertility.
T.S. Wiley, in Lights Out!, argues that we would benefit by sleeping more with the sun, going to bed sooner and waking sooner, then we tend to now. She backs up her claims with substantial research suggesting that this would support our natural circadian rhythms and in turn favorably affect our fertility hormones.
This is particularly meaningful to women who work rotating shifts or nights or whose work requires much travel across time zones.
Megan Mahoney sums this up in her review on the topic in the International Journal of Endocrinology: "In women, perturbations in daily rhythms...sleep deprivation is associated with an increased menstrual cycle irregularity, increased risk of miscarriage, difficulty in conceiving..."
3. Consider optimizing your weight for fertility and gestation.
The May 2014 issue of EndocrineWeb for healthcare professionals was dedicated to a review of weight and fertility. It revealed that being either overweight or underweight compromises fertility.
Dr. Nita Landry explains why in simple terms in an article for Self. While not conclusive, a common guideline for weight which is favorable to fertility is a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 19-24.
Less commonly known is the fact that there is research to suggest that this applies to the men’s fertility, too!
4. Consider addressing mental and emotional stress.
Both are related to fertility, miscarriage, birthing, and motherhood. A study published in The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in 2014 states that "it seems prudent to consider stress as a potential factor among couples who have failed to get pregnant despite 6 months of targeted intercourse."
Yet, in 2011, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published an analysis which concluded that emotional distress is not an issue where In-Vitro Fertilization success is concerned. Presumably, medical advances can override the effects of emotional distress, if emotional distress was a contributing factor to infertility, to begin with.
For more information about lifestyle changes we can make to support our fertility, we can look at global perspectives on fertility treatment.
It turns out that established traditional and complementary approaches to fertility treatment consider individualized lifestyle recommendations in addition to natural medicines to encourage fertility.
Ayurveda Treatment, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Homeopathy treatment are all established systems of medicine outside of North America, and even in Mexico.
And even though these systems are comparatively lacking in Western research, they have been upheld by a tradition of several hundred to several thousand years of experience, case documentation, and continued patient choice.
Nonetheless, conventional research in these fields is growing and there is research to support their valid use for infertility treatment. Research results "revealed that subfertility due to PCOS can be cured successfully by using this Ayurveda treatment regimen."
According to a review of the "Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine in the management of female infertility" published on NCBI, the "management of female infertility with Chinese Herbal Medicine can improve pregnancy rates 2-fold within a 4 month period".
And, homeopathic research reported that "pregnancy was achieved in 38 out of 67 women" While the value of contemporary research is defined by its parameters, it is also limited by them. The more it allows us to focus on detail, the less it allows us to consider the bigger picture.
While this research highlights effective results within limited parameters, these systems are commonly recognized for their skill in considering the bigger picture of the individual.
Where fertility is concerned, this refers to the lifestyle, mind, and emotions, including and beyond the biology of conception.
If lifestyle is a contributing variable to our fertility, we usually do not have too much to lose by improving it.
Sleeping in the dark may cost a piece of black construction paper to block out the alarm clock lights. Sleeping more with the rhythm of the universe may require exchanging a late night TV program in favor of the sunrise.
Weight management is already at the forefront of the Western mind for overall wellness. Making the investment of time required to meet with yourself, to process the day's challenges with ruthless honesty and unwavering compassion, to allow yourself to let go and live in peace, is a worthy daily practice no matter how you look at things.
While it may be possible to conceive and carry a child without consideration of lifestyle aspects such as these and others, neglect thereof may risk exacerbating the challenges of actually raising children.
"Sleep duration in children is likely influenced by their parents’ sleep duration, according to one study by the American Sleep Association (ASA).
Being overweight has been "found to be significantly associated with parental overweight," says another.
The ASA also states that research also substantiates and some parents have realized that unresolved emotional challenges can boomerang back to us through our children in head spinning and heart-wrenching technicolor.
All this would suggest that as parents we may as well bite the bullet and live well, for the sake of our wellbeing as parents and for the sake of our children.
Lisa Torres is the founder of Access Homeopathy, a telemedicine platform that provides professional, regulated, and affordable homeopathic consultations. If you're looking for a trained Homeopath who can help you support your fertility naturally, reach out to schedule a virtual homeopathic consultation.