Natural Fertility

Fertility Testing & Natural Fertility Treatments

As a Brisbane Naturopath, I love helping people learn about natural ways to improve fertility and assisting couples diagnosed with infertility. Helping  people achieve their dream of having a baby is a gift greater than words.

For many couples, the urge to have a baby is a deep, primal feeling and getting pregnant becomes a very a big focus. People come to see me in many different phases of their fertility journey. You may be reading this because you’re  about to try for your first baby and you’re looking for information, you may have been trying for a while without success and need some advice and education, you may have been diagnosed with infertility and want help naturally, you may be going through ART/IVF and want support or you may have tried IVF without success and you’re looking for another avenue of hope and help.

I have experience treating all the above scenarios and every persons fertility needs are very unique. No matter what your situation, I always like to keep the focus on you, your happiness, your relationship with yourself, your partner and your body. The end goal of course is to get pregnant, but the journey is about getting healthy. Improving your health will indeed improve your fertility.

Natural Fertility Treatment is a wholistic process that must take many factors into account:

1. Preconception Health Care

Getting healthy before you start trying to conceive is the best health insurance policy that you could ever hope to give your unborn child. Think of preconception health care as the vital 4th trimester of pregnancy. It takes this long to build up vital nutrient stores for the female to conceive, prevent miscarriage and build up her stores so that she has a wonderful, healthy, symptom free pregnancy. In around 80 days, men make 100% new sperm. With the right nutritional support I have seen semen analysis reports improve dramatically in just 3 months. Your DNA is what you’re passing on to your child and preconception health care has been proven to improve your DNA quality.

2. Assessments of Male Fertility

Male fertility assessments are done according to your needs. If you’re just about to start trying to conceive, preconception health care is the best place to start, 3 months of good nutrition, supplementation, herbal medicine to improve general sperm health and some detoxification. If you’ve been having trouble conceiving a full hormone panel, some simple non invasive genetic tests and a semen analysis are recommended. Naturopathic medicine can help a lot to improve hormone balance, sperm health parameters such as count, morphology, motility, DNA fragmentation and sperm antibodies.

3. Assessment of Female Fertility

I can’t being to list the number of women who’ve come to see me who’ve been told they’ll never conceive naturally, and have gone on to conceive naturally after natural fertility support.  There are definitely reasons that will stop a woman from conceiving naturally such as tubal blockage for example. But it frustrates me how many women with relatively simple to assist issues such as Poly Cystic Ovaries have been told they need to go straight to IVF.  Female fertility assessments include full hormone panel – done at the right time of the menstrual cycle, nutrient tests, ovulation testing (via  blood tests, cycle charting, urine tests and if necessary ultrasound.) The most important thing I do is have a very comprehensive chat, assessing every part of your hormonal history, period cycle (or lack thereof) and teach you how to understand your fertile times.

4. Dietary Factors

There are multiple dietary factors which affect fertility in both males and females.  Mostly the aim is to reduce processed foods and eat very clean, wholefoods for a good few months to boost your energy, lose weight and help the body to stock up on vital fertility nutrients. To simplify many complicated factors the best diet for fertility goes and little something like this:

Organic or pesticide free, eating in clean, grass fed / organic protein 3 times a day, adequate amounts of clean healthy fats, no alcohol, no coffee, high in vegetables, wholegrain, low gi carbohydrates,  free of white, processed carbs, no numbers, preservatives or fake sugars and drinking 2-3 litres of clean filtered water daily.

It’s important to lose weight if you are overweight. A sedentary lifestyle, coupled with overeating, excessive carbohydrate intake will lead to obesity which affects the way our cells react to the hormone insulin, which in turn affects fertility. If you are about to undertake a weight loss program to improve your fertility, keep in mind that many of our toxins are stored in fat, so as you lose fat, toxins are released from storage into the body and it is recommended to support the livers detox pathways to successfully eliminate these toxins from the body.

Caffeine – there’s been multiple studies done on the effects of caffeine on sperm health. One study found that there was a negative effect on time to achieve pregnancy for men who consumed greater than 700mg of caffeine/day. That study found that moderate intake didn’t have adverse effects. Another study found that men who consumed more than 308mg per day had a 20% higher DNA damage to sperm than men with no caffeine intake. My opinion? Why not do a detox, give up coffee for a few months, boost your energy with a healthy diet and give your body the best chance to conceive.

Alcohol – alcohol intake is associated with decreased fertility in women, even when five or less drinks are consumed weekly. It is for both men and women to avoid alcohol completely when trying to conceive. Scientific study link.

5. Environmental Factors

Environmental factors that affect fertility are many and varied. To put in in perspective, think of the amount of chemicals and technologies that have been invented in the past 50 -100 years that our great grandparents weren’t exposed to. There’s thousands of new chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, plastics etc and the full extent of their effects on our health is known in some cases and not known in other cases. Research has shown links between testicular cancer in men and the amount of organochlorine levels in  his mother, exposure to bisphenol A from plastic water bottles etc has been associated with recurrent miscarriage. It’s a real minefield out there and some of these chemicals are easy to avoid, where some of them we are born exposed to through our mothers levels during pregnancy. Rather than being overwhelmed and thinking “there’s nothing I can do to avoid these things” committing to a preconception detox, reducing exposure to known chemicals by changing to safer cleaning products, water bottles and personal care products and eating clean can make a huge difference.

Heavy metals and their impact on fertility

For people having trouble conceiving, I recommend checking for heavy metal toxicity. I have found this to be an issue in some, not all of my clients with fertility issues. One case was a man with very low sperm count who had a toxic level of nickel. Heavy metals can be tested with a hair mineral test or via urine. Heavy metals occupy the same receptor sites as many of the minerals such as magnesium and zinc, which are needed for optimum fertility. They overload the body and it is important to take time to detox these if they are found, before trying to conceive.

Cigarettes & Recreational drugs and their impact on fertility

Cigarettes, marijuana and recreational drugs impact hormone levels and ability to conceive in both men and women. They also restrict growth of the foetus and lead to increased risk of foetal abnormality.

Radiation exposure and impact on fertility

We’re exposed to a lot more radiation than our grandparent were. We all have mobile phones, computers, wi fi, fly for work and travel and have xrays for medical diagnosis. It’s hard to avoid, but the one thing you can do is get your mobile phone out of your pocket.  A study at the University of Hungary showed up to 30% reduction in sperm count and quality in men who carried phones in their pockets. Keep your mobile a metre away from your body whenever possible. Remember to turn it onto airport mode when you sleep. (which stops it acting as a phone, emitting radiation as it connects to to mobile tower for signal,  but you can still use it to listen to music and as an alarm clock.)

6. Fertility Education – sex timing, cycle charting and ovulation testing.

Understanding your body and its fertile times is paramount to conceiving quickly and easily. I recommend that all women chart their cycles for at least 3 months. This involves taking your temperature every morning before rising, noticing cervical mucus changes and noting your premenstrual symptoms and the flow of your period. Doing this helps us to know when you ovulate and then, the best time to have sex to conceive. Please note that women who use fertility apps such as iperiod, these apps predict your fertile times based on very generic information. Please don’t rely on this to tell you when you are ovulating. To confirm ovualtion, you need to once you chart your cycle using body temp, mucus observation and ovulation urine test strips.  For those in doubt of it they’re ovulating, an ultrasound at the right time of the menstrual cycle will also confirm without shadow of a doubt.

7. Lifestyle Factors – stress management and exercise

Trying for a baby can become a source of stress for many people. Making a baby is all about sharing love between you and your partner, but if you’re having trouble conceiving, this adds a lots of stress. Many people begin to doubt themselves and feel like their body is failing them, or they are failing their partners. These emotions are very normal, but they are also counterproductive. Learning how to reduce stress via yoga, exercise, meditation, hypnosis or talk therapies is a wonderful help for those experiencing stress around trying to conceive. On the other hand, those who are stressed for other reasons, such as having a high stress job or family stress can also have trouble conceiving. Why?

When we’re stressed long term, our body is in a primal, fight or flight survival mode. This is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. When the sympathetic nervous system is dominant, it is harder to fall pregnant. This is because the opposite side of the nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for rest, feeling relaxed and most importantly reproduction. This is an innate, ancient survival mechanism. When our body is in times of severe stress such as war of famine, falling pregnant would be an extra stress on the the body that would impair its survival, so the body decreases its focus on fertility when we are stressed to help us survive. This is why it’s essential to break the cycle of stress and learn to relax to improve fertility.

I use a lot of wonderful herbs to assist the nervous system to switch to parasympathetic mode to increase fertility. I also like to teach my clients how to learn to relax and also to schedule “date nights” and “me time.” Have you ever heard stories of friends/ family who struggled to conceive for a long time or went through IVF, only to conceive later when they’d all but given up, but they had finally relaxed and released the stress around conceiving?

8. ART/ IVF support

IVF and assisted reproductive technologies are a wonderful gift, helping couples who cannot conceive naturally to achieve their dream of having a baby. Keep in mind that IVF was initially developed for women who had fallopian tube blockages, their eggs could not travel through the tubes to reach sperm for conception. IVF is now being used for many other reasons than tubal blockage. Sometimes IVF is the only way a couple will conceive if there are physical or genetic impediments to natural conception, other times it is suggested in my opinion a little too early in the piece, before other factors such as diet, lifestyle and nutrient deficiencies affecting fertility have been addressed.

The role of a Naturopath supporting IVF is to improve the health of the eggs and sperm, which pass on your DNA to your child. In natural conception survival of the fittest is at play,  the healthiest sperm swims the longest and has the energy to burrow into the egg. IVF helps eggs and sperm to get together, but at this stage cannot improve the quality of the egg or sperm. Many couples who fail to achieve pregnancy with IVF have egg health or sperm health issues. This is where nutritional medicine, naturopathy and acupuncture can assist IVF outcomes. Herbal medicines are avoided during IVF cycles, but nutrients can be used in clinically effective doses to reduce stress, improve sperm count and quality, improve egg quality as they mature, optimize  the uterine lining for implantation, optimize embryo quality, reduce miscarriage rates by improving DNA replication and nutrient status of the mother.

9. Treating infertility

Many couples who’ve had trouble conceiving will seek medical help to find out what the problem is. You’ll either have found an answer and have a diagnosis or you’ll have been found to have “unexplained infertility.” In my experience “unexplained infertility” often just means we haven’t looked hard enough. Many lifestyle issues, nutritional deficiencies, environmental toxins and genetic factors are often overlooked and when found can make a huge difference to your fertility. Take the MTHFR genetic mutation for example.  This simple test, which I screen all my fertility patients for, is linked to problems with folate metabolism which can cause  sperm production problems in men and increases miscarriage risk in women. The male partner in one of my couples  who’d been through many failed IVF cycles tested positive for this genetic problem, we supplemented with the right nutrients to assist his body and they are now pregnant for the first time. There’s a huge difference in quality of care out there and the types of testing done to assess fertility. Educate yourself, ask lots of questions and keep seeking answers if you have been put into a box or feel overlooked by previous health carers.

10. Miscarriage prevention

If you have a history of multiple miscarriages there are some things that Naturopathy may help with, but I would always recommend seeing a good Reproductive Endocrinologist as well – they will perform tests to check why miscarriage is occuring.

Around 15-20 of pregnancies can miscarry, often due to abnormality in the foetus. This is where doing a preconeption health care program with a Naturopath can assist in buiding up essential nutrient levels for healthy hormones, eggs and sperm. But if you’ve had multiple miscarriages and are unable to sustain a pregnancy, medical investigations are essential.

Antibodies – a thorough auto immune antibody screen is recommended to check for immunological reasons for miscarriage. If autoimmune antibodies are found, a low allergy diet low in gluten, soy and dairy may help the body to reduce its allergy load. It’s important to check for thyroid problems, including thyroid antibodies which are linked to miscarriage risk and foetal developmental problems.

MTHFR gene – women who test positive for this gene have a two fold increased risk of miscarriage. This test is only $50 and easy to do. If you test positive, taking the activated form of folate, B6 and B12 in high doses can assist this issue by reducing the level of homocysteine in the blood and reducing blood clotting risk.

Low Progesterone and miscarriage risk

Many of the women I assist for preconception care have low progesterone. Pro-gest means promoting pregnancy, so if you’re low in progesterone, its much harder to conceive. Progesterone helps the lining of the uterus plump up and become thick and juicy, ready to receive the embryo for implantation – much like mulching up  your garden beds before planting new plants. If you’re very stressed, progesterone can be low as the stress hormone cortisol and progesterone are made from the same mother hormone. If you’re stressed, lots of cortisol is produced, stealing from the hormones which make progesterone, leaving progesterone lower than it should be. This can be easily helped with herbs such as chaste tree, paeny, vitamin B6 and vitamin a (at safe doses.)

Caffeine

A study from 2008 showed that women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day (two or more cups of regular coffee or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda) had twice the miscarriage risk as women who consumed no caffeine. view study

11. Supporting older couples

In older couples trying to conceive, the eggs and sperm are generally at risk of higher oxidant exposure due to age. So taking lots of antioxidant nutrients can assist the maturation of eggs and the growth of sperm. It’s essential to assess nutrient status with the top 5 being Iron, Zinc, Iodine, B vitamins and Vitamin D. Each of these nutrients plays vital roles in hormone health, cell signaling between eggs and sperm and DNA replication.

Egg reserves are important to assess in women who are having trouble conceiving in their late 30s/ 40s. If you have had your AMH levels (egg reserve test) checked, there are a number of factors which can affect this test.  If you have just stopped taking the oral contraceptive pill, your AMH levels will be lowered for at least 3 months, so it is worth waiting for this period of time to pass before testing to avoid false testing. The time of the month to test is also important, AMH is best testing on day 2 of your period and tesing FSH levels at the same time will give the most accurate indication of egg reserve. An ultrasound to check antral follicle count (eggs maturing) will also assist. Testing AMH alone is not the definitive answer for female egg reserves and can alarm many women when not tested correctly and thoroughly.

Want to book a Natural Fertility Consultation?

The Naturopaths at Vibe Natural Health offer appointments at our clinic at 210 Days Rd, Grange in Brisbane.
Visit our appointment diary on the top right of screen to book now.
If you have questions, please email us rather than commenting on the blog at info@vibenaturalhealth.com.au

Or phone us on (07) 3366 7970. We would love to help you!