Enhancing Fertility

Before ever conceiving for the first time, and especially after you've given birth to one or more children, most people expect conception just to happenand for some people it does.  Others, for explained or unexplained reasons, are required to be more active about the conception process.  Below is a list of tips to encourage conception to occur without resulting to major medical intervention.

First things first:

1.  Get familiar with your cycle and know it like the back of your hand.  Even if you're irregular, you can still determine when you're ovulating.  Buy a good book on natural family planning and figure it out.

2.  Clean out your system of any toxins that may be hindering implantation.  Check out my 'No Morning Sickness Cleanse' in order to achieve that.  Additionally reducing stress and workload will move things along.

3.  Optimal nutrition is Key.  One that is low or absent of refined foods is best.  Cut out all fast food and packaged snack foods.  Check out my article 'Eating in Harmony'

3.  If you suspect that something physical might be in the way, such as low sperm count, blocked fallopian tubes, scar tissue, etc., see a practitioner to rule out those possibilities.

4.  Start with the most natural, non-invasive therapies first and make medical intervention and pharmacueticals your last result.  Drugs can manipulate your body in an irreversable way and make it harder for your body to respond to herbs and other natural remedies.

The Baby Game:  Natural Therapies to achieve pregnancy

(all recommendations for women unless specified)  

Herbs to be used alone or in combination:

~ Drinking a pregnancy/fertility tea daily will double your chances of conception

~ take 2 dong quai capsules 3X a day, EXCEPT during menstruation 

~ MEN and WOMEN:  take 2 ginseng capsules daily

~  Evening Primrose Oil - helps to increase fertile quality cervical fluid and also contains essential fatty acids which are

  good for the brain. Take from menstruation to ovulation. *It's important to switch to Flax Seed Oil after ovulation. Flax

  Seed Oil contains the fatty acids needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Evening Primrose Oil causes uterine contractions -

  which is why you should not take it after ovulation in the event that conception did occur.

~  Red Raspberry Leaf - take during the entire cycle - strengthens the uterine lining, thus helping to lengthen the luteal

   phase.

~  Red Clover

~ Take liquid floradix Iron with herbs, following dosage recommendations

~Acupuncture

~Take Fertiltiy Tonic daily.  Capsules:  two 3X a day   Tincture:  1/4 tsp daily 

  (you may be able to find a similar combination in your local health food store)

Fertility Tonic

4 parts rehmania2 parts false unicorn root

1 part astragalus3 parts wild yam root

1 part dong quai root1 part vitex berries

Fertile Female Tea

3 parts wild yam roota pinch of stevia

2 parts licorice root1 part ginger root

4 parts sassafras back of root1 part cinnamon bark

1 part vitex1/2 part false unicorn root

1/2 part dong quai1/4 part orange peel

Vitamins:

~  Men and Women:  400-800 IU of d-alpha vitamin E daily

~  1000-1500 mg vitamin C daily, not to be taken with Vitamin E

~  Three 100 grain brewer's yeast tablets daily, or other B-complex

~  1000 mg magnesium with 500 mg calcium daily

~  1 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar in water after meals will help absorption of vitamins

~  MEN:  Zinc: Semen contains high concentrations of zinc. Supplementing the diet with 30-60 mg zinc a day may improve

   sperm count and sexual function. A good dietary source of zinc is pumpkin seeds, long recommended as a

  fertility-enhancing food and a remedy for benign prostate enlargement. Pumpkin seeds also are rich in two other nutrients

  beneficial to male sexual functioning: the plant steroid beta-sitosterol (which binds to the testosterone receptor) and

  vitamin E.

~  Amino acids: Arginine has been shown to raise sperm counts and sperm motility. The recommended dosage is 2-4 g a

   day. Taurine, another amino acid that may enhance sperm production and motility, is supplemented at 2-4 g a day.

Aromatherapy:

~  Neroli, Rose and Jasmine, can be used as back or belly massage to influence emotions to encourage a natural hormone

   balance.

~  Clary Sage has a cleansing and tonic effect on the uterus.

~  You should use these essential oils daily, singly or in combination. Stop using them for the seven days when your period

    would take place, then resume for the following three weeks. Follow this routine until your normal cycle is re-established

    and discontinue before you become pregnant.

I realize some recommendations contradict each other.   This is merely a compliation of research I've found.  Take what rings true with you.

Sources: 

Margaret Fawcett's Aromatherapy for Pregnancy and Childbirth,

Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar, 

Herbs, Helps and Pressure Points by Katherine Tarr,

mercola.com,

onna.org

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Below is what I used to concieve my third and fourth babies:

~  Fertility Recipe:

Day 1 (first day of bleeding) - Day 5 of cycle

No herbs, gives body a chance to naturally use herbs that have already been taken, and gives your body a break from 

       herbs.

Day 6 until Menstruation

- 430 mg Red Clover

- 2 ginseng capsules

- Recommened dose of liquid magnesium and calcium

- 3 ten grain brewer's yeast tablets

- 800 IU (Natural) vitamin E

- 1000 mg vitamin C

- 1000 mg Vitex (Chasteberry) (uterine tonic, hormone regulator)

- Recommended dose Balance

- 1-3 cups Fertily Tea containing Red Raspberry Leaf

Day 6 until Ovulation (take additionally with the above)

- 1000 mg Evening Primrose Oil

- 2 Dong Quai capsules

Ovulation until Menstruation

- 2000 mg Flax Seed capsules

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Amy Jones

thebirthsource.hometead.com

2001

Also seen at All About Moms