03 Dec Fertility & Conception: a well-orchestrated miracle
Fertility Naturopath
Conception: a well-orchestrated miracle
Preconception: an overview
The goal of preconception health care is to optimise the health of both potential parents to ensure the best possible start for your baby. It is important to remember that your genes are dynamic and responsive to the environment. The genes you most want to protect are those you pass on via your sex cells.
What does preconception care involve?
- Ensuring that all nutrients essential for fertility and baby’s development are in the ideal range.
- Removing anything harmful to fertility and your baby’s development from your diet and lifestyle.
- Charting your menstrual cycle and fertile mucus to understand your fertility better and allow your practitioner to fine tune your fertility naturally.
The time before conception is a time for re-assessment.
Be prepared to make changes!
Old habits and patterns may be compromising your health and fertility.
Conception:
Conception is a well-orchestrated miracle that can be influenced by a myriad of subtle factors. At NatMed we bring together the information provided by your medical investigations as well as an assessment of your whole health, diet and lifestyle factors to develop a comprehensive understanding of the obstacles to fertility specific to you and your partner.
An initial consultation consists of the gathering of all relevant health data as well as recommendations for any further testing required. At the first follow-up appointment the test results as well as the case history data will have been assessed and your natural fertility specialist will create a management plan that will be discussed with you and your partner.
All of the treatment strategies recommended at NatMed are evidence-based. This means that studies have been carried out to ensure their safety and efficacy. They are also treatment strategies that we have seen work time and time again in our practice.
In our practice we often see couples who have been unable to conceive fall pregnant when certain symptoms start to change for them. Usually vitality and energy levels improve for both, excess weight is dropped and for the woman, her menstrual cycle becomes regular and there are clear signs of fertile mucus and ovulation. We are also looking for changes in measurable parameters such as sperm health and hormone levels.
Whether we identify a general issue of poor health, a subtle imbalance in hormones or more concrete impediments to conception such as poor sperm health, gynaecological or thyroid conditions, natural fertility support aims to help men and women improve their fertility, identify their fertile body signs and take control of their health so as to help orchestrate miracles naturally.
Your Fertility Management Plan
The first stage of the management plan will be to address any health issues that are directly preventing conception. This will be relevant for you if you suffer from PCOS, endometriosis, irregular periods, low thyroid function, tubal scarring or poor sperm health. It will also be relevant for you if your cycle is irregular, if you are not ovulating every month or if your cervical mucus is not changing at ovulation to allow conception. In the first stage, it may also be relevant for you both to complete a 2-6 week detox program if there are indicators of toxin exposure.
The second stage of the management plan is to begin pre-conception care. Taking 4 months to ensure that you have reached your optimal health will be rewarded by your knowledge that you have done everything you can towards good health for your baby and a healthy pregnancy for you. Sperm development requires 3 months so by allowing 4 months for pre-conception you can be sure that it will be the strong ones that reach the egg first. During the pre-conception care phase we educate you on menstrual charting and cervical mucus charting. This helps us identify any remaining subtle hormonal imbalances that we will then address through herbal and nutritional prescriptions. It also enables you to pinpoint your exact time of ovulation.
The third stage of the management plan is the time for conception. We support you in maintaining all the beneficial dietary and lifestyle changes that you have made. We ensure that you are taking the appropriate supplements for conception as well as pregnancy. We support you in continued charting so as to get the timing right.
The fourth stage involves your NatMed team working together to make your pregnancy a really beautiful experience. The discomforts that arise during pregnancy can be minimised and any health issues dealt with immediately. We help you prepare for your birth as well as the first days getting to know your new baby.
The fifth stage? At NatMed we also have specialists in natural infant and child health care. This means that we can continue to support you and your baby for as long as you need us. We aim to educate you to introduce and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle for the whole family.
