Avoid plastics (and a few other toxins as well)

Pregnant women should reduce the use of foods and beverages in cans and plastic containers to minimise exposure to chemicals including bisphenol A (BPA) as part of a safety-first approach.  

I wonder why these august bodies take so long to get the message - but here you have the latest recommendation from RCOG - Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a Scientific Impact paper, launched in June 2013. They’ve actually acknowledged that while an individual chemical may not be a problem, it’s the potential cocktail (a legacy of 21st century living) that can do damage. 

But since 1978 Foresight has been recommending against the consumption of food or drinks stored in plastic. Their recommendations now span 35 years and apply in particular to the preconception period (both prospective parents) but also during pregnancy and breastfeeding. While you’re reducing your exposure to plastics, there are some other chemical toxins that you need to avoid as well. I don’t say this to alarm, just to get you thinking about a cleaner, less-toxic environment for eggs, sperm and your developing baby. Read more...

Mobiles, tablets ... at a distance in the name of healthier sperm

Just had a chat to the Communications Manager of the Fertility Coalition, an initiative that hopefully will get the preconception message on more people’s radar. Just disappointing to see that their website misses mention of a vitally important issue in discussion of “other factors” affecting fertility and babies.

Electromagnetic radiation, unseen but insidious and now thanks to Wi-fi and mobile phones, all around us. Particularly at risk are the young men who carry mobile phones in pockets and work with laptops or tablets in laps. You need to put some distance between yourself fellas! 

Find somewhere else to stow that phone, put your laptop or tablet on a desk, especially in the 4 months before conception. Foresight UK Association for Promotion of Preconceptual Care says “Carrying a mobile phone in the trouser pocket has been linked to low sperm count/immotile sperm, so do not let your husband - do whatever it takes to stop him.”

And while I’m on the subject, young women of the world listen up. No phones tucked in bras and no phones close to your new baby’s still-developing brain (that's in utero and when nursing)! 

How loudly is your biological clock ticking?

I've been banging the preconception healthcare drum for nearly thirty years, so it never ceases to amaze me when somebody turns around and says “hey, I didn’t know it was going to be hard to get pregnant in my 30s - nobody ever talks about these things!” Hello, where have you been baby? The media is awash with articles, blogs and online forums are full of the TTC (trying to conceive), IVF specialists tout their wares, their ever-more-sophisticated techniques and their dubious successes at every opportunity.

Talk about blinkers on - but then I ask, who else is wearing blinkers? Whenever we’re bombarded with the plummeting fertility statistics and the drastic decline of fertility with age (and surprise, surprise men have a biological clock that ticks too!) where is the common sense? Am I the lone voice in the wilderness that says, hang on a minute, is age the only factor here? 

So do you want to know how you can preserve your fertility and ensure the healthiest baby possible? The answer’s simple - pay very close attention to your own health before conception. The reason for the rise in reproductive problems with age can be simply summarized as longer exposure to 21st century diets and lifestyles. Nutrition, lifestyle, environment and mental and emotional factors all need very careful attention by both partners if you plan to delay your baby-making (or if after attending to all the preconception issues, you consider that IVF is the only option). The four months immediately preceding conception are the most critical!

Comprehensive preconception health care has clearly been shown to give significant protection against age-related sub-fertility, miscarriage and foetal defect. The University of New England has conducted an independent study of 67 couples on the Natural Fertility Management conception program at The Jocelyn Centre. Developed by my co-author Francesca Naish, results of the program are more than merely encouraging. 52% of previously infertile couples can conceive within the first 4 months following completion of preconception care. Over the last 30 years, working with many thousands of couples, The Jocelyn Centre, despite a high proportion of patients being in their late 30s, early to mid 40s and beyond, has achieved successful pregnancies when all else has failed and an insignificant number of age-related defects.

The studies from Foresight - Association for Promotion of Preconceptual Care (UK) and the emerging research in the fields of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, (DOHaD), foetal origins and epigenetics also provide incontrovertible evidence...optimisation of nutritional status and complete avoidance of any potential toxicity by both partners for at least 4 months prior to conception is the only certain way to ensure the health of the next generation and to reduce the toll of compromised reproductive health (and that includes reducing the infertility rates across all age groups)!