I seems so often when I tell people I blog about natural fertility I get the response, “So you just don’t do anything then?”
Well that sure would be a simple blog to write!
In my book I’m trying to spell out what I think natural fertility is – because it’s not only the absence of medical treatment and procedures, it’s working with your body in specific ways.
- Natural fertility is about finding the foods that build and nourish your body – not a one size fits all, USDA diet.
- Natural fertility is avoiding foods that cause your body harm.
- Natural fertility is about cleansing your body of toxic substances that could be causing your body to produce the wrong amount of hormones.
- Natural fertility is about finding the cause of the problem, not just treating the symptoms.
- Natural fertility is using natural God-given medicine, like herbs.
- Natural fertility is also about learning your body and finding its specific fertility cues.
- Natural fertility is about carefully balancing the hormones within the body.
It’s not about “doing nothing” it’s about taking specific care in finding out what your body needs. In fact, natural fertility is about doing a LOT of things.
This next week, I’ll be tackling this subject for my book and while I have a good portion of it outlined already, I would love your thoughts on this matter! Tell me why taking the natural route has been important and what exactly it means for you.
Donielle Baker
Crispy Potato Bake
I noticed that no one commented and I hate that! To me Natural Fertility is making your body as healthy as possible through a traditional diet, not medicating and tracking fertility signs, whether it is to get pregnant or to avoid pregnancy. I think there are a lot of women out there who did things to their bodies in order to NOT have an unwanted pregnancy and the result is later having to do more to their bodies so that they CAN have a child, which is so unfortuante! I have a good friend who is trying desperately right now to have a baby, well actually concieving is not her issue. Miscarriage is. She has 3 littles and has also had 3 or 4 miscarriages. She is currently getting progesterone shots to keep this one. It makes me cringe. I want you to know that even though I can’t seem to get her to visit your site, I will be buying your book when it comes out to give to her. 🙂
@Rose, Yea – I think my timing was pretty bad for this post! Friday afternoon before the last holiday of the summer! oops. 🙂
Thanks so much for chiming in!
I started reading your blog 2 years ago at the recommendation of another blogger. I’d already been through 2 rounds of clomid and metformin to treat the PCOS and was sicker than ever. I took your ecourse and did my best to follow what you taught. I immediately began noticing a difference in how I felt day to day, my cycles were more regular, and I haven’t had a migraine since! I’m happy to report that 2 years later we have finally conceived and I am due in April! Thank you for everything you taught me and know that God has used you to bless our family!
@Kimberly, Kimberly – I am SO excited for you!!!!! Congratulations!!!! I pray you’ll be blessed with a wonderful pregnancy and of course – a healthy and beautiful baby!
I just recently came across your blog, now I am an avid reader. I have been married almost 4 years and have one little boy (who I realize more and more everyday what a miracle it was that we even had him) and we have been trying for almost another year to have another. I have always had health issues which I thought was weird for being in my twenties, but I just accepted it. Only recently have I changed my diet and began to realize that what I was putting in my body was doing more damage than good. Now I am trying to get my husband on the band wagon too! Hopefully in the future, it will lead to a bigger and healthier family.
I think a subtitle might be “treating with infertility issues naturally” or “coping with fertility issues naturally” .. “Using a natural approach to overcoming fertility issues” … because i get where people assume that natural fertility just means let it happen…
This comment might be late but I actually do not know much about natural fertility. I have struggled for two years getting pregnant which has resulted in 3 miscarriages. We eat a whole food diet, as well as we can with working full time. I am actually going to see a naturalistic dr. tomorrow to see if she can give me some advice. I have never tracked my ovulation or anything, not really sure even how to do that. I guess part of me keeps thinking if we are supposed to get pregnant it will happen in God’s time. I’m looking forward to your book and learning lots about what I can do to help my fertility. Good luck with finishing it!
For me, “natural fertility” first meant getting off the pill–before I knew ANYTHING about how my body works. I noticed right after we got married that I was so much more tired than I’d always been. I thought it was just my body catching up after graduating from college, planning the wedding, and our honeymoon trip. But when it continued for a month or two, I knew something was up. Suddenly I felt good for a week–the week on the “placebo” pill–and as soon as I started back with the medicated pill, my tiredness and fatigue returned. That was the last day I took a pill. Since then I’ve found out so much more information, and if we ever struggle with infertility, I know I’ll be turning to nourishing foods and herbs instead of mainstream treatments. Looking forward to your book!
I agree natural fertility is about getting your body in the best possible place to conceive a child with optimum nutrition and heath. To achieve this we need to be happy and relaxed – so take time out to enjoy yourself and do kind exercise like yoga, walking and swimming. Plus eat a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, oily fish and lean meat.
Hi Donielle,
First I’d like to say kudos to what you’ve done with the site and the direction things are going. Its nice to see this gain momentum 🙂
In relation to your posts (hopefully it isn’t too weird for a guy to jump on here) but I understand the difficulty that you have. As a natural health educator I come across the same type of mentality from a lot of people. The unfortunate side effect is the truth in how people have misconceptions about these natural methods to improve health.
Natural health for me personally is a way to “feel” the way those women act in those revitalizing shampoo commercials. That really is the best way for me to sum up how shiny I feel inside, and you do notice it.
I mentioned to my facebook fans about some weird emails I got about what I do. I’ve tried to always talk to people in a reasonable tone to show that natural health does not have to by extension mean being impractical. The opposite is quite regularly true that these natural methods are very approachable, if you’ll let yourself try it.
It amazes me how easily people forget with the advances of technology and everything that encompasses, does anyone ever wonder how the human race got along before ultrasounds, cat scans and other marvels of the modern medicine world. I would never dismiss the value of modern medicine, but the same can’t be said for how modern medicine views natural health.
Hi!
I got my Implanon removed yesterday. I’m curious about how long it will take for my body to wake up and start working by itself again.
@sandra, It all depends really. Some people bounce back quickly and others take quite a while. Just focus on clean and healthy eating. If it starts to take longer than you think it should, I’d suggest seeing a natural health practitioner to work with.
What is natural fertility to me?
Definitely all of the above – working with my body, not against it, via the things I consume and the activities I do.
My husband and I are just recently married, and I don’t know how fertile or infertile we are yet (I’ve tried charting but it’s been difficult for me to turn it into a habit, although I am making steps to change our diets) so we’re not dealing with any negative issues yet…
But for me, natural fertility also includes letting things happen in God’s time. Meaning, we’re choosing not to use birth control of any form. (We both can’t wait to have children, and the negative comments we’ve received from my family about it would just blow your mind… We’re both mature and responsible, just younger and not quite stable yet). Once we get pregnant, natural fertility to me will include doing everything I can to sustain a healthy pregnancy and healthy post partum period for me and baby 🙂
While I’ve found your website helpful in understanding some of the natural cause and effect of fertility, and good nutritional insight, I do see fertility in itself a little differently, perhaps. I definitely believe that women (and men) have the responsibility to take care of their bodies, and their fertility, in a way that honors God and their body and protects it from harmful things in common foods and lifestyles. But the idea of ‘control’ over fertility is a little bit disturbing to me, as I think it should be to Christians (there’s no reason why it should bother anyone else). Don’t get me wrong, if I was infertile and struggling to get pregnant, I would do all that I could naturally to ensure that I was taking care of my body properly and to promote conception. This is also a position that’s definitely not widely held in the modern church – but my husband and I are convicted that in terms of planning and limiting, that would be denying God’s sovereignty to bless us with children and to provide for them in every way. I know that you believe that God ultimately opens and closes the womb, but the idea of a large measure of control over fertility (or in avoiding conception, I should say) is something that has bothered me about Naturally Knocked Up, though it is usually a site encouraging conception, of course. Those are just some thoughts that I’ve wanted to share for a long time, and this seemed like a somewhat appropriate post for that. I have benefited from your wisdom though, and know many women have, so thank you!
@Cait, Cait – I’m glad you brought this up. I actually have a few posts in draft form where I talk about this exact thing. because I too don’t believe you can “control” your fertility. In my own situation, I look at it as God revealing information to me through others when I was receptive to hearing it. Through this His work was done – it was never in my control, yet I worked hard to treat my body as I felt he was calling me to.
I think it’s all about laying the foundation for a healthy body and healthy reproductive system to promote conception, not forcing it to happen – because ultimately we don’t have control over it anyways! i hope I’ve never used the phrasing of “controlling our fertility” because that has never been my intent.
It’s also a fine line for me to walk while running this blog – to hopefully provide the information so that the Lord will use it for His will in another’s life. My faith is a huge part of my life, but I guess I don’t find it necessary to put a “if it’s in God’s will” disclaimer at the bottom of every post, you know?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I’ll get around to writing that post sometime soon….. 😉