fertility awareness

For many couples getting pregnant and trying to conceive is easy. However, for others getting pregnant can take a long time and they have to resort to reproductive technology.

Although I often struggle with maintaining consistent blood sugar
levels, I do not suffer from diabetes. Because blood sugar is such an
issue for me though, I often wonder what unforeseen effects diabetes can
have on fertility and pregnancy.

Infertility affects men and women almost equally, but women tend to be
more versed on the concepts that affect fertility and the process of
conception.

You do not have to stop breastfeeding to conceive, but conception is
harder for some women while breastfeeding. Prolactin (breast milk stimulating hormone) may suppress
ovulation making it difficult to track fertility and to get pregnant.

There is a theory that the female human body will naturally space
pregnancies, only allowing conception when the body is ready for another
fetus. The theory depends heavily on cessation of ovulation and lactation amenorrhea while breastfeeding.

Some women experience lactation amenorrhea while breastfeeding.
Amenorrhea is the cessation of your monthly period. Hormones associated
with breastfeeding affect reproductive cycles.

Your ovulation cycles will change while breastfeeding. The pituitary
gland releases prolactin when you breastfeed. Prolactin stimulates milk
production.

Keeping a fertility chart is the perfect way to get to know your new
body, especially if you plan on trying to conceive soon after giving
birth. Your fertility chart will likely include daily basal body
temperature readings and cervical mucus descriptions.

You can conceive while breastfeeding though you are less fertile
during this time. You may notice irregular periods or a complete lack of
periods, called lactation amenorrhea, for up to one year (longer for
some women).

The best method of boosting fertility while breastfeeding is
charting – basal body temperature, cervical mucus and periods, if
applicable.

In an attempt to increased fertility and chance of conception,
equations and medical history are used to evaluate optimal fertility
windows for women seeking IVF/ICSI treatment.

The bedroom is your place of business when you are trying to conceive
(TTC), but that does not mean you have to limit your sexual encounters
to the bedroom. Taking sex out of the bedroom this Valentine’s Day can
mean all the difference.

The postpartum period can be a confusing time for some women in terms of pregnancy prevention. Breastfeeding can lengthen the time between birth and first menstrual cycle, but ovulation may occur before that first cycle, increasing the risk of pregnancy during the immediate postpartum period.

When it comes to conception, the human body is an amazing entity that changes like the ebbs and flows of a river. There are times when fertility is at the highest, but that doesn’t mean fertility is limited to those times.

The issue with stress is that is too often dismissed. Stress is one of nature’s contraceptives and can have a dramatic effect on healthy reproduction. The major stress hormone, cortisol, is derived from progesterone.

Obesity is a serious epidemic in the United States. Many people find themselves too obese to perform daily activities, and the health risks associated with obesity cause too many untimely deaths to count.

Male fertility is a complex animal. Granted, it’s not nearly as complex as female fertility, but it’s still complex. There are a great many factors that go into determining whether or not you’ll be able to do your part in creating that bundle of joy.

My patients who have decided to have children almost invariably ask me,
“What should I do to get pregnant?” What books should they read? How do
they take their basal body temperature? Should they use an ovulation
predictor test?

When you finally reach that stage in life where you feel stable and ready to raise a little one, you might find that getting pregnant is more difficult than you expected.

A new research study offers a new insight into the world
of human mating. According to researchers from Germany, women move
differently when they are most fertile and men can recognize the
difference.

Yes, absolutely!  Recall that Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) involve
charting observable fertility signs (changes in cervical fluid, basal
body temperature, and cervical texture and position) as a way of
determining a women’s cyclical fertility. 

For a few days prior to ovulation, tiny glands in the cervix called cervical crypts produce fertile cervical fluid (a slippery, raw eggwhite consistency).

PEARL INDEX

Calendar-based methods are one part of fertility awareness, an attempt to find which days in the menstrual cycle are fertile days and which are not.

Information about fertility awareness helps to fulfil the broader definition of the services many family planning clinics offer.

Fertility awareness and charting is part of 'Natural Family Planning' (NFP). It uses a woman's natural fertility signs to identify when she may or may not be fertile.

When can I get pregnant after stopping the pill?