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Fertility & Pregnancy

Dear clients & friends,

Welcome to my sixteenth issue of "The Good Fruit" newsletter by Natural Fruit FertilityCare Services.

In the Creighton Model System Introductory Session slides, we mention that fertility depends on good sperm, good eggs, and good mucus. As I mention during the presentation, many people often already know that good sperm and good eggs are needed for fertility and pregnancy (in fact, this is a main thing that artificial reproductive technologies look at when trying to achieve a pregnancy), but sometimes people don't realize just how important the woman's cervical mucus also is for fertility, and that all three - good sperm, good eggs, and good cervical mucus - are necessary for a natural pregnancy to occur.

✔ Good eggs.
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, poor egg quality is considered the #1 cause of natural pregnancy and IVF failure. In fact, 60% of fertilized eggs do NOT survive to become a baby and chromosomal abnormalities is by far the #1 cause of miscarriage (including early miscarriage). A good ovulation cycle (follicular development) in the ovary is what is necessary here.
✔ Good sperm and good cervical mucus.
The role of cervical mucus is extremely important to sperm survival. First, the cervical mucus present around the time of ovulation consists of parallel strands or channels that allow the sperm to penetrate it and travel through on their way towards the Fallopian tubes for a possible conception. Interestingly, malformed sperm are naturally weeded out as they try to pass through the channels. At other times of the cycle, the cervical mucus is like a stone wall that acts as a natural barrier to sperm penetration (this ensures that there are fresh sperm for conception). The cervical mucus is alkaline (has a high pH) like seminal fluid, which further helps the sperm to survive longer in the acidic vagina. In fact, sperm without mucus die within hours or even minutes in the vagina. And cervical mucus contains nutrition for the sperm too. Finally, cervical mucus also protects the uterine cavity from bacteria from the vagina.
Women with a low quantity and/or low quality of cervical mucus are more at risk for experiencing infertility and miscarriage. It can be difficult to get pregnant with, for example, only 1 day of cervical mucus discharge during the cycle. A regular mucus cycle is 5-6 days long (with 3-4 days of it being clear, stretchy, or lubricative mucus), which allows for multiple days of fertility focused intercourse each cycle for a possible conception. Not only this, but a lower mucus cycle score (MCS) indicates that there may be an underlying health issue such as of hormonal, ovarian/ovulatory, cervical, or endometriosis cause.
✔ Good tube and good uterus.
Lastly, I'd like to add that there is another component that I believe is necessary in addition to the fertility needed to actually get pregnant - and that is, having a good tube (for conception) and a good uterus (for sustaining pregnancy).
Women with infertility or recurrent miscarriage might have their reproductive organs' (ovaries, tubes, and uterus) anatomy looked at to see if they are optimal for pregnancy. A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) can be done to analyze and treat blocked Fallopian tubes. The uterus, in particular, is important in helping to sustain a pregnancy from the time of implantation and beyond. A hysteroscopy can be done to see if the uterus has issues such as scar tissue, polyps, or fibroids that need removal, or to detect an endometritis infection.
For a successful pregnancy, the uterus' endometrium needs to be built up enough to support implantation and the highly nutritious fluid in it needs to be present for the baby's early survival before the placenta takes over providing the baby nutrition from the Mom later in the first trimester. During the cycle (and in early pregnancy), the corpus luteum in the ovary produces the progesterone hormone before the placenta takes over the progesterone production as well. We can see from charting whether a woman's post-ovulatory or post-Peak phase of the cycle is too short or if she has the presence of brown bleeding, which may indicate low progesterone. In these cases, the endometrial lining may not be fully developed for implantation and early pregnancy, and intervention such as progesterone medication can help.
In conclusion, I think that fertility and natural pregnancy really depend on 5 main things: good sperm, good eggs, good mucus, good tube, and good uterus.
Have a fruitful day!

Patricia Deshane, FCP
My services are intended to provide information and education and are not intended as medical, psychological, or psychiatric advice.
Copyright © 2019 Natural Fruit FertilityCare Services, All rights reserved.


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