Health Notes, January 10th 2010, by Sarah Stacey

Making babies!

With the number of column inches now devoted to reporting on fertility – or rather infertility –  many women are anxiously watching their biological clock.   A new book called The Baby-Making Bible by Emma Cannon, a leading complementary practitioner and acupuncturist specialising in fertility (who helped a 35 year old friend of mine to get pregnant), helps cut through the welter of often confusing do’s and don’ts.  Here she gives her ten top tips for would-be parents on getting into the optimum state to conceive naturally.

Fertility Action Plan:  
 
Have lots of sex: aim to have sex at least three times a week – if you wait until you are ovulating to start having sex you ‘re likely to miss the fertile window so having sex earlier in your cycle is really important.  Maintain a loving intimacy – don’t turn sex into a baby-making chore. Have regular screenings for STD's throughout your sexual life so any infections can be caught and treated early.

Understand your menstrual cycle: this is the only outwardly visible indicator a woman has of her fertility. Address any gynaecology issues in your 20's or as soon as you are aware of them.  Discovering in your thirties that you have a condition such as PCOS or endometriosis can be a major block to fertility. 
 
Watch your weight: being overweight or underweight may interfere with your hormones and impact on your fertility.  So adding or losing a few pounds can really improve your chances of conceiving. Eat a varied diet full of seasonal, home-cooked foods, preferably grown locally. 
  
Look after your mind: your emotions affect your fertility. Relationships can bring great joy but they can also be a drain on your energy so it’s important to heal important ones and know when to let go of the others. Unexpressed emotions such as guilt, or perhaps fear about becoming a mother, can also have an impact. It’s good to address these issues and heal any unresolved emotions from your past. 
 
It takes two: male factor infertility accounts for 30 per cent of problems conceiving, and about half of all cases involve both male and female factors. For men, taking a zinc supplement, reducing or cutting out alcohol (for both men and women), avoiding recreational drugs (also both), not over-heating the testicles (steam rooms, bicycling, tight-fitting underwear) and limiting exposure to chemicals have all been shown to be effective in improving sperm health. Acupuncture has an excellent track record for treating male fertility problems. 
 
Know what suits you: some people can party late into the night and wake up fresh as a daisy the next morning – others can’t. Importantly, the health of the parents at conception determine the health of the child – what traditional Chinese medicine calls their inherited ‘jing’.  This is why I encourage my patients to become parents from a place of good health. 
 
Limit  your use of tampons: I advise patients to avoid tampons at night totally and only use when you have to in daytime.  This is particularly for women with painful clotted periods, or endometriosis, because tampons absorb blood but not any clots which may travel back into the fallopian tubes. Try 100 per cent cotton or organic brands (eg Natracare) which do not contain rayon and dioxins.

Clean up your environment: avoid soft plastics (eg clingfilm and other packaging) which leak oestrogen mimics.  Switch to natural cleaning products which are kinder to your delicate hormonal system. Avoid food sprayed with pesticides;  where possible choose organic. 
  
Don’t rely on DIY testing: home tests, eg on ovarian function, to measure potential fertility can mislead because they don’t give the complete picture.  
  
Don’t rush into IVF: Get a diagnosis to your infertility before moving onto IVF or fertility treatments. If no one has been able to give you a scientific explanation to your problem, consider working with a qualified practitioner of Chinese medicine as well, to give you a different insight, acupuncture.org.uk  

To order a copy of The Baby-Making Bible by Emma Cannon, published by Rodale Books, from Amazon for   

Wrap up your hair! 

For a super-drying way to wrap up wet hair, my friend Rosalind loves her pretty pink floral microfibre turban. She's sent the pink leopard version ('so on trend'!)  to a friend with breast cancer who's lost her hair following chemo. "It helps keep her head warm indoors, and - best of all - it made her laugh! Flower Turban and Pink Leopard Turban, £8.95 each, from www.victoriahealth.com 
  
Website of the Week: www.medikidz.com

Started by two paediatricians, the ‘Medikidz’ are five larger-than-life superheroes who explain conditions, medicines and treatments to children aged ten to 15.  The site also features an integrated social network for kids globally and sells comic books featuring different diseases.