Part 3: Increase Your Fertility with Natural Herbs

By Amy Roberts

Now we've come to the last part of the herbal remedies for increasing fertility series of articles. This entire series has been going over ways to boost your chances of conceiving a child using time-tested, culturally proven natural remedies. Part one discussed red clover, wild carrot, dried clover blossom, wild yam, partridge berry, and liferoot, among other plants that can make you more fertile. Part two saw us look at more of these plants and ways to prepare them that improve conception. Now, with part three, we can show you what plants to avoid, as they can have a contraceptive effect.

An anti-fertility herb that is seen often is daucus carota, or wild carrot, which is also known as Queen Anne's lace, often seen by the public growing on the sides of roads. Parsley, dill, cumin, celery, caraway and anise are cousins to this carrot, as well as another plant that was used by Greek and Roman girls as a method of birth control, though that is now extinct. If you want to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting, you would have to eat the sweet smelling seeds of the wild carrot, at least a large teaspoonful at a time. One study found that if you do this for over a year it is about 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. You can tell that preventing pregnancy in this manner is a perfect fit with the way that nature works because, on its own, the body allows a third of all fertilized eggs to pass through your body without having it implant in your uterus.

There seems to be no side effects so far when it comes to using this method to prevent fertility. It is important to know the difference between the wild carrot and poison hemlock, as a mistake could be dangerous. It isn't likely that you will mix the two up though, because poison hemlock doesn't smell anything like carrot and you will certainly know the difference when it comes to flavor. Wild yam, or dioscorea villosa, is another anti-fertility herb that has been used among groups of women. It is taken as a cup of tea or in pill form three times a day which is not at all shocking because in the past birth control pills stemmed from this helpful plant and it has helped prevent pregnancy for a long time. Are there side effects that are negative? There is a chance of side effects but the small studies performed to date haven't shown any side effects. Your chances for conceiving a baby decrease because these plants turn themselves into progesterone if you take them daily.

If you consume them in the weeks before you ovulate, they might turn into FSH and LH, which are necessary hormones for egg fertilization, so keep that in mind. Parsley, jack-in-the-pulpit, pennyroyal, rue, oatsraw, and stinging nettle are just a few examples of other fertility related herbs and plants that provide natural solutions to these issues. It's always astounding just how much nature provides for us.

This wraps up the three part series we've written on natural herbs that help increase fertility, and if you missed part one and two, be sure to read them so your knowledge of using natural herbs can help fertility will be complete. - 31802

About the Author:

Baby Gender Test Kits That Tell You The Sex Of Your Baby

By Olivia Campbell-Price

If you're like many other expectant parents, you're probably really excited and wish you could find out your baby's gender right now even before it is born. While it is a highly accurate baby gender test, amniocentesis is reserved for testing for possible genetic disorders, so too is chorionic villus sampling or CVS testing which examines the placenta, Neither of these are viable solutions for everyday gender testing since they are high risk procedures which can harm the fetus.

What can parents do if they are really anxious to learn their baby's gender before birth? Several options exist, ranging from old wives' tales that are of questionable reliability to at home baby gender test kits that show some promise. Keep in mind that these are great for having a bit of fun, but you probably can't and shouldn't bank on the results.

Certainly, the ultrasound sonogram is the most popular and currently most useful baby gender test available. The rate of accuracy is still not 100%, but it's about as close as you can get short of undergoing amniocentesis or CVS testing. The ultrasound is just about routine for most pregnancies, but for the most accurate results, the 20-week range or mid-second trimester is the best time for determining the baby's gender.

For those who don't want to wait, there are early gender detection test kits are now on the market. Designed to detect the presence of male or female DNA material or other proprietary criteria as early as five weeks of pregnancy, these are highly touted as being the answer to the far-off ultrasound exam. However in terms of accuracy, the jury is still out.

Using an early baby gender test kits such as Intelligender and Pink or Blue Early Gender Test can certainly provide entertainment value, but until the technology is perfected, there is not enough evidence that it is 100% reliable for purposes of planning your nursery.

The baby gender test kit made by Intelligender has been around for a few years. This kit tests your urine for the presence of certain substances and will change colors that you can then compare against a color-coded guide. Results can be seen within ten minutes. You can perform this test at around six weeks after you miss a period or in the second month of pregnancy. While it can be fun to find out early, keep in mind that your results may or may not be confirmed by a sonogram.

The Pink or Blue baby gender test kit is a bit more involved and is more costly to learn the results. This is packaged as a early pregnancy test and offers the option to collect samples for laboratory testing of the gender component. While the test kit itself is relatively inexpensive, the gender testing requires an additional cost of up to $200 and requires sending the sample to the lab. - 31802

About the Author:

Know the Best Time to Conceive

By Tammy Richardson

If there's one thing a couple should do who have been labelled with 'unexplained infertility' it is to go on a 'no doctors allowed' hiatus and really learn about conception. This is because many doctors are far too quick to tell patients they are 'infertile' after just one year of trying - sometimes it just takes a better understanding of your bodies and your cervical fluid is one of the best indicators of when is the best time to get pregnant.

It's pretty standard for doctors to focus on basal body temperate and overlook the significance of changes in cervical fluid. The best indication of when is the best time to get pregnant is by using the changes in cervical fluid as a guide. For millions of couples around the world, doctors are unfortunately still prescribing the timing of intercourse be dictated by changes in a woman's temperature. If you have been told that checking basal body temperature is actually a post-indication of ovulation and fertility, then at least that is half the story - however most doctors will still tell you to check your past cycles for a predictive indication of future fertile times. There is misinformation in both pieces of advice!

Unfortunately finding when is the best time to get pregnant by keeping a temperature record may actually be impeding conception, as in most cases by the time a temperature increase is noted, the egg has already passed.

Tracking changes in temperature is of course a part of the conception puzzle, but the emphasis the medical profession gives it as a sign of fertility is misleading. There are many useful things to be gleaned from recording basal body temperature, such as your ovulation cycle length (important for knowing if an egg can be successfully implanted in the uterus) or if you are ovulating properly or not - even for determining if a conception has taken place. Be this as it may, basal temperature is not a good determinant of optimum fertility periods. Changes in cervical fluid provide a very accurate determinant of fertile times, so start checking! The prime fertile day is the last day of the cervical fluid that looks like eggwhites, or the wettest type of cervical fluid.

Chances of conception can be increased by paying attention to your cervical fluid. Knowing what you are looking for is the crucial first step of tracking changes in cervical fluids. During any cycle cervical fluids can differ immensely in terms of volume, consistency and its colour. Couples can find the best time for conception if the woman understands and tracks these changes.

Directly after the menses have finished, there is usually not much cervical fluid produced. In most women for the first half a week directly after the period there will be little mucus produced, if any at all. The general rule of thumb can be summed up thus: no cervical mucus, no chances of conception. The stage after this one, and preceding ovulation is one where there is a sticky consistency to the cervical mucus and it is a cloudy or white colour. During this phase there is normally also less mucus. A couple of days prior to ovulation the cervical mucus changes to a moist, sticky consistency like a lotion or hand cream. Usually the colour at this stage will be creamy or white.

The best conception time is ovulation. The most cervical mucus is present during the ovulation phase of the menstrual cycle. During ovulation the cervical mucus takes on the colour and consistency of an eggwhite which is why this time is called the time of 'eggwhite cervical mucus'. The eggwhite cervical mucus is an indicator that the optimum time for conception has arrived.

By taking notice of the changes in your cervical mucus, you can track your cycle more accurately, and always know where you are in your cycle. By tracking these changes over a number of months, you can get a very good indication of your exact ovulation times and use this as a guide for knowing when the optimum time for conception is. - 31802

About the Author:

Natural Ways to Increase Fertility in Women

By Tammy Richardson

Are you having difficulties conceiving? If you are there may be some simple and natural ways to increase the likelihood of falling pregnant, our lifestyle can impact heavily on the reproductive systems of men and women alike so this is the best place to start if you prefer natural ways to increase fertility.

Alcohol is a hazard for pregnancy. Studies have shown that the risk of having a miscarriage increases with moderate alcohol consumption in the first trimester, especially the first couple of weeks.

Nutrition is an important factor in fertility treatment. Giving your body the proper levels of nourishment will mean that it has all it needs to function properly, and is of course the most simple and natural ways to increase fertility naturally! For the delicate reproductive hormone system to work well, a good reserve of nutrients is needed and this will not be achieved will a poor diet.

Nutrient levels and diet as well as your digestive function all play a part in determining your hormonal balance and fertility. A shortage of antioxidants, essential fatty acids and vitamins and minerals like magnesium, zinc and vitamins A and B6 may lead to a blockage of hormone production and a reduction of your chances of falling pregnant.

Has the thought of using supplementary traditional medicine and acupuncture to help with fertility issues ever crossed your mind? If you are among the people who have unexplained infertility then you may be a good candidate for giving medical acupuncture a go, as acupuncture can help to raise the readiness of the body for conception by balancing out its energies. If there is a physical impediment to conception in either partners, such as low sperm count or damage in the fallopian tubes then as a supplement to medical treatment couples can use acupuncture as well.

Acupuncture, when skilfully administered can be very effective at equalizing the multifarious physical imbalances that are often behind a reduced ability to conceive.

Stress has a lot to do with infertility. If a women is under a lot of stress the body will overproduce prolactin which is a reproductive hormone and will interfere with proper ovulation. Simultaneously the hypothalamus ceases secretion of the essential hormone gonadotrophin which will also mean that the luteinizing hormone and the follicle-stimulating hormones are both not released. These hormones are all essential for stimulating ovulation cycles, so of course fertility is the first casualty of stress.

Some of the things to help reduce stress include regular exercise, calm breathing practices as well as visualization techniques and hypnotherapy - a combination of the following can really help:

Using holistic therapies often work so well as natural ways to increase fertility simply because conception and fertility are actually not just affected by the reproductive system, but by the health of the body as a whole. It may be a combination of things which are needed to fall pregnant, like nutritional supplements or de-stressing with massage or acupuncture, but there are lots of natural ways to help.

Conceiving if you are a woman who smokes very often takes longer and comes with an increased risk of miscarriage as well as lower levels of progesterone and oestrogen. For males, smoking results in immotile sperm, decreased sperm density coupled with an increase in abnormal sperm as well as reduced levels of testosterone. In both men and women the risks outlined only increase with the number of cigarettes consumed each day.

As a natural and healthy way to increase fertility, hypnotherapy can be extremely helpful.

By teaching patients to let go of stress and blockages they are holding onto, hypnotherapists have had great success, especially with couples suffering from unexplained infertility. Fertility issues can arise from holding stress or having emotional blockages which can be let go with the help of hypnotherapy. Using hypnotherapy to identify and settle unresolved emotional issues can help with increasing your chances of conception.

Hidden and deep-seated anxieties can also be resolved using hypnotherapy, and this can be the key for hormonal rebalancing. This is usually when there is too much prolactin in the system inhibiting ovulation.

Hypnotherapy can also be used in the birthing process and can teach women to be calm and relaxed while birthing. Hypnotherapy can help make the birth more calm and comfortable for women by teaching them relaxation and breathing techniques to utilise in the birthing process. - 31802

About the Author:

How The IVF Procedure Can Help You

By Adam Capewell

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a method of assisted reproduction that provides infertile couples an opportunity to have a child that is biologically related to them.

With IVF, a man's sperm and the woman's egg are combined by an IVF specialist in a laboratory dish. The resulting embryo is then put into the uterus (womb) of the woman and left to naturally develop. Usually, 2-4 embryos are put in the woman's uterus each time. Each attempt is called a cycle, and the cost of IVF per cycle is approximately $12,000.

So, what exactly is involved in each cycle? Here is a more detailed explanation...

The woman may be administered hormones to induce her ovaries to create a number (5+) eggs. A surgeon will then insert a needle through the vagina into the woman's ovary to remove the eggs. General anesthesia is not required for this part of the procedure, but the woman is sometimes given some sedating medication. At the same time, the man provides a semen sample. He will be asked not to have sex for a few days before the eggs are taken from his partner. The sperm are separated from the semen in a laboratory procedure.

Following this, the sperm will be mixed in the laboratory dish with the eggs taken from the woman. About 20 hours after this fertilization procedure, the laboratory dish is examined to find out if any of the eggs have fertilized and if embryos have grown as a result. If they have, they are incubated and observed for the next 2-5 days. After that time, the embryos will be transferred into the woman's uterus through the cervix with a catheter (a long slender tube). She is then given certain hormones for the following 2 weeks.

The pregnancy success rate of the IVF procedure is 36% for women younger than 35 years, 28% for those between 36-39 years, and 13% in those who are 40+ years. Therefore, the final cost of IVF is generally over $20,000, as a minority of couples succeed at their first attempt.

Finally, research has shown that children born as a result of the IVF procedure are as healthy as those born in the natural way. The only complication worth noting is the increased risk of multiple births happening, with the likelihood of giving birth to twins or triplets being perceptibly higher when using IVF. - 31802

About the Author:

Methods Of Conceiving A Boy

By Ashley Mannor

Many tips for successfully conceiving a baby boy are available online and also written in many books and guides. These guidelines and tips are all proven scientifically. They are not based on old customs and beliefs. In spite of that, there is no way anybody can guarantee the birth of a boy. But a couple can increase the chances of conceiving a baby boy for sure. For successfully giving birth to a boy, one must be aware of all aspects of the process known as conception.

Many guides describe that for a healthy boy to be born, the environment of the mother should be alkaline. Acidic nature of environment may prove fatal to the foetus. Also the male sperm can blossom and grow in alkaline conditions.

Scientifically, the more acidic part of any woman's vagina is the entrance. The alkaline environment exists near its cervix. Hence, a deeper way of lovemaking is suggested by doctors for those couples who are wishing and trying for a boy. The behavior of the male sperm generally determines the gender of the baby. This fact has been scientifically proven. The male sperm is smaller in size than the female sperm. But it moves with greater speed than the female one. Also the female sperm has a longer life than its male equivalent. Hence, lovemaking is advised as close as possible to the day of ovulation. That increases the chances of a boy. The reasons for that are, as the egg is waiting to ovulate, the male sperms, which are faster than the female ones, will reach the egg and completely avoid the female sperms.

If it is done before the ovulation period starts, the chances of a baby boy decrease greatly. To know when a woman's ovulation period starts, one can refer to the ovulation prediction kits. They include calendars and tips to what one should do on specific days. The gynecologists and hospitals can provide couples with these tips. The calendars are also found on the internet.

Maintaining a healthy diet is the key to success. Generally intake of proteins and potassium is advised by doctors and health experts too. It is also believed that continuing the daily routine can help. Also intake of calories is necessary and can increase the chances. Daily exercise helps a woman's body to be fit and ready for pregnancy. For the baby to be healthy, the mother, who acts as the host, should be strong and healthy. - 31802

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here