PHYSICAL BENEFITS

Strengthens Body Systems
Regular massage and yoga may help to strengthen your baby's immune system and increase their resistance to infection. It may also improve blood circulation and help to drain the lymphatic system as well as improving the overall condition of their skin (provided a non-contaminated, organic vegetable oil is applied).

Massaging your baby's face can alleviate nasal congestion and help drain mucus from the nasal passages, which is extremely helpful for when your baby has a snuffle. Also,, the Toe Rolling exercise (see later post) is excellent for helping to alleviate the symptoms of a cold and teething niggles, as this exercise is based around the traditional art of reflexology and the toes represent the face, including the nose, mouth, eyes and sinuses. Not only does massaging your baby's toes alleviate these symptoms, but it also has an immediate effect on their nervous system and encourages general well-being.

Colic
It can be a most upsetting experience for a parent to watch a young baby screaming in agony with, what looks like, severe tummy pains. It often lasts for many hours and usually starts around the same time each day. The condition is harmless, although it can be distressing for a baby to experience and for the parents to observe. This distressing condition often creates stress and anxiety within the home. Parents and other family members may find it difficult to cope with the constant crying, so it is important to seek support and if possible to take a break occasionally.

What Is Colic?
Colic is uncontrollable, extended crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy and well-fed. Every baby cries, but babies who cry for more than three hours a day, three to four days a week, may have colic. It can start when a baby is around two to four weeks of age and may last for three months, or possibly longer. There are some practitioners who believe that colic does not exist, but for those parents that experience the early evening bouts of screaming and obvious distress with their babies it is definitely real enough! However, colic is not a serious condition.

What Causes Colic?
The cause of colic is not really known. It is often thought to be related to the digestive system. Another possible cause is a combination of a baby's temperament and an immature nervous system. A baby's temperament may make them highly sensitive to the environment, and they may react to normal stimulation, changes to the environment or pick up on parental stress by crying. A baby is unable to regulate crying once they start because of their immature nervous system.

What Are The Symptoms?
The main symptoms is continuous crying for long periods of time. A baby may look uncomfortable or appear to be in pain and may lift their head, draw their legs up to their tummy, become red in the face and pass wind. Some babies refuse to eat during a colicky bout, though research shows that babies with colic generally continue to eat and gain weight normally.

Although this crying can occur at any time, it usually worsens between 4pm and 8pm - often a time when there is a lot of external stimulation in the home; perhaps older siblings are arriving home from school, the television goes on, the telephone may ring, other family members are arriving home from work, the evening meal is being prepared and the baby, very often, is in the middle of this commotion. Some babies will love the hustle and bustle, but others may hate it, especially those that are sensitive and suffering from colic. It might be expedient to reduce as much of the external stimulations for the baby as possible.

When To See A Doctor
Colic does not need medical treatment. However, if you are worried about your baby's crying, you may want to seek advice form a healthcare professional to make sure there is no serious underlying problem. Before visiting a doctor, all other possible causes of crying should be eliminated. These include the following:

• Hunger
• Tiredness
• Lack of contact - some babies want to be cuddled all the time.
• Startling eg. due to a jerky movement or sudden noise.
• Undressing - some babies do not like to be naked.
• Temperature - is your baby too hot or too cold?
• Pain - is there an identifiable source of pain, eg. a nappy rash or some irritation in clothing?

Using Massage And Yoga To Alleviate Colic
Massaging your baby tummy's is a fantastic way to help regulate and strengthen the digestive system and alleviate wind, constipation and colic. It is very important to follow the guide in this post and massage their tummy in a clock-wise direction as this is the direction in which the contents of the bowel move. By doing this you can help to move wind and faeces in the right direction. Furthermore, as massage and yoga can be relaxing, a stressed baby may find they are less anxious.

However, it is extremely important that you do not massage your baby whilst they are crying with pain. Firstly, crying is a 'negative cue' and a parent would not be listening to their baby if they ignored this and started to massage their tummy, regardless. Secondly, the best way to alleviate the problem is to catch it early before the baby is in real pain. Parents with a colicky baby will know the signs and the usual time that their baby will begin to suffer with colic - which is so often around tea time.

Using The Colic Routine

• A simple colic routine has been included in the later post and when followed and repeated preferably three or four times an hour before the time the colic begins, you should see a marked difference in your baby.
• After the colic routine, allow your baby to rest quietly.
• Your baby may find it particularly calming when facing a blank wall for a little while (especially if there is much commotion in the home).
• The Lazy Lion Containment Hold (see later post) is extremely good for alleviating the discomfort of stomach ache and colic.

Other Treatments For Colic
There is no single cure for colic, but there are several measures that can be taken that may help. Individual babies have different needs, and parents should try various methods to see what works.

Parents who bottle-feed their babies may want to try a different formula. For mothers who breastfeed, it is a good idea to continue this because weaning the baby from breast milk may make the colic worse. Some nursing mothers find that certain foods in their diet seem to worsen the effects of colic so cutting these foods out can help. These might include cruciferous vegetables (eg. cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and parsnip), beans, onions, garlic, apricots, melon, spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol.

If there is a family history of milk sugar (lactose) intolerance, breastfeeding mothers could try eliminating cows milk from their diet (however, seek advice before making major changes to any diet). Sometimes babies are not able to digest lactose well - this improves as they get older.

If your baby seems to have a lot of wind, make sure they are winded after each feed. Babies who are bottle-fed may swallow air from the bottle; try feeding your baby in different position, or use a bottle and teat designed to reduce the amount of air your baby swallows during a feed.

Restful Sleep
One of the issues, which every new partner has to cope with, is not getting enough sleep. If your baby is finding it difficult to get to sleep, or is waking several times in the night, you will be suffering all the more.

Try not to be drawn into comparison with other babies. Babies do not know the difference between night and day at first and most babies less than six months wake up regularly during the night. For the first three or four months, babies find it difficult to go more than six hours at night without a feed and this is even truer for breast-feed babies. However, babies may not always wake for hunger. They are emotionally dependent on their parents and will learn from experience that if needed their parent will respond.

A baby does not have the capacity to understand anyone else's feelings and if they seem to be very demanding it is not because they are 'trying' it on'. A baby that has a feeling of being loved during its first year is more likely to know that a parent will come to them if really needed and not to fret if the attention is not immediate. If the parent responds, the baby's confidence will grow, and eventually they will learn to settle or entertain themselves.

How Massage And Yoga May Help Your Baby Sleep
Many babies find massage very soothing, and may even fall asleep immediately afterwards. You may find that your baby will sleep deeper and longer after a massage. If massage is introduced after their bath and as part of your baby's going-to-bed routine, it can help to release the tension in your baby, not to mention you!

The massage and yoga improves a baby's circulation, deepens and regulates the breathing, and increases the levels of oxygen in the bloodstream, which can lead to deeper sleep. Massage can help to make sleep-time more peaceful with a familiar pattern to it, which is very beneficial for fussy babies.

Other Tips To Help Your Baby Sleep
In addition to using the massage and yoga techniques, try the following:

• Carrying your baby in a front sling or back pack.
• Swaddling your baby to help them feel secure.
• Placing your baby facing a blank wall, away from distractions.
• Placing your baby near continuous noise or vibrations from household appliances like the washing machine, dishwasher or vacuum cleaner.
• Helping your baby to practise their self-calming techniques.

If your baby does not fall asleep in the evening, wakes during the night or early in the morning or cries excessively, then try some of the following:

Sleeping Without A Teat Cue
Your baby will learn very quickly that sleep follows a feed. To help your baby fall asleep without the need for a teat or breast in their mouth, it may be worth rousing them a little as you finally put them down to sleep so they feel themselves dozing off without something in their mouth.

Time To Settle
Give your baby time to settle, but do not leave him/her crying and distressed for too long. The same applies if your baby wakes in the night.

Sleepy Atmosphere
Whisper to your baby very quietly and soothingly so as to create a sleepy atmosphere. This gives them the opportunity to learn that this is different from daytime.

Toys
A lot of older babies become fond of a cuddly toy that has been introduced to them in the cot at an early stage. They will use this to cuddle before falling sleep. From about five months old, babies often like to play with a small toy during massage. The toy they cuddle at bedtime could be used for this purpose. It is common for children to hang onto this toy when they are ill or visiting new and strange places - it is know as a 'transitional object'. A transitional object is one that your baby associates with you and their lovely massage, from which they can take comfort in your absence.

Warmth
Babies sleep better when they are warm. Babygros can keep them warm when they kick off blankets, but if your baby is very restless then a fitted sleeping blanket might. For safe sleeping, babies should not overheat either.

Light
When attending to your baby in the night, do this in the dark so that your baby does not associate 'lights on' with visits from mummy or daddy! Night lights can help children drift off to sleep (for safety reasons switch these off when you go to bed). Black-out blinds can be useful in summer to cut out the early morning sun.

Noise
A certain amount of low level noise can be comforting for your baby. However, sudden,loud noise can disturb their sleep. If possible, move your baby to another room away from noise. Central heating noise can be a real problem for disturbing sleep. One helpful idea could be to delay the onset in the morning by half an hour so that your baby gets more sleep.

Music
Some babies respond to the rhythmic sounds of music. This works best when the baby is rocked from head to toe (rather than from side to side). Soothing music, or music that was played whilst the baby was still in the womb ( in the third trimester) can be have a calming effect once the baby is born.

Natural Pain Relief
Generally, massage stimulates the production of Oxytocin (a hormone secreted by both sexes), which is a natural pain reliever and induces a calming effect for your baby.

Putting Your Baby In Prone Position During The Day
A number of weeks prior to learning the back massage strokes, it is advisable that you lay your baby on their tummy for a short period each day. This helps your baby to feel comfortable and gain confidence in this position. Also, it can help with the crawl response and encourages your baby to lift its head. Your baby may resist initially as they may find it strange, so it is always best if you try this for short periods of time to avoid your baby getting tired or irritable.

In the week leading up to learning the back massage, place your baby on their front for five minutes, a couple of times a day. It is important that this activity is only carried out when you are able to stay with them to reassure them. Remember that this is new to them, and also, from a safety point of view, your baby should never be left alone at this time.

The Benefits Of The Prone Position
Lying your baby on their tummy is a great way to help with their muscle development and to increase strength. It also helps your baby to be able to:

• feel confident being on their front
• lift their head, to turn and look
• lift their upper body with support from their forearms
• push their arms into a rigid position. This may cause your baby to roll over so never leave your baby alone on a raised surface, changing platform or bed.
• move their weight on to one hand enabling them to reach for a toy
• practise the crawl movement by drawing their knees towards their hips
• push up with their hands when on their knees so they can rock.

Since it has become more popular to put babies on their backs to sleep, this practice has now become an 'all day routine'. This has led to an increase of babies with 'flat head syndrome' or an abnormal shaped head. So, during supervised play time, it will be helpful for your baby's development if they spend time on their tummy.

THE BENEFITS OF MASSAGE AND YOGA FOR YOUR BABY AND YOU

Emotional Benefits
When the subjects of baby massage and yoga are discussed, it is often the physical benefits that are considered first, but there are also a number of emotional benefits to be gained by both the baby AND parent when they engage in baby massage and yoga on a regular basis.

Helping Your Baby Adapt To Their New Environment
Upon leaving the comfort of their mother's womb, a newborn can find that entering the new phase of their life is rather stressful. Massage and yoga, however, can reduce stress; which is as important for tiny babies as it is for adults! Regular massage can help babies adapt to their new environment and reassure them. In time, when they feel anxious, out of sorts or in a stressful situation, parents can use massage, which their baby recognizes as a pleasant experience, to help calm and soothe their baby. Studies carried out showed that Cortisol levels ( a hormone we all secrete when we are under stress) were greatly reduced in babies that had a massage to soothe them rather than those that were simply rocked.

Overcoming Intrusive Medical Intervention
Massage and yoga can help babies that have received intrusive medical interventions and may associate touch with a negative experience. If your baby has received some medical intervention, you might find initially that massage and yoga may be far too stimulating and distressing for your baby, but you can overcome this by gently introducing the concept of positive touch to them. This can simply be stroking over your baby's clothes, whilst holding them securely and talking to them soothingly or practising the containment and holding techniques.

The length of time it takes for a baby to become comfortable with touch depends upon the nature of the baby and the type of intervention they received. Gradually you will be able to progress to the massage routine and then the yoga exercises; being guided by your baby's subtle forms of communication. Eventually your baby will gradually begin to associated touch in a positive light and the negative feelings connected with the medical intervention will become a distant memory.

Understanding Your Baby
Not all parents are completely confident about handling their baby in the first months of their life, which can leave the parents feeling rather inadequate and disempowered. The massage and yoga routines are designed to help parents feel more confident about touching and handling their babies.

Through massage and yoga you can learn how your baby communicates with you by understanding their positive and negative cues. These are the noises, movements and subtle physical changes that your baby makes. This may help you to feel more in control as you gain a greater understanding of your baby and you will find that this enhances the mutual respect between you.

Also, with this greater understanding, the communication between both of you should improve so that you are able to recognize when your baby is over-stimulated, why your baby cries, how to help them become calmer and begin to help your baby use their own self-calming techniques.

Bonding With Your Baby
Touch, eye contact, smell and sounds of the parent's voice are all elements of the bonding process between parent and baby. However, because of the pressures to return to work soon after birth, there is a need for parents and babies to become less dependent upon each other very quickly. Also, spending time holding, touching and chatting to our babies happens less frequently and because of this the bonding process may be affected.

The eminent child psychologist, believes that touch is central to the development of the bonding relationship between a mother and her baby. Baby massage and yoga are excellent forms of positive touch and therefore, without doubt, are extremely important tools for you to use to help you communicate with your baby; in turn this naturally helps with the attachment and bonding between you.

Sibling Rivalry
When a new baby arrives into a family that already has one or more children, the family dynamics can be changed dramatically. Older siblings can feel alienated, neglected and just down-right jealous of the new arrival. Parents who are sensitive to this know the importance of helping the older children come to terms with and accept the new baby. Baby massage and yoga can be extremely useful in this process.

If you have older children, you can really help make a difference to the way they feel about your new baby by involving them in the routines, thereby showing them that they are still just as important to you as they always be. Not only that, they may enjoy the new found responsibility as 'older' brother or sister.

They can help by:

• preparing the room
• choosing the music and the nursery rhymes
• holding the bottle of oil
• watching for the baby's cues (helping them learn what the baby is saying).

A fun idea is to encourage the older child to copy the massage strokes and the yoga exercises, that you are doing with their new brother or sister, on their favourite doll or teddy.

Post-Natal Illness (Depression)
Post-natal illness (PNI) is quite common (up to as many as 20% of women experience PNI after the birth of their child) and unfortunately, is often under-recognized and under-treated. PNI usually appears in the early months after childbirth but can occur at any time during the first year of the baby's life. In undetected, a mother may be suffering well beyond this period.

Support And Treatment For PNI
If a mother is suffering from PNI it is extremely important tat she confides in someone that she trusts, be that her partner, family member, Health Visitor or GP. Attending a post-natal group or baby massage and/or yoga class can be of real benefit as these are very supportive, non-judgemental. Often, having the opportunity to share fears and anxiety with other mothers can bring tremendous relief.

Other treatments of post-natal illness include self-help strategies, complementary therapies, counselling, medication/therapy and sometimes hospital-based care.

Evidence That Baby Massage Helps PNI Sufferers
It is thought that kissing, cuddling and prolonged gazing at the baby are indicators of a developing bond. Baby massage can ensure that a mother spends quality time with her baby and will help with the bonding process, thus helping the baby to develop a strong attachment to its mother, which can promote a sense of security in the baby. The child is then more likely to grow up self-assured and self-confident.

Unfortunately the bonding and attachment process between a mother and her baby can be greatly impeded, and in some cases it may not happen at all, when a mother is suffering from PNI. Very often mothers who are suffering from PNI avoid eye contact with other people and often avoid communicating generally. Sadly, this can also be the case with her baby.

However, it is proven that baby massage can help break the cycle of negative or limited interaction between a mother and her baby and is a highly effective way of helping mothers that are suffering emotionally. Although there is no official research to indicate that yoga is beneficial in relation to PNI, as the yoga routine encourages interaction, it can be assumed that it is valuable for improving communication and ultimately enhancing the development of a loving, caring, mother-child relationship, just as massage is shown to be.

Mothers suffering from PNI benefit greatly from participating in baby massage on a very regular basis for the following reasons.

• Baby massage can help stimulate an increase in the hormone responsible for maternal feelings.
• The baby is more relaxed, happier and the cycle of negative interaction between mother and baby can be broken.
• Babies who received massage (rather than being rocked) gained more weight.
• Babies who were massaged had less sleep problems.
• Babies are calmer.
• Babies interact better with their mother.
• The mother's stress hormone levels were lower.
• The mother's 'feel good' hormones were increased.

Fathers
The emotional benefits of baby massage, such as quality, one-to-one loving touch, can also be experienced by fathers too. Studies show us that fathers that gave their babies a 15-minute daily massage prior to bedtime for one month, revealed that they communicated much better with their babies.

COMPLEMENTING ONE ANOTHER - BABY MASSAGE AND BABY YOGA

As very young babies are often quickly over-stimulated, massage can gently introduce a baby to positive touch. As the baby develops and grows accustomed to being touched and can accept more stimulating experiences, the energetic and stimulating yoga exercises are a great follow-on from the massage.

The massage routine is made up of several strokes for different areas of your baby's body. You are advised to learn one set of strokes for a particular body area per week, for instance, the legs. This gives you the opportunity to become comfortable with how to do the strokes and also allows your baby to become used to massage gradually, if the strokes are practised every day throughout the week. The following week, new strokes for a new area are introduced, whilst also consolidating the strokes from the previous week. This allows for ample practice week by week. Once all the strokes in the routine have been introduced you should feel confident to give your baby the full body massage.

When your baby is comfortable with the full massage routine, this is a good time to introduce them to the yoga exercises. By then, your baby should already be familiar with many aspects that are shared by both massage and yoga. Both give you the opportunity to:

• use positive touch with your baby
• do exercises with your baby
• have special hugs and holds
• use nursery rhymes and music
• spend special time together
• learn about your baby
• relax with your baby
• play with your baby
• have fun together!

Once both the massage and yoga routines have been learnt, you will be able to decide which routine best suits you and your baby on that particular day.

Positive Touch For Babies
In this day and age, when there are so many gismos and gadgets to help parents to care for their babies (particularly those that help transport babies around), babies are often manoeuvred from their cot to carry-cot to pushchair and then their car seat and it is not uncommon for a baby to be barely touched at all. This is rather unfortunate for a baby who has, until only a short while before, spent nine months inside the confines of the womb in constant touch with their mum. Once born, there are no more cosy walls and gone is the continual massage received whilst mum moved around.

Touch is often not sufficiently considered until we can see the profound effects that little or no touch has on a child. Reports in the last century of babies and children who were deprived of touch in orphanages around the world, show us how important positive touch is to the human race. Throughout life, no matter what the age, being held and comforted are the most healing acts that humans can share. Without realising, parents instinctively use touch to heal and comfort their children. 'Rub it better' is a phrase very often used to reassure a wounded child - to stroke the area of the skin that has been affected is an instinctive reaction, which encourages our body to start the natural repair process.

Touch is therefore a fundamental need for everybody, but 'skin-to-skin' contact is essential for a newborn baby. It can help with temperature control, stabilising breathing and heart rate, and increases the well-being of the baby. The inclination to ignore the need for skin-to-skin contact between the mother and baby, which is so common in western societies, may affect the ability of the mother to recognize the non-verbal cues or signs through which the baby is trying to communicate.

A parent's ability to understand their baby's cues can be greatly enhanced through baby massage and yoga, allowing the parent to comfort and reassure their baby through positive touch.

TEACH YOURSELF - BABY MASSAGE AND YOGA

WHAT IS BABY MASSAGE AND BABY YOGA

Touch is one of the first senses to develop. When a baby is in the womb they experience a constant massage from their mother's gentle movements. Once born, babies need to be touched to thrive, and parents can use the powers of positive touch, such as massage and yoga, to satisfy this need and help them communicate and bond with their child.

Parents, particularly new mothers who are returning to work after the birth of their baby, often like to find activities that give them quality time with their children. Baby massage and yoga are simple and free and can be done almost anywhere; which also fits in well with parents who juggle a host of responsibilities and have hectic lifestyles.

Above all, baby massage and yoga enable parents and babies to relax and have fun together.

Baby massage has been a common practice in many cultures for hundreds of years. The use of massage for babies has its roots in Ayurvedic medicine in India, dating back as far as 1800 BC. To this day, families form many cultures, such as Nepal, Tibet, Malaysia and India, recognize the value of massage to promote health and a sense of well-being for the mother and child - before and after birth. Even today in some regions of India, babies are still massaged for 10-20 minutes, morning and evening until they are six months old.

Baby massage came to western society in the 1970s and has become increasingly popular since the turn of the 21st century and is now taught to parents by many health professionals and complementary therapists who recognize the wonderful benefits.

The origins of yoga are found in ancient history and it has been commonly practiced throughout the world for centuries. Yoga came form South West Asia more than 3,ooo years ago and then migrated south through the Indian sub-continent. Hatha yoga developed around 1000 AD and includes physical and breathing exercises that help with flexibility and relaxation. Baby yoga is a fairly new practice based on the age-old tradition. It includes simplified Hatha yoga, coupled with rhythmical movement.

FERTILITY MYTHS

Like many complex medical conditions, infertility is often misunderstood by the public. And as with most health care issues, there are differing views among conventional caregivers and alternative practitioners. Here are a few of the popular misperceptions about infertility, as well as several misguided claims sometimes supported by the fertility industry.

It's A Woman's Problem
One of the most common myths is that infertility is a woman's problem. Approximately 40% of infertility cases due to female factors and another 40% to male factors; the remaining 20% either result from a combination of male and female factors or are unexplained. These numbers offer indisputable proof that both the man and the woman should be evaluated when infertility is suspected.

Low sperm count and poor motility are the most common causes of male infertility. These sperm problems are associated with a wide range of conditions, from congenital diseases to stress and depression to sexual dysfunction.

Abortion Equals Infertility
Another popular fallacy is that if a woman has had an abortion, she can never have a baby. In reality, an uncomplicated abortion poses no long-term health risks. If the procedure was done professionally within the first trimester, a woman will probably be able to conceive and carry a baby to term in the future. However, women who suffered complications or had the procedure performed later in the pregnancy may have scar tissue that could cause fertility complications. If these circumstances apply, consult your doctor.

Hormones Are Everything
Although most physicians describe infertility as a physical condition, there is growing evidence that emotional and psychological health play a key role in the ability to conceive. Until recently, most conventional practitioners agreed that stress was simply a by-product of infertility, not a cause.

Many medical doctors are starting to acknowledge the influence of emotional factors on fertility. Several studies have indicated that excessive focus on the goal of having a child may result in premature maturation of the eggs in the ovary and subsequent release of eggs that are not ready for fertilization.

Mind/body medicine offers a range of techniques that can help you to relax and revitalize. Such practices can prove invaluable not only in enhancing fertility but also in maintaining or restoring emotional balance.

Science Can Guarantee You A Baby
A lot of money is spent annually on attempts to overcome infertility. Yet despite all the advances, the majority of people who seek out these options do not end up pregnant. This does not mean that conventional approaches are ineffective, or that you should rule them out. But it does provide some perspective to balance the hype about miracle babies.

The Big Picture
Every couple's experience is somewhat different when it comes to infertility. Regardless of the particulars, it's essential that both partners be involved in the process. As we noted before , the cause may rest with the man, the woman, or both. Actively including both parties will keep one partner from feeling left out, or the other from feeling as though the entire burden of resolving the problem rests with him or her.

Remember that this journey isn't only about sperm counts and hormone levels. There is a profound emotional dimension to the experience, and often a spiritual one as well. Take the opportunity to learn as much as you can about yourself and your partner, and to build a closer relationship. If you do, your lives will be enriched regardless of the outcome.

KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION: THE FIRST STEPS TO BETTER HEALTH

As with any medical condition, educating yourself is one of the keys to enhancing your fertility. Becoming familiar with the basics of reproduction and the wide variety of both alternative and conventional treatments will relieve some of the fear and powerless that go along with infertility. You'll also be able to make more informed choices about treatment that take into account not only the question of pregnancy but your overall health and well-being.

While there's no reason to panic if you're having trouble conceiving, it makes sense to take control of the situation. Many couples have a hard time admitting that they have a fertility problem. After each attempt, they tell themselves that maybe they will conceive the next time. Rushing to the doctor after 1 or 2 months is premature, but if pregnancy hasn't occurred withing 6 months or so of concerted effort, it's time to take stock of the situation. Focusing on the information in this post and/or consulting a professional are options. If you are over 30 years old and have a history of pelvic inflammatory infection, endometriosis, painful periods, miscarriage or irregular menstrual cycles, you may want to seek help sooner. The same is true if you know that your partner has a low sperm count or other related condition.

Factors That Affect Fertility
Roughly one in five cases of infertility cannot be traced to any known medical condition. However, many women who have been told they are infertile due to a specific physical problem get pregnant without any treatment.

The most common reasons for infertility are:

• Irregular ovulation
• Endometriosis
• History of pelvic infection from an intrauterine device (IUD) or other source, causing scarring of the fallopian tubes
• Stress
• Immune system problems
• Low sperm counts

Here we consider some of the broader issues that affect fertility.

Age
The dramatic trend toward delaying childbearing is perhaps the single greatest factor contributing to infertility. The older a woman is before having her first child, the greater the risk that she will have trouble conceiving and/or carrying a pregnancy to term.

In the past, a woman might have had fewer than 40 menstrual cycles before pregnancy, whereas now there might be 12 years of monthly periods before a woman decides to have a child. Unfortunately, when that occurs, it creates several problems. First, (women's) bodies may not be in great health when they are ready to have a child, and it may be difficult for them to get pregnant. Sometimes their hormones may be out of balance and they may already have fibroid or endometriosis problems, which further inhibits them from getting pregnant.

There are many reasons why couples are waiting to have children. For women, the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s led to unprecedented freedoms, both in their personal and professional lives., The availability of cheap, reliable contraceptives allowed women to enjoy a new level of sexual liberty without the overriding fear of an unwanted pregnancy. At the same time, the idea for women pursuing full-fledged careers became accepted.

The effect of these two transformative social developments was to change the way both men and women approached the issue of parenting. Instead of marrying and starting a family in their 20s, millions of people put off such commitments until their 30s. This shift in priorities continues today, with many women trying to become pregnant for the first time at age 35 or older.

Although many doctors will counsel their patients that they can have a baby anytime-certainly well into their 40s-this advice can be very misleading. A woman has an excellent chance of conceiving throughout her 20s, and though fertility begins to decline after age 30, prospects for conception are still good in the absence of serious problems. Most experts agree, however, that a woman's fertility drops sharply after age 35, so by her late 30s she is about 30% less fertile than in her early 20s. At age 4o and beyond, pregnancy attempts are frequently unsuccessful and require a greater degree of medical intervention.

Although more and more women are conceiving and giving birth in their late 30s and 40s, many of these babies are the result of assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures such as vitro fertilization and egg donation. These techniques do work for some women, but there are physical, emotional and monetary prices. And in many cases, they do not lead to the birth of a child, leaving couples financially depleted and psychologically drained.

Environment
Although rarely discussed by conventional fertility specialists, environmental contaminants are considered by many leading alternative practitioners and researchers to pose a serious threat to procreation. New studies have raised troubling questions about how reproduction is affected by pesticides, hormones, household chemicals, air and water pollution.

Nutrition
Every aspect of human health is impacted by what we eat, and fertility is no exception. Few of us get the nutrients we need from our diet. On the contrary, we may fill our plates with high-fat, high-sugar, low-fiber foods. These consumption habits do little to maintain our reproductive systems, and in fact can compromise fertility.

Digestion and Elimination
In many alternative healing traditions, the digestion and elimination organs are regarded as central to reproduction. Without proper digestion, the body does not get the nutrition it needs to support conception and pregnancy. And if wastes are not eliminated efficiently, the resulting buildup of toxins can lead to infections and other conditions that may compromise fertility.

Weight
Obesity is on the rise and the health implications are grave. One of the best-documented effects is the disruption of normal menstrual and hormonal function, which can lead directly to infertility. In contrast, inadequate body fat can also interfere with the menstrual cycle and hormonal balance, producing the same results. Women with eating disorders have a disproportionately high rate of fertility, as do some female athletes such as long-distance runners.

Caffeine, Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Use
These stimulants are all associated with a drop in fertility. In the case of caffeine and alcohol, small amounts may not pose much of a threat, but the safety threshold is low. Tobacco and drugs in even tiny doses can jeopardize the chances of getting pregnant as well as having a healthy baby.

Thyroid Problem
Thyroid dysfunction is a major factor in infertility. An underactive thyroid gland can result in hormonal imbalances, which in turn may block conception or lead to miscarriage.

Sexual Dysfunction
A variety of conditions ranging from sexually transmitted diseases to excessive masturbation by men can prevent conception. The same is true of infrequent intercourse.

Stress and Depression
Alternative physicians believe that stress, anxiety and depression can have a significant negative effect on conception. Recent studies have confirmed this conviction, showing a correlation between successful treatment of mood disorders and increased pregnancy.

WHAT IS INFERTILITY

Nearly every woman remembers her early days of being sexually active, when she lived in fear that any and all sexual experiences would result in pregnancy. It comes as a shock to find out later that conception can be difficult.

The truth is that human reproduction is an incredibly sensitive process that can be thrown off by many forces. So while it's natural to feel frustrated if you're having a hard time getting pregnant, you should know that fertility problems are both very common and in many cases reversible.

The first step is to educate yourself. As you'll see, infertility is a complex condition often caused by multiple factors. The more you understand, the better you'll be able to decide on a course of treatment.

This post defines infertility and outlines the various causes that can affect both women and men, from stress to environmental toxins, from nutritional deficiencies to sexual dysfunction. We set record straight on some of the myths about infertility, including the notion that it's strictly a question of hormones, eggs and sperm. And we discuss how fertility is inextricably linked to your overall physical and emotional health, as well as that of your partner.

The Facts About Infertility
The word infertility is commonly used, but little care is taken to define what it is - and what it isn't. Stated simply, infertility is the inability to get pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term. A diagnosis of infertility is generally made if, after 12 months of regular, unprotected intercourse (or insemination), conception hasn't occurred. Infertility also applies if a woman repeatedly conceives but can't maintain a pregnancy. Within medical circles, the words impaired fecundity are often used interchangeably with infertility. The term subfertile has a slightly different meaning, referring to the reduced fertility of a woman as they enter their late 30s.

Infertility, impaired fecundity, and subfertility should not be confused with sterility, which means that conception is impossible under any circumstances. Unless you've been told for a fact that you or your partner is sterile as a result of bilateral oophorectomy (surgical removal of both ovaries) or as a possible side effect of medical treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, you probably won't know that you have a fertility problem until you start trying to get pregnant.

Primary Versus Secondary Infertility
There are two basic types of infertility: primary and secondary. Primary infertility is diagnosed if a woman has never been pregnant and has not conceived after 12 months of regular intercourse. Secondary infertility applies if a woman has been pregnant before but is having trouble conceiving again.

As discussed in this post, it's important to remember with both kinds of infertility that the problem may be with either the man or the woman. In some situations, both partners contribute to conception difficulties.