Why Am I Not Pregnant Yet?
06 May 2009 12:57:03 AM
Do you (or your partner) have trouble conceiving? Are you experiencing recurrent miscarriages?
If so, something may be interfering with your efforts to have a baby.
Infertility, or subfertility, is defined as the inability to conceive or carry a baby to term after one year of regular intercourse without birth control. Common causes of infertility include hormone imbalances, ovulatory disorders, endometriosis, and problems with sperm count or motility.
Frustrated couples unable to conceive often consider assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF (in-vitro fertilization) or IUI (intra-uterine insemination), but before immediately jumping to expensive and time-consuming treatments, why not try the natural route first?
While couples generally consider medical problems as the cause of infertility, lifestyle and environmental factors are often overlooked. Nutritional deficiencies, body weight, emotional distress, cigarettes and alcohol as well as environmental pollutants all have an effect on your ability to conceive and carry a baby to term. Harvard researchers have found a clear link between diet/ lifestyle habits and fertility [footnote 1]. Experts are now linking toxic chemicals with a variety of different illnesses and conditions including infertility [footnote 2]. Chemicals in the air, household cleaners, laundry detergents and pesticides can potentially be harmful to our bodies. Increased exposure to these toxins may be affecting your chances of becoming pregnant.
A team at the University of Surrey, led by Dr. Neil Ward, followed the progress of 367 couples that had followed a health improvement program [footnote 3]. The program included use of appropriate supplements, removal of heavy metals, improvement of diet with increased organic food as well as correction of infections and lifestyle issues. By the end of the study, 89% of the couples had given birth. Within the group, 37% had been having a history of “infertility”- and of those, 81% had born a healthy child through following the natural health program. 38% of the study group had past miscarriages- of these, 83% had given birth and none had miscarried.
Following these encouraging results, Dr. Ardyce Yik ND can help you to improve your chances of becoming pregnant using methods from the UK program cited above.
Dr. Yik offers the following to patients:
- Tests and screening: hormone profiles, heavy metal status, nutrient status
- Nutritional counseling to ensure adequate nutrients to support conception and pregnancy
- Detoxification (prior to attempts to conceive) by:
- Reducing heavy metal toxicity if tests reveal high levels of heavy metals
- Reducing environmental toxic exposure through education
- Supporting your body’s detoxification mechanisms
- Appropriate supplements and Western botanical medicine to address hormone imbalances, ovulatory disorders, and other factors contributing to difficulties conceiving
- Lifestyle counseling (to address fertility awareness, smoking, alcohol, exercise, weight, stress management, emotional/ psychological factors, etc.)
Fertility is multi-factorial. While there is no magic pill out there that works for everyone, each couple needs to ensure that all the necessary building blocks for a healthy pregnancy are in place. They also need to address any underlying issues contributing to infertility or miscarriages.
Footnotes:
[1] Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Bernard A. Rosner, and Walter C. Willett. Diet and Lifestyle in the Prevention of Ovulatory Disorder Infertility. Obstetrics & Gynecology. Vol. 110, No. 5, November 2007.
[2] Toft G, Hagmar L, Giwercman A, Bonde JP. Epidemiological evidence on reproductive effects of persistent organochlorines in humans. Reprod Toxicol 2004;19:5–26.
[3] Ward, Neil. Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (1995) 5, 205-208.
