by Andrew Loosely - Natural Fertility Expert

The Ultimate Fertility Guide
How To Dramatically Increase Your
Chances of Getting Pregnant
Naturally and Alongside IVF The Ultimate Fertility Guide for Men and Women,
packed with natural and easy‐to‐implement treatments
by Andrew Loosely Lic.OHM, DCHAc.(Beijing), Dip.CH
Natural Fertility Expert
Published by
Eco Earth, 21 Abbots View, Kings Langley, Herts WD48AW
Second edition 2011
Copyright © Andrew Loosely 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher (Eco Earth).
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book is up‐to‐
date and accurate. As the information in this book may only be relevant to a majority of people and not applicable in each individual case, it is advisable to obtain professional medical advice on all personal health matters. Neither the publisher nor the author accepts any legal responsibility for any personal injury or other damage or loss arising from the use or misuse of the information and advice in this book.
2 Introduction In 1998 as I was finishing my five year study of Chinese medicine, I had a strong desire to help couples that were struggling to have children. Once I had qualified and was starting to work with clients, I discovered that the Chinese fertility knowledge I had learnt, based on 1500 years of medical use in China, could answer many of the questions that my clients had, including why it wasn't happening for them. I put together a system based on this new knowledge and began to apply the treatment programme. I realised that unlike my contemporaries, I had a tried and tested natural medical system, which provided answers and also revealed the underlying imbalances that were causing my clients to be 'infertile'. Backed with medical trials and an integrated system of Chinese and conventional medicine theory, I set out to help as many couples as I could. Since those early days, I have treated many hundreds of people in my clinics in the UK with a success rate of over 71% positive pregnancyi. Of the women that continue treatment through the first trimester, there is a 94.7% positive pregnancy rateii up to the end of the fourteenth week, when they no longer need treatment. Comparing this to current assisted methods (IUI, IVF, ICSI and egg donation) there is little comparison, as IVF is offering a success rate of around 30% on average.
I believe that most of us are born fertile, and if having a baby is currently not happening for you, then there may be an underlying imbalance that needs to be addressed. This is the case regardless of your medical diagnosis, and I will talk more about this later.
In this guide I will reveal how you can take control of your natural fertility, and claim back your birth right to having a baby. You will have a clearer understanding of your body and be better equipped to create a strategy, which can address the underlying causes of your 'infertility'. This will empower you to 3 take the necessary steps to create a fertile body and have a baby and family of your own.
The guide is based on more than ten years of treating couples using a natural fertility programme that I call The Baby Creating Plan.
Every one of the six essential components that are used in the plan have been scientifically triallediii and have proven to be effective in addressing the fertility problems that most couples encounter. I have spent the past decade combining these components into an integrated plan to help support couples that are struggling to have children. I hope this find this guide useful and informative and I look forward to possibly meeting you one day.
My best wishes
Andrew Loosely, Lic.OHM, DCHAc.(Beijing), Dip.CH, MCMIR
Natural Fertility Expert
4 Why Should You Listen To Me?
My name is Andrew Loosely and I am the founder of Natural Fertility Expert, a leading natural fertility clinic. I am also the creator of The Baby Creating Plan, which delivers a solution to couples all over the world with a variety of fertility related problems. Due to a high success rate of positive pregnancy, I now have a following of couples in many countries around the world with current clients in the UK, USA, Dubai and Europe. I have spent the last thirteen years helping couples with fertility problems that have been struggling to become first time parents, or create a bigger family after having one or more children. Even though most of my clients come with a medical diagnosis of unexplained infertility, recurrent miscarriage, PCOS, endometriosis, blocked fallopian tubes or ovarian or uterine cysts, the majority are unaware that they can treat these problems naturally and have children. Over the years I have successfully worked with couples suffering from one or more of these fertility conditions. I speak from first hand experience when I say that they are only temporary forms of infertility and they can in most cases be rectified. If you have been diagnosed with any of the above, it indicates that there is a deep underlying imbalance in your body that is causing your problem. This imbalance will be stopping you from either conceiving or carrying to full term. To address this, you need to do is establish what the underlying imbalance is, and create a treatment strategy to get your body back to health, and allow your fertility to rise to its natural level again. The good news is that in as little as three months your body can restore itself, improve egg or sperm quality and be ready to conceive a baby, as shown by the time it takes for eggs and sperm to develop. 5 My background
I grew up as a child surrounded by natural medicine and I was raised and treated primarily with herbal and natural methods. I am the fifth generation on my mother’s side to use herbal medicine and I learnt the foundations of it from my mother and grandmother, in the Black Forest in Germany. I later went on to study Chinese medicine after my own personal experience of acupuncture and herbal medicine, which successfully treated a deeply rooted health problem. I have since been specialising in fertility for natural conception, addressing all of the fertility problems listed above, and also to support and enhance assisted methods such as IUI, IVF, ICSI and egg donation.
With this experience behind me and a high pregnancy and birth success rate, I feel that I am equipped and qualified to share this knowledge with you to help you on your journey to creating the family you dream of.
I have personally witnessed pregnancies in all of the above circumstances with my clients. It is therefore my experience that these issues are temporary and reversible. Once you change the underlying imbalance in your body and restore your health, you will be ready to conceive. Fertility and Your Health Is there a connection between your health and your fertility?
Most of the couples I meet understand that there must be something happening internally that is causing their fertility problem, even when they are diagnosed as having unexplained infertility. The majority recognise that their lifestyle plays a part in their general health, but many do not make the correlation between their general health and fertility. 'Poor' fertility reflects an imbalance in physical and emotional health, even if there are no physical signs or symptoms. Your body is designed to primarily focus on balancing and maintaining good health for as long as it can, regardless of the circumstances. It does this to stay alive and adapt to the ever‐changing environment around you, to maintain 6 balance. If something (an extreme external environment or internal substance) puts stress on your body for too long, this balance will be lost and things will start to go wrong. Over time this leads to a deep and often hidden imbalance, as your body struggles with the constant stresses whilst also trying to keep you functioning normally. As each person’s lifestyle and health are different to start with, the imbalance that develops will be different. If it becomes physical, your consultant will find it and you will be diagnosed with a physical fertility problem such as PCOS, cysts, blocked fallopian tubes, fibroids or endometriosis. If it is not physical, your consultant will diagnose unexplained infertility after several years of trying for a baby.
Being able to have children is vital for the natural continuation of your bloodline, but staying alive is the primary and most important focus of your body. All other aspects of your body including fertility are therefore a lesser focus, and will be reduced if your body gets out of balance. This is a natural law.
To address the imbalance often requires intervention, in the form of natural methods, but once achieved your general health improves and your fertility health does so too.
The good news is that it takes about three to six months to balance your body and reach a good level of fertility health, which will enable you to have a baby.
Understanding that your general health and day‐to‐day way of life affect your fertility is important, and it is the first stage of any treatment plan. Case Study
Several years ago I saw a couple that had been told they would never conceive naturally due to the woman having anovulatory cycles (not ovulating), caused by PCOS, and her husband having very poor sperm quality. After 6 months of using The Baby Creating Plan they conceived and carried to full term. Their first child was born and she was a healthy and happy baby girl. After a year, they came back to see me for a second baby, who was easily conceived. 7 They now have two beautiful children and are delighted that their family is complete.
Here's an excerpt in their own words from their first story:
“I’m delighted to say that within 6 months of treatment I was pregnant! We made a conscious decision to continue having treatment throughout my pregnancy to ensure general well being – just knowing I had a session of treatment booked with Andrew gave us peace of mind particularly in the early months.
I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy little girl after having a dream pregnancy and text book birth”.
Leanne and Ian Mennie, Buckinghamshire
To read the full story including the follow on about conceiving their son, please click here to visit the Success Stories page on my website. Understanding Your Fertility What is natural fertility?
Natural fertility can mean several things, and to me it's about bringing your body back to its natural and balanced state, where your ability to have children is naturally abundant. You are fertile from the beginning of your life (unless you have been diagnosed with a genetic disorder that produces physical infertility), and so there isn't any fixing of your body that needs to happen, just some rebalancing. Regardless of your medical diagnosis, your body has the natural ability to resolve the physical and emotional barriers that are stopping you from having a baby. Through modern living your body can easily get out of balance, and this is reflected in what may seem like infertility. There are however, very few people in the world that are truly infertile. The majority are just suffering from internal imbalance that can be rectified when you know how. It is easy to attain balance, regardless of what you may have been told, but the treatment needs to be comprehensive and focused and have a clear direction, based on your diagnosis.
8 Finding Out About Your Fertility Health
Over tens of thousands of years, man has developed a variety of ways to view the human body and it's functions. We have discovered many different ways of treating ailments and restoring balance, to individuals that have developed health problems.
Less than 100 years ago natural medicine was the dominant form of medicine that offered a complex understanding of the human body, as a physical and energetic being. This view has not yet been fully adopted into the conventional medical system, which currently focuses on people as a physical structure, and doesn't look much beyond this. When trying to address complex issues such as fertility problems, this view simply isn't enough to resolve the underlying cause. Lets take a situation where someone is diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This means that they have what look like little cysts on their ovaries, causing at times severe imbalance in their hormones, to the degree that they can no longer ovulate. No ovulation means there is little or no chance of natural conception due to the lack of eggs being released. Conventional medicine sees PCOS as being caused by a hormone imbalance, and uses drugs that aim to control hormone and insulin levels. If this is not effective, as is often the case, the woman is told she has no other option than IVF. Natural medicine views PCOS as being caused by a deeper imbalance of the body systems that control the organs and glands responsible for producing and releasing hormones. When these systems are disrupted they cause hormonal imbalance, which eventually leads to the physical development of PCOS.
Both systems are talking about the same problem but the natural method looks deeper, beyond the symptom and addresses the root of the problem.
Natural medicine recognises that there is another level below the hormones that causes them to get out of balance, and it's this deeper level that is treated, so that 9 the hormones return to their correct state. Once this happens the PCOS starts to reverse and eventually it will be treated effectively enough to allow the menstrual cycle to regulate itself and for ovulation to start. Once ovulating, it's only a matter of time until conception occurs and pregnancy is achieved. Imbalance in any of the organ systems causes a response within the physical and structural aspect of the body, which results in a manifestation of physical disease such as endometriosis, PCOS, fibroids, blocked fallopian tubes or ovarian and uterine cysts.
To unravel all of this, the first step is to get a good picture of what is happening inside your body from a physical perspective and this is where conventional medicine is excellent. You can start by running a variety of tests with your GP or consultant to establish your physical health. Once you have the results you can use natural medicine to look deeper at what may be causing these issues, and then create a targeted and natural treatment approach. If you are diagnosed with unexplained infertility, it’s the same approach of identifying the deep underlying imbalance of the organ systems, and then creating a natural treatment strategy.
What tests should you and your partner do? There are a variety of tests available for men and women that I recommend to my clients before they come to see me. Having the results to discuss during their consultation with me, puts us all in a more powerful position from the outset. GP's or fertility consultants generally offer these tests and they can also be done privately if needed. When starting out with testing I suggest starting on the male partner, to rule out any problems that can be easily and quickly identified with a simple test. A standard semen test is sufficient and once the results arrive, you can see whether further testing is required. If the results are good or borderline then it may be necessary to start the female tests to make sure that you cover both partners. 10 Female testing
For women there are three standard levels of testing, which when completed will offer a picture of fertility health. The three levels are: •
Level one – hormone assessment
•
Level two – tubal and uterine assessment
•
Level three – immunological screening – to assess the immune system as this can cause problems with the physical internal environment of the vagina and uterus.
Level one – hormone assessment – blood testing
A couple of simple blood tests can identify any hormonal imbalance throughout your menstrual cycle. There are two blood tests to investigate the two phases of your cycle. Phase one of your cycle
This is during the follicular phase, and this blood test is carried out on days 1­3 of your cycle, with day 1 being the first day of bleeding. The test looks at the levels of: FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), Oestradiol (E2), LH (luteinising hormone), Prolactin, Thyroid hormones and Androgens. Lets look at these individually:
Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) FSH is produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the growth and development of ovarian follicles. This test is used as a baseline measurement of your ovarian reserve and egg quality. A high FSH usually indicates a low oestrogen level, which affects the growth and development of your eggs and endometrium (uterine lining). High FSH levels can be reduced naturally. 11 Estradiol (E2)
This test measures your oestrogen level, which is secreted by your ovarian follicles. When balanced it will develop the growth of eggs and thicken the endometrium. It also balances FSH levels and stops them from rising too high. If you have a low level of E2, your eggs may not mature sufficiently or they will not be able to implant due to the thin quality of the endometrium. If there is too much E2, there will be a variety of symptoms and this is often present if your BMI is too high or there is insulin resistance as in the case of PCOS.
Luteinising Hormone (LH)
LH is released by the pituitary gland and stimulates ovulation, the formation of the corpus luteum (tissue from a follicle that has released an egg), and the production of Progesterone, which is needed during the luteul phase. A surge of LH around half way through your cycle, triggers ovulation and you release an egg. High levels of LH may indicate PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
Prolactin This hormone is involved in the production of breast milk after childbirth, and Progesterone. Prolactin is tested if PCOS is suspected and levels would be higher than normal in this situation. High levels may interfere with ovulation and progesterone levels may also be affected causing problems with maintaining a pregnancy.
Thyroid Hormone – TSH
TSH is responsible for controlling thyroid function and is important for the metabolic processes in your body, which affect all your body systems. TSH should always be checked if there are delays in conception, as a low TSH will indicate an imbalance of the thyroid, which may cause fertility problems until this is addressed.
Androgens
These are male hormones that are checked to further rule out PCOS. If androgen levels are high, it may be due to the pituitary gland producing large amounts of 12 LH, which prevents ovulation and causes high levels of male hormones to be released.
AMH – Anti­Müllerian Hormone
Checking for this hormone may give some idea of ovarian reserves, which will tell you if you have a low, medium or high level of eggs left to release. The higher the level the better, as you will have more of a chance of natural conception. AMH is also used to assess ovarian response in assisted conception such as IVF cycles.
Phase two of your cycle
Phase two begins after you have ovulated and is referred to as the luteul phase. Again a simple blood test will give the necessary answers to establish how high your Progesterone level is.
Progesterone
When a follicle releases an egg, it becomes a corpus luteum and it releases progesterone. A blood test carried out by many Doctors on day 21 of your cycle, will give a reading of your Progesterone level. As everyone's cycle varies, day 21 is not correct for everybody. Your hormone level does not rise sufficiently until 7 days after ovulation, and this is the correct time to be tested for Progesterone. Please ask for a test 7 days after you have ovulated. Progesterone is responsible for preparing the endometrium for implantation and if it is not high enough, this may not be viable for pregnancy. If it is low, it can be adjusted by using natural methods that involve working on increasing your core energy, which enables your body to produce sufficient amounts of Progesterone.
Level two ­ tubal and uterine assessment
Once you have completed the blood tests you may want to check that there are no blockages in your fallopian tubes that might interfere with the travelling of eggs or sperm, or uterine issues that may prevent implantation. There are three main tests and your GP or consultant can advise you on these.
13 1. Hysterosalpingogram (HSG)
This will identify a blockage in the fallopian tubes. Liquid dye is put into the cervix and x‐ray is used to track the movement of the dye, which will show if there is any blockage or scar tissue causing a problem. 2. Laparoscopy
This is an invasive test that requires a general anaesthetic and short hospital admission. A small incision is made near your navel, and a laparoscope (camera) is inserted to inspect the abdominal cavity, uterus and fallopian tubes. 3. Hysteroscopy
This may be done alongside a Laparoscopy and involves using a viewing instrument called a hysteroscope. This process involves mild sedation or a local anaesthetic. The hysteroscope is inserted into the uterine cavity via the cervix to look for any irregularities such as adhesions.
This is often the preparation for mapping your uterus before an IVF treatment cycle begins.
Level three ­ immunological screening
If you have unidentified fertility problems, or a history of recurrent miscarriage, then it may be necessary to be screened to check your immune system. This is carried out with two blood tests, which are usually six weeks apart, and your consultant will advise you on this if they feel it is a necessity. This type of screening looks for antibodies in your blood, which if present will detect an imbalance in your immune system, or some inflammation. It will also establish whether there is an imbalance of natural killer cells, which may cause problems with implantation. If there are high levels of antibodies in your blood, they may interfere with a fertilised embryo, which may result in your body rejecting the embryo. There are numerous studies that have shown a correlation between recurrent miscarriage and immune disorders. Immunological testing can be expensive and lengthy, but it may be worth considering it if you fall into one or more of the following categories:
14 •
You have had two or more miscarriages
•
You have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility
•
You have good and healthy embryos that have failed to implant during IVF cycles
Your GP or consultant can also help you with this.
Male testing
As for women there are three standard tests available for men. It's best to start with level one and wait for the results to come back. Once they arrive it will be easy to identify whether level two is necessary.
The three levels are: •
Level one – physical examination and semen analysis
•
Level two – hormone assessment – a blood test
•
Level three – further testing ‐ a selection of different tests including: scanning; biopsy; genetic testing and further physical examination
Level one – physical examination and semen analysis
A physical examination will be carried out to check for any visible evidence of physiological problems within the testicles. A semen assessment will then also be carried out, which gives a good picture of the fertility health. Sperm health can be affected by many internal and external factors and running a simple analysis on it, may help to pinpoint an underlying issue. It's also the least invasive form of testing between couples, and so it makes sense to do this before running any other tests.
A sample of semen is taken, ideally at the clinic, and then tested immediately for optimum results. Illness and medication can have an effect on sperm health, and so it's best to mention any illness or medication usage over the previous three months. Once the results return, a decision can be made as to what the next step is. If the quality of the sperm is poor, a hormone assessment should be carried out to look deeper into what may be going on internally.
15 Level two – hormone assessment
This level of testing is not often necessary and it is carried out with a simple blood test. The results will show the levels of key sex hormones (most are discussed under women’s testing) such as FSH, LH, Prolactin and Testosterone (necessary for the development of healthy sperm).
If level two does not identify the problem, then level three will be suggested.
Level three – further testing
In very rare cases further testing is required to check the health of the testes and to rule out any genetic issues. Your consultant would advise the necessary tests based on the results from levels one and two, but they include scanning, further physical examination, genetic testing and blood tests.
The Next Step After Testing
Once you have completed testing you will have a clearer understanding of any areas that may need to be treated, and having your diagnosis will form the foundation of a treatment strategy. The next step is to look at a treatment programme that can make the vital changes that your body requires, to address the underlying imbalance that is causing your physical or hormonal problem. If you haven't been diagnosed with any physical problems and you fall into the unexplained infertility category, then treatment is still useful, and it will be focused on identifying what is out of balance on a deeper level. There are many internal and external factors that can cause your body to develop an underlying imbalance, which will lead to fertility problems. If not recognised and treated, this imbalance may eventually lead to hormonal disruption, immune disorders and poor egg or sperm quality, further decreasing your chances of successful natural pregnancy. Natural treatment can address the majority of these problems and rectify the imbalance, and the great news is that when your fertility health improves, your 16 chances of successful pregnancy dramatically increase. The natural methods of treatment are discussed later on under the section titled The Baby Creating Plan. To help you to avoid some of the factors that can cause fertility problems, I have listed the six common causes of infertility. The Six Common Causes of Infertility There are a variety of components that make up your fertility health, and there are also many internal and external factors that can easily and quickly compromise your fertility. I am listing the six most important factors to avoid, to help you get the ball rolling in the right direction. 1. Stress ­ a major fertility barrier
This is a very important physical factor that links directly to your state of mind.
The number one contributing factor to infertility is stress according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta
The results of this American study conducted by Professor Berga, and presented at the annual conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in Prague, showed that stress increased stress hormones produced by your body, that significantly reduce ovulation and your chances of successful conception.
Women with hectic jobs are most at risk and are often most in denial about the stress in their lives, but it also dramatically affects men too.
It is possible to be stressed but not really feel it and so you may need to look at how your daily life is constructed and see if you might possibly be doing too much.
Many other clinical trials have shown the same imbalances in hormones such as Cortisol (a stress related hormone), which hinders your ability to conceive.
17 2. Smoking We all know that smoking is bad for us but when it comes to fertility, its negative effects are even more profound. Smoke decreases the oxygen level in your blood and so less oxygen is carried to your cells. Without a good supply of oxygen, the cells in your body cannot work properly and this causes a deterioration of the cells, which includes your eggs or sperm.
This can lead to underdeveloped eggs and sperm and it may also affect the genetic makeup of the unborn baby if you do conceive whilst smoking. This is what the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has to say:
“Almost all clinical studies support the conclusion that smoking has an adverse effect on fertility. The prevalence of infertility is higher, and the time it takes to conceive is longer, in smokers compared to non‐smokers. Active smoking by either partner has adverse effects, and the impact of passive cigarette smoke exposure is only slightly smaller than for active smoking. Research indicates that cigarette smoking is harmful to a woman’s ovaries, and the degree of harm is dependent upon the amount and the period of time a woman smokes. Smoking appears to accelerate the loss of eggs and reproductive function and may advance the time of menopause by several years. It was also shown that men who smoke have a lower sperm count and motility and increased abnormalities in sperm shape and function.
The best available scientific data indicates that cigarette smoking strongly contributes to infertility. Smoking should be discouraged for both male and female partners in couples with a history of infertility or recurrent miscarriage. Smoking cessation may improve natural fertility and success rates with infertility treatment."
(The American Society For Reproductive Medicine) Several other studies on smoking reveal the following:
•
Smoking appears to accelerate the loss of reproductive function and may advance the time of menopause by one to four years (Fertility and Sterility)
18 •
Smoking is associated with increased risks of spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy (Fertility and Sterility)
•
Smokers require nearly twice the number of IVF attempts to conceive as non‐smokers (American Society for Reproductive Medicine)
•
Women that smoke are half as likely to conceive (Journal of Biosocial Science)
•
Women who smoke have an increased risk in miscarriage (American Journal of Epidemiology)
•
Passive of secondary smoke can also increase the risk of miscarriage (Human Reproduction)
•
Male smokers risk fathering babies predisposed to developing Leukaemia and brain tumours, even if their partner doesn't smoke (British Journal of Cancer)
•
A lot of studies link smoking to low birth weight and abnormalities (Nutrition and Health)
For some couples, smoking means you may never have the family you dream of.
Now is a great time to kick the habit for both partners if you want to have a family. It's much easier than you might think. 3. Caffeine
Caffeine has a negative effect on your fertility and should be avoided where possible. Common sources of caffeine are: tea (green, white and black tea), coffee, fizzy drinks and some other products. Always check the back of the product label if you are unsure.
Research shows that even one cup of coffee a day causes an imbalance in sex hormones, which compromises sperm and egg health. In women, the uterine lining is also affected, which may stop implantation of a fertilised egg and may also be a cause of early miscarriage.
Caffeine consumption during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction and this association continues throughout pregnancy. 19 Sensible advice would be to reduce caffeine intake before conception and throughout pregnancy. (British Medical Journal)
My clients are recommended to stop consuming caffeine completely whilst trying to conceive and not to start it again until after they stop breast‐feeding.
4. Trans fats and low fat diets cause infertility
There is a huge effort in the UK to stop people eating fats due to the concern that they may cause heart and cholesterol problems. This information may actually be causing more harm than good if you're not familiar with the different types of fats. There are natural animal and plant fats and there are un‐natural man made refined and processed fats. The refined and processed fats are the bad ones and are referred to as Trans fats. There are some natural sources of trans fats, which are healthy, and they are found in meat and dairy, but you don't need to worry about these ones.
The consumption of baked goods and hydrogenated oils puts you at risk of having high levels of bad trans fats in your diet, which are known to cause severe health problems. Avoid all refined oils and baked goods and buy only cold‐
pressed virgin oils.
Evidence from studies as far back as the 1940's shows that animal and plant fats (if not refined) are NOT bad for us and are actually a vital source of nutrients and cholesterol, which we need to keep our own cholesterol in check. The idea that eating fat makes you fat and gives you high cholesterol is a myth, unless you are consuming the bad trans fat group as described above.
Animal fat contains an enzyme called Lipase, which is a fat breaking enzyme. This means that when you eat the fat, the enzyme breaks it down for you and allows your body to use it efficiently. There are many cultures around the world that eat fat on a daily basis with absolutely no negative health effects and they have no issues with fertility. A study I came across some time ago reveals exactly that result.
20 Low fat diets are detrimental to your health and will affect your fertility and chances of having a baby. The reason lies in the effect that fats have on your cholesterol level and having no fats in your diet causes a deficiency and imbalance of the cholesterol, which is connected to poor hormone production and release. This can cause problems with ovulation as discovered by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health Their study showed that women who ate more than two portions a day of low fat dairy foods were 85 per cent more likely to be infertile due to ovulatory disorders than those who only ate it less than once a week. They also discovered other issues relating to a lack of fats in the diet. The advice is to have a little natural plant oil or animal fat in your diet every day to increase your fertility health.
(Journal of Human Reproduction)
5. Alcohol and fertility Consumption of alcohol can reduce your fertility by as much as 50%, as proven in clinical trials and revealed in a Danish study. To give yourself the best chance, you should ideally stop consuming alcohol at least three months before you start trying for a baby.
The Danish study showed that women who drank less than 5 standard glasses of wine per week (approximately 5 units) were twice as likely to conceive within six months, compared to women who drank more alcohol.
Alcohol consumption affects both partners causing damage to egg and sperm quality. In men it can increase abnormal sperm, decrease sperm count and reduce the motility (movement) and also volume of the sperm. (British Medical Journal)
Alcohol exhausts your body's energy, as it's a very toxic substance. It requires a large consumption of energy to remove it efficiently, and also to counterbalance other negative effects it causes in your body.
I suggest avoiding it at least 3‐4 months before you start trying for a baby and most definitely throughout pregnancy and breast‐feeding.
21 6. Starchy foods play havoc with your hormones I have barely touched on food and nutrition in this document, as its a large area to cover and beyond the scope of a guide of this size. It is only now that clinical research is starting to release information on the various health benefits and effects of starchy on male and female fertility.
As a practitioner of Oriental medicine, I have been talking about these issues for the past decade with thousands of my clients and encouraging them to address their health and fertility by making very specific changes to their diets, and the types of foods they eat. Clinical evidence now stands behind what I have been talking about for so long. There is one particular food group that I discuss in great detail with my clients and it has now been scientifically proven to be detrimental to couples trying to conceive.
It is the most largely and commonly consumed food group and has been linked to the dramatic increase in infertility and other health problems.
There have been several studies showing the destructive effects of this food. The group that I am referring to is the starchy – simple carbohydrate group.
Researchers in one study found that when there is too much starchy food in your diet, it increases the lipid (fat) content of your body. This in turn shuts down a gene called Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), which reduces the amount of SHBG protein in the body. This protein plays an important role in the amounts of testosterone and estrogen available for your body to use.
If there’s less SHBG protein, then more testosterone and estrogen will be released throughout the body, which is associated with an increased risk of infertility and Poly‐Cystic Ovaries (PCOS). (Journal of Clinical Investigation) In another recent study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health in the US, assessed the relationship between the intake of starches in women’s diets and their risk of fertility related to problems with ovulation (ovulatory infertility).
22 The results of this study found that women eating diets with high levels of starch were 92 percent more likely to suffer from ovulatory infertility, due to a high concentration of starch displacing certain fats in the diet, which may have positive benefits for fertility (including saturated and mono‐unsaturated fats).
Another source explains that these foods can induce biochemical and physiological effects that may directly hamper fertility (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
For more details and articles on fertility enhancing tips, please visit: www.NaturalFertilityExpert.com
Lets Get You and Your Partner More Fertile with Some Fertility Enhancers
After considering a few of the causes of infertility let's look at a few other ways to increase your fertility health and that of your partner. There are many tips that I talk about in the various magazines and publications that I write for, and I have chosen my three favourite ones for you to use at home. They involve taking some action and will provide you with information and focus to start making a positive change to your fertility health.
The three fertility enhancers are:
1.
Charting your menstrual cycle – for women only
2.
Making lifestyle adjustments
3.
Addressing your dietary needs
1. Charting Your Menstrual Cycle
Charting your cycle, which requires you to measure your basal body temperature (BBT) each morning, is an excellent way to establish what is happening to your hormone levels and fertility health on a day‐to‐day basis. It will also enable you to identify specific underlying and possible hidden problems, that may be stopping you from conceiving or carrying to full term, as is often the case in unexplained infertility. 23 The temperature patterns that develop will quickly identify if you are healthy and fertile or if you have any underlying gynaecological or fertility issues. Knowing how to read the patterns and what to do to change them for the better is important, and enables you to take full control of your fertility. If you discover something through a chart pattern, it can be investigated with clinical testing to identify the problem. Charting and clinical testing work very well together as your temperatures reflects your ongoing health. If you know how to read them, BBT charts can provide you with a diagnosis about your cycle and fertility. To adjust and improve your fertility you need to have a treatment strategy that is designed to address the imbalances revealed in the diagnosis. Using either of these alone will not change your fertility and will probably cause you more stress in the long run, as you try to figure out what is going on in your body. Your diet, lifestyle, sleep, stress level and environment will all affect your body causing a variety of chemical changes that will affect your temperature results. When you know how to use a chart it becomes the key to understanding your fertility. It can show you much more than just your fertile days, and it can help you to understand exactly what action you need to take to optimise and boost your fertility.
The BBT pattern
A healthy BBT pattern over one menstrual cycle produces a biphasic (two phased) pattern. In the first half of the cycle, the follicular phase, the temperature should range between 36.1 – 36.4°C. This shows a good level of Oestrogen and a balanced FSH level. At ovulation the temperature should rise by 0.3‐0.5°C and you will see a thermal shift and change in the pattern on the chart. This rise indicates a rise in progesterone, which should stay elevated for the optimum chance of implantation of a fertilised egg.
24 During the second phase, the luteul phase, the temperature should rise to 36.7‐
36.9°C and it should stay elevated until either your menstruation begins or a pregnancy has been shown as positive. If the temperatures are too erratic and causing a spiky looking chart, or they are too high or low, there is an indication that something may not be correct. There are around ten different patterns that can occur, showing imbalance in the body on a deeper level.
Please visit www.NaturalFertilityExpert.com for more information on BBT charting.
2. Making Lifestyle Adjustments
There are many lifestyle adjustments that can be made to enhance your fertility and general health.
Plastic, cleaning fluids, fragrances and a variety of chemicals that are found in most cosmetics, as well as pollutants in the environment, are some of the top ones that I talk about daily in my clinics. They will all be having an effect on your fertility health that is often causing a disruption of your endocrine system.
Making changes to your lifestyle in these areas can be complicated and time consuming. Many people give up or don't even begin to make changes, as they don’t instantly feel the physical effects of these chemicals on their health and fertility.
Overtime these products may add to your problems with conception or even cause miscarriage, as they have the effect of altering your hormone balance by disturbing your Endocrine system.
I suggest removing these items from your lifestyle and finding completely natural alternatives that don’t contaminate your body or environment.
This is a largely overlooked factor by the majority of conventional fertility consultants, and the findings in clinical trials seem to have been ignored. The negative effect on human health has in fact been known since the 1960’s and various books were published in Germany about their effects.
There is a never ending supply of continuing research to show that the high levels of contaminants in our foods and homes, such as pesticides, preservatives 25 and cleaning chemicals, are causing havoc with our health. Some commonly consumed food groups that most people eat every day have also recently been shown to be detrimental to health. We are now seeing the highest records of fertility problems ever known to man and the majority are caused by these factors. If you are trying to conceive and your body isn't getting the right nutrients or is exposed to a variety of the chemicals mentioned above, then your chances of having a baby decrease. However, this can be easily rectified when you know how, what and when to eat to increase your fertility health.
3. Addressing Your Dietary Needs
There are many components that make up your natural fertility, and some of these can be addressed by changing your diet and nutritional intake. This will ensure that your body gets all of the nutrients that it needs for your optimum fertility health.
Diet plays a huge role in restoring fertility, enhancing egg and sperm quality and ensuring that your baby is healthy throughout pregnancy and beyond. Reducing refined foods and dairy and increasing fresh foods are just starting points when looking at improving your fertility. Every natural food that you eat has a medicinal effect on your body, which will alter how your body functions. Hence the phrase, you are what you eat. In the clinic I use Chinese nutrition therapy, that enhances fertility health from a completely different perspective, and with 1500 years of treating infertility there is a lot of wisdom that can be called upon. For optimum health results, combine the Chinese therapy with a western nutritional supplementary approach for the best of both worlds. 26 Your fertility strategy
By now I'm sure you are very clued up about your situation, and that you have gathered a mass of information about your fertility health and diagnosis. Addressing fertility issues successfully is a two‐fold approach: •
Firstly you need to have the tools to reveal what the underlying problem is. This should provide a clear diagnosis of the physical problem and the underlying imbalance, which requires an integrated approach of natural and conventional medicine. •
Secondly you need to have a treatment plan that applies the essential components that your body requires, to change the underlying imbalance and restore your natural fertility. It will then just be a matter of time and repetition of the treatment plan, until you conceive and have your baby. “Your body has the innate natural potential to create a healthy baby. All you have to do is put it in the right place to do so both physically and emotionally”
27 The Baby Creating Plan
Now that you have looked at diagnosis and some of the causes of infertility along with a few tips to get you started, I would like to introduce you to The Baby Creating Plan. This Plan combines together six essential components that are required to address the underlying causes of your infertility, and the Plan uses them together as a complete treatment, that is applied over three stages. The Plan delivers a success rate of 71.88% positive pregnancy. The science behind it The foundations of this plan are built on the latest clinical research from world‐
renowned doctors, universities and medical schools, and over a decade of my personal clinical experience of working with couples trying to conceive. Regardless of your medical diagnosis, state of mind or physical health, the Baby Creating Plan is designed to address the underlying causes of these issues. It focuses on rebalancing your fertility health and enhancing your success of having a baby, and each component is backed with clinical research to show its effects on improving fertility health. In my clinics I see couples experiencing recurrent miscarriage, unexplained infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian and uterine cysts and male infertility – all forms of sperm abnormality. In most cases the plan is straightforward for couples experiencing these problems. It involves making a series of guided lifestyle changes, combined with specific treatments that are designed to bring the body back to its natural state of balance. Once in balance, it will work efficiently and conception will occur, and pregnancy will be successful.
Nature is complex but all that is required for conception and a healthy pregnancy is a balanced and healthy body and mind, the way that nature intended it to be. The Plan works by bringing your body back to natural balance and health, which results in an increase in your fertility health. 28 A clinical diagnosis of any one of the above fertility issues can still result in having a baby, regardless of what you may have been told. Results generally come down to how much you’re willing to make the right lifestyle changes, and persevere with them until you conceive and have your baby. I have personally helped couples in all of the situations mentioned above and witnessed successful pregnancies, even when they were told it would never occur naturally. To hear what some of my clients have to say about this please click here to visit the Success Stories page on my website. A comprehensive treatment plan
Recently described, as the most comprehensive plan of it's kind, The Baby Creating Plan is made up of Six Essential Components and Three Stages that are combined together, in a complete and personalised programme. This is the only programme to date to use six different components that have all been individually and scientifically tested in clinical trials to show their efficacy. In the Plan they are brought together as one complete treatment. This is delivered to you by a team of experts all working together and towards the same goal, with the same mindset: restoring balance in your body to get you more fertile and pregnant.
The six essential components of the Plan The six essential components have been chosen to be included in the plan as they have all been clinically trialled, and have shown a positive effect in addressing the underlying causes of the most common fertility problems that couples experience. The Baby Creating Plan uses the six essential components as a complete treatment, which integrates them into a treatment plan where all of the components work in harmony with each other. When used together and applied as The Baby Creating Plan, the following results are achieved: •
71.88% positive pregnancy for Natural conception •
71.42% positive pregnancy for Assisted conception 29 The Plan is also used as a First Trimester Programme for recurrent miscarriage and to support your pregnancy through the most delicate time. During this programme the six essential components stay the same but they are applied differently, to enhance your pregnancy health and encourage your body to support your baby. The First Trimester programme achieves results of: • 94.7% positive pregnancy past sixteen weeks The six essential components are: •
Acupuncture – used for over 1500 years to treat infertility and gynaecological problems in China, it is a very gentle and effective treatment for restoring your fertility health. •
Herbal medicine – serves to address the root of your problem and does this by chemically and gently altering your body to bring about balance, and enhance your natural fertility. Herbal medicine is a highly specialised and very effective method for enhancing fertility health. •
Nutrition – A vital part of any conception plan, I have combined ancient Chinese Nutrition Therapy with current nutritional supplementation to offer you the absolute best in nutritional understanding available today. You will discover how the Chinese system uses specific foods as medicine to balance your body and optimise your fertility health. Supplementation is also necessary in some cases and my Nutritional Expert will discuss this part of nutrition with you in great detail, to make sure you are getting every nutrient that you need.
•
Lifestyle enhancement – as I have already mentioned, there are a myriad of substances, chemicals and toxins in the external environment that have probably made their way into your life, and possibly without you even knowing. They will without a doubt be affecting your fertility and in some couples they may even be the cause of your infertility. This part of the programme shows you what you need to do to ‘clean out’ these 30 toxic chemicals and teaches you the most important ones to be aware of. You will be empowered to make future choices based on a good understanding of what is healthy for you.
•
Exercising for fertility – many couples today are exercising to improve their health, but some are going about it in a damaging way. There are positive and negative forms of exercise when it comes to improving fertility and your chances of conception, and also for maintaining your pregnancy. This area is covered throughout the programme and advice is given based on your personal situation.
•
A balanced mind – helping set your state of mind to super‐positive and in tune to becoming and staying pregnant, our Fertility Coach will work with you to enable you to have a clear and relaxed mind, which is focused and ready to fully embrace the plan. You will discover how to take all of the necessary action required to make this happen for you. She will also establish any negative thought processes you may have that could be blocking you from conceiving and having your baby.
The Three Stages of the Plan
The six essential components above are combined together and used as a complete treatment plan, that is applied to one or all of the following three stages: Stage 1: Preparation for conception: This is the starting point for dealing with the underlying issues that are preventing you from having a baby. Stage 1 is a one‐off time period where the Plan is applied to prepare your body for conception and help to get you focused, healthy and ready for conception and pregnancy Stage 2: Optimising conception If you have completed the preparation time, your body should be ready to conceive and this stage is all about optimising and finely tuning your body 31 to encourage pregnancy. This section is also used for supporting assisted conception. Stage 2 is applied until you conceive. Stage 3: Supporting pregnancy and reducing the risk of miscarriage Once you have conceived and are pregnant, it is advisable to support your pregnancy particularly through the first 12 weeks, which is the most delicate time of pregnancy. Stage 3 uses The Baby Creating Plan, which has been developed into a First Trimester Programme that supports your body to enhance your pregnancy and reduce the risk of miscarriage. Throughout one of the first two stages you will conceive, if you allow sufficient time, and it is then advisable to support yourself throughout your pregnancy by using the plan during stage three. All of this is discussed during your initial consultation, as the application and time period varies with each couple. The Baby Creating Plan delivers a success rate of over 71% due to the combination of each of these components, and the way in which they are delivered to my clients. It brings together a selection of the most powerful fertility enhancing methods, within natural medicine, and applies them in a way that cannot be achieved by using them separately. Having a team of experts to apply the components, gives you the highest level of physical and emotional support available in a natural fertility treatment plan. What The Baby Creating Plan can be used to support When used for natural conception, the Plan balances the underlying causes of the most common fertility problems, including: Unexplained Infertility
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)
32 Endometriosis
Ovarian and Uterine Cysts
Blocked Fallopian Tubes Male Infertility ‐ Sperm abnormalities of all types including: Azoospermia (no sperm at all) When used for assisted conception, the Plan supports and enhances the treatment cycles of: IUI – Intrauterine Insemination
IVF – In Vitro Fertilisation
ICSI – Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Egg donation
33 Your Next Step
To put all of this information into action and to start to address the underlying imbalance that may be stopping you from conceiving, I would suggest taking a look at The Baby Creating Plan, as it offers everything that you should need. Before doing this I would like to invite you to a FREE introductory event. Free introductory events At Natural Fertility Expert, I hold regular introductory events where you can come and listen to myself and the other experts on my team talk about how you can use The Baby Creating Plan to restore balance to your body and enhance your fertility health. I guarantee that you will leave the event feeling empowered and ready to face your situation with a new tool in hand, and lots of extra information about day‐
to‐day factors that could be stopping you from having a baby. You are welcome to bring your partner too and you will also meet other people in similar situations to yourself. These are some of the things you will hear about at the events: • How to take control of your fertility by making the right choices for either natural or assisted conception • The Baby Creating Plan and how it can work for you • Nutrition, Lifestyle and Emotional factors that may be responsible for creating your infertility and how you can overcome these • How you can increase your chances of pregnancy success to a staggering 71% as experienced by my clients • Some of the personal stories of my clients – their history explained as case studies It would be lovely to see you there and if this is of interest to you my assistant Penny can be contacted about the events and for booking by: Email: click here Calling her on: 01628 668339 34 In the meantime You could start to prepare your body by following some of the tips in this guide and also checking out your fertility health from a conventional perspective. This will help you to gain a clear physical diagnosis of your situation. If you then decide to come to the free event or to use The Baby Creating Plan, you will be ready to receive the information offered and you will be in a better position to know how to move forwards. If however you feel you want to wait with assessments, you can do so as they can be carried out at a later stage. The Baby Creating Plan around the world Over the last few years the Plan has developed into a national UK and international Global treatment programme. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can access the plan to work with myself, and my team from any location. To find out more about either of these plans, just give us a call or email using the details at the back of this guide. We will get back to you with all the details of the plan that’s best suited to your location and situation. Limited spaces – try to plan ahead There are a limited amount of clients that I personally see as my team and I dedicate up to 90 minutes a week for 12 weeks, to each client. We are very busy at the clinics and so I would suggest coming to the free event as soon as you can, so that you have time to plan ahead. From my experience, the highest conception rate is in the group of clients that prepare and optimise their health. If you are about to start an assisted cycle and would like to use The Baby Creating Plan, please contact Penny immediately and she will organise a phone chat with me, to avoid delaying your treatment. Ongoing fertility tips By downloading this guide you have also joined my mailing list where you will receive regular fertility tips and information about any events that may be useful to you. I will be running some webinars and teleconferences over the coming year, and I will let you know as soon as I have dates for them. 35 Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. I hope that you have found it useful and directional on your path to restoring your natural fertility. Please feel free to let us know about your successes from using this information.
I wish you lots of success My best wishes Andrew Loosely, Lic.OHM, DCHAc. Dip.CH, MCMIR
Natural Fertility Expert
Creator of The Baby Creating Plan
36 Biography of Andrew Loosely Lic.OHM, DCHAc.(Beijing), Dip.CH Natural Fertility Expert Andrew is the founder of Natural Fertility Expert and the creator of The Baby Creating Plan, which has been referred to as the most comprehensive natural fertility‐enhancing programme of its kind.
Over the last ten years he has specialised in working with couples to dramatically increase their chances of successful pregnancy.
As a natural fertility expert Andrew discovered that acupuncture and herbal medicine, when used alongside four other essential components that make up The Baby Creating Plan, produce a success rate of over 71% positive pregnancies with his clients. His second book The Ultimate Fertility Guide reveals how he created The Baby Creating Plan and how couples can increase their success rate of conception by following a simple step‐by‐step plan with Andrew’s guidance, and the support of the team of experts he has created. He is based in the UK in Harley Street and Kensington in London and also has a country practice in Buckinghamshire. Andrew works with clients that are local to his clinics and also runs The Baby Creating Plan as an international programme where he currently works with couples around the world, and as far away as the US, Dubai, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Europe. He also has a large following in the UK, America, Canada, India, Australia and central Europe. When he is not in the clinic with clients he works as a speaker and presenter, with a determination to share information on the positive effects of using natural methods to increase pregnancy results. As the fifth generation in his family to use herbal medicine, Andrew learnt about plants from his mother and grandparents in the south of Germany. Years later he 37 went on to study Chinese medicine after his own successful experience of acupuncture and herbal medicine. He now spends his time helping couples, through his clinics and seminars, to increase their chances of successful natural and IVF pregnancy by teaching them about The Baby Creating Plan.
38 Contact Details
For further information about The Baby Creating Plan and to book a free introductory event, please use the following contact details and ask for Penny.
Telephone: +44(0) 1628 668339
Email: enquiries@naturalfertilityexpert.com
Website: www.naturalfertilityexpert.com
We look forward to meeting you soon and answering any queries you may have about the plan and the free introductory events. i Natural Fertility Expert success rate can be seen at: http://www.naturalfertilityexpert.com/statistics/ ii Natural Fertility Expert success rate can be seen at: http://www.naturalfertilityexpert.com/statistics/ iii Clinical trials for each of the six essential components can be found at: http://www.naturalfertilityexpert.com/clinical‐trials/ 39