Fertility and Conception: The Essential Guide to Boosting Your Fertility and Conceiving a Healthy Baby -- From Learning Your Fertility Signals to Adopting a Healthier Lifestyle - Softcover

Trewinnard MD BM MFFP, Dr. Karen

2.76

17 ratings by Goodreads

9781554070626: Fertility and Conception: The Essential Guide to Boosting Your Fertility and Conceiving a Healthy Baby -- From Learning Your Fertility Signals to Adopting a Healthier Lifestyle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554070627 ISBN 13: 9781554070626

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2005

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A common sense guide for a successful pregnancy.

Giving a baby the best start in life takes planning. Even before conception, it is absolutely essential to plan for a healthy pregnancy.

Fertility and Conception presents straightforward information and advice for couples and individuals planning a pregnancy. The book covers such crucial topics as:

Maximizing the chances of becoming pregnant
Reproductive health issues for women and men
The natural way of boosting fertility and preparing for pregnancy
How to interpret the body's fertility signals
The effects of diet and stress on conception and pregnancy
Deciding when and how to stop or change contraception

Fertility and Conception offers practical tips and professional advice. Abundant illustrations and easy-to-read text explain the wonders of reproductive biology, every aspect of conception and pregnancy, and the latest medical technology.

This book meets the need of couples and individuals who do not want to leave their baby's health entirely in the hands of fate.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Karen Trewinnard, MD, BM,MFFP, is a mother or four and a physician with 24 years of experience specializing in fertility awareness and preconception planning. She broadcasts regularly on radio and is the author of Woman Alive Family Health Guide as well as many articles on preconception.

Introduction

When my husband and I decided to start a family 21 years ago, no one suggested that I could prepare myself for conception. In fact, doctors and parents alike believed that the best way to help a woman have a healthy baby and pregnancy was to provide her with good prenatal care from about the 12th week of pregnancy. So, when I was expecting my first daughter I just prayed she would be healthy and that my dreadful morning, noon and night sickness would soon stop. By the time I had my first prenatal check-up, I realized my newly conceived baby was already fully formed and development from that stage was mostly a matter of growth. But I had a nagging feeling that I could have done more to prepare myself for the miraculous event of pregnancy.

Before my next baby -- our son -- was conceived, I decided to investigate whether a woman's health before pregnancy could affect its outcome. Although very little research had been conducted on preconception care programs, I was amazed at my findings -- the medical journals carried plenty of evidence that factors such as low body weight or paternal smoking could increase the risk of miscarriage or of giving birth to an underweight baby. I had been underweight at the time of my daughter's conception and I now believe this made me prone to morning sickness. My body was struggling to cope with the demands of pregnancy and had little in the way of reserve.

When I became pregnant for the second time, my weight was normal and I made sure my diet was full of vitamins. I felt so much better during that pregnancy, was hardly sick at all and my son was born healthy and full of energy.

I have since had two more children and my 20 years' experience as a doctor has ranged from dealing with tiny babies in special care units to treating women in a variety of gynecology and family planning clinics, many of whom are hoping to conceive. Despite the medical advances in treating infertility, a natural conception is still far more likely to result in a successful pregnancy. I frequently see couples with fertility problems who have been helped to conceive by simply improving their general health rather than undergoing expensive and stressful fertility treatments. Of course no one can guarantee that you will instantly conceive and produce a perfectly healthy baby, but even while your future baby is still just a longing or merely a twinkle in your eye, you and your partner can both be taking steps toward a healthy conception.

This book will help you understand the marvelous process of fertility in men and women, the miraculous events of conception, and the first weeks of a baby's development. It is full of practical advice covering every area of your health -- from the optimum diet to reducing your stress levels -- so that you can produce healthy sperm and ova, provide a safe and nurturing environment in utero and make sure your baby has the best possible start in life.

I am thrilled that you have taken the time to pick up this book because by taking care of your health before conception, you and your partner are no longer leaving your baby's health in the hands of fate. Congratulations on believing that you can make a difference... and now read on!

Dr. Karen Trewinnard, BM MFFP

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.