Am I Too Old To Have a Baby? Some Thoughts from the East and the West

Sometimes we hear that biological clock pounding so loudly that it’s hard to ignore. If you’ve opted to wait for some, Emily Bartlett and Laura Erlich, authors of Feed Your Fertility, have have some great insight into some of the concerns that people have.

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These days, many women earn graduate degrees, pursue careers, or simply wait for the right partner before settling down to get married and/or have families.

While we’re all for women’s rights, there is one unfortunate hitch in this plan: biology. Realistically, many women in their 40s will have a heck of a time getting pregnant because that’s how most of us are genetically programmed. Painful as it might be, it’s helpful to consider that women who conceive naturally later in life are the exception to the rule—outliers, if you will.

If you are struggling with fertility in your late 30s or 40s, you don’t have a disease. Your body is going through the normal functions associated with your age. Despite the inevitable aging timeline, there are ways via both science and nature to improve your pregnancy odds.

Photo by Nina Matthews courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

What the West Says

The media shows us attractive women in their late 40s happily pushing infant twins in a stroller on the way to the park and presents research indicating that older women will have smarter and healthier babies. What tabloids don’t reveal, however, is how many cycles of IVF failed before a successful pregnancy occurred, how much medication the mother needed to inject and ingest, how many tens of thousands of dollars had been spent, and if these babies were born via donor egg, donor sperm, and/or a gestational carrier to host the pregnancy.

Reproductive medicine can be a miracle of science, but it is an extremely expensive (and often emotionally draining) miracle, yielding lower and lower margins of success with each passing year of age.

That said, we believe that knowledge is power. We recommend that all women over the age of 40 who have been trying for more than three months seek a Western workup with a reproductive endocrinologist to rule out potential obstacles to conception—whether hormonal or structural. It is better to do this at the outset, rather than allowing precious time to go by.

Some conditions (such as fibroid removal) can take several months in the healing process, so determining and treating any issues detracting from your fertility right away may make a big difference in your success.

Genetics and Epigenetics: Why Some “Older” Women Can Conceive and Others Cannot

How long we are able to procreate is different for every person. Just because your best friend’s sister-in-law’s cousin got pregnant at 48 doesn’t mean we all can. Trying to change your genetics around your fertility is as futile as trying to have blue eyes just because someone else does.

What we can influence, however, is epigenetics. Epigenetics is defined as the way our genes express themselves. This emerging field is providing more and more evidence that the things we do, like how we eat, think, and feel, can actually influence the way our genetic predispositions play out. For example, just because you have a family history of breast cancer doesn’t mean you are doomed to develop this disease yourself.

Likewise, while your waning fertility may be a natural part of your genetic programming, you can slow this process a bit and optimize pregnancy outcomes by making smart choices in how you choose to live your life.

Changing your diet, lifestyle habits, self-care routines, and stress levels can go a long way toward turning back the biological clock. Regardless of whether or not you end up having a biological child, these methods will only bring you better health and vitality, which is what you need to be a parent, biological or otherwise.

What the East Says

While Western medicine has very little to offer in terms of turning back your biological clock, Chinese medicine can help to breathe hope and inspiration into the space where your odds seem to decline with each passing month. Chinese medical texts say that pregnancy should be possible from the onset of our first period (menarche) through the very last (menopause).

With that in mind, let’s examine how Chinese medicine can help to optimize fertility through influencing epigenetics well into your later reproductive years.

Depending on a woman’s reproductive profile, Chinese medicine can often dramatically slow down and sometimes even reverse ovarian decline. We have personally assisted many patients with “rebooting” their ovaries, which can increase follicle count, improve responses to fertility drugs, and result in more pregnancies (natural or assisted) and fewer miscarriages.

Having a healthy, regular menstrual cycle is the cornerstone of improving fertility health, and Chinese medicine shines when it comes to this. Using herbs and acupuncture to regulate and support the cycle, women may find themselves ovulating and menstruating more regularly, experiencing less pain and clotting, feeling less PMS, having better cervical fluid at ovulation, and experiencing an improved libido.

Beyond the mere functionality of your reproductive organs and hormones, Chinese medicine can help you to cultivate fertility in your entire being, so that you can approach your baby-making journey from a place of feeling already fulfilled by your life, rather than trying to fill an empty space in your heart with a baby.

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Do you want to make a healthy baby and have a healthy pregnancy?

Are you interested in a holistic approach to fertility?

Do you need to optimize your fertility due to your age or health conditions?

Are you trying to conceive and experiencing challenges?

Very few women and men expect to have trouble when it comes to having a family, and coming up against obstacles can bring about epic levels of stress. Deciding what steps to take can be absolutely baffling.

The good news is that Feed Your Fertility is here to help you. Inside, fertility professionals and authors Emily Bartlett and Laura Erlich will guide you on a path to making the nutritional and lifestyle changes you need to help support healthy fertility and pregnancy. Inside you’ll learn:

How your lifestyle may be inhibiting your ability to conceive – and what to do about it

Why popular fertility diets may be leading you down the wrong road

What foods to eat to optimize and nourish your fertility, and how to adopt a real foods diet

How to determine your personal health imbalances that may be interfering with your fertility

How to use Chinese medicine to bring your body into balance and improve your odds of conception

How to streamline your supplements and take only what you really need

Your natural and medical treatment options for common fertility issues

How to navigate the medical fertility world and when to seek help

Get your pregnancy on track the natural, time-tested way and enjoy your journey to motherhood with Feed Your Fertility.

Are You Pregnant? Consider Using A Birth Ball

A birth ball can be a great place for you to sit while watching television, doing your work,or even practicing relaxation. It’s also a great labor tool!

One of the keys to a comfortable pregnancy is helping your body adjust to the changes that take place as your baby grows.

Over the course of your pregnancy, the extra weight and unique positioning challenges can put added stress on your lower back, hips and core, and anything you can do to tone and strengthen those muscles will help to make you more comfortable.

As chidbirth and postpartum educator Robin Weiss explains in her book, “The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion,” a balance ball can help to strengthen your core and improve your posture, thus reducing the chances of discomfort.

“A birth ball is the same thing as an exercise or physiotherapy ball. A birth ball is very useful for the duration of pregnancy and not simply the labor and birth portion.

“You can use a birth ball to replace your desk chair or to help you exercise. The benefits of using a birth ball in place of your regular chair are many, including helping with your posture. Because posture is a key factor in reducing back strain and pain in pregnancy, you will want to pay attention to this even in your everyday life, such as when you are sitting at a desk.

When you sit on a birth ball, you are forced to sit up straight, which helps align your back and pelvis. Sitting on a birth ball at your desk, dining room table, and wherever you sit will improve your posture, which means less backache.

In addition to using a birth ball as a chair, you can do exercises on it. You can rent or buy videos devoted to birth ball exercises, including ones that are just for pregnancy. They focus on stretching, aerobics, and improving your overall health. Many women choose to use birth balls while giving birth.

Many hospitals and birth centers supply their own balls to patients in labor. If your hospital or birth center does not, you will need to provide your own.

Birth balls come in three sizes. The one that’s right for you is based on your height, according to the following guide:

• 4’8″ to 5’5″ takes a 55 centimeter (cm) ball (55 centimeters=approximately 21.5 inches)

• 5’6″ to 6’0″ takes a 65-centimer ball (65 cm= 25.5 inches)

• 6’0″ plus takes a 75 cm centimeter ball (75 cm=29.5 inches)

You should make sure that you select a birth ball that is meant for sitting on and will bear your weight. Some people have been tempted to purchase less expensive balls that are meant as children’s toys. This can be dangerous for you to sit and exercise upon.

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THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED PREGNANCY COMPANION

The comfort of knowing what is going on during pregnancy combined with advice that changes each week with an expectant mother’s body will warm the heart and well as calm the nerves.  This fully illustrated pregnancy guide gives an expectant mothers week-by-week information on their body and the child’s physical development; and then explains what they should do at each week of pregnancy for an optimally healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby. A chapter is devoted to each week of pregnancy and covers everything readers need to know including, baby’s size, mother’s size, what’s normal in terms of physical symptoms and development, and what could indicate a potentially serious problem. Nutritional, exercise, and lifestyle advice, tips on treating common pregnancy discomforts like morning sickness and sciatica, and pregnancy do’s and don’ts, ensure a happy and healthy mother and baby.

Good Posture for Pregnancy: The Smart Way to Sit and Stand When You’re Expecting

Suzy Clarkson has devised a practical guide to assist woman through their pregnancies at a later age. Clarkson had her first child at 39, and her second at 45. Her book is designed to help women over the age of 35 with the unique challenges of pregnancy at a later age. The key to Clarkson’s approach is to combine fitness with your pregnancy.

As Dr. Dereck Souter says in his introduction, “Pregnancy is an ideal time for a woman to start reviewing her lifestyle and diet to ensure not only a good pass in the test of pregnancy is achieved, but also that the basis of a healthy lifestyle is established.

The books provides a realistic, balanced exercise program for pregnancy, acknowledging that pregnancy can have a significant effect on energy levels and there will be both good and bad days. 

CORE STABILITY AND POSTURE

Core stability and posture are inextricably linked. A strong, stable core enhances good posture. During pregnancy, how you hold yourself will naturally adjust to accommodate your changing shape and weight as your uterus and baby grow.

The relaxing and loosening effect of pregnancy hormones on your ligaments and joints also makes you more susceptible to sagging, poor posture. What was a small lower back curve, can become exaggerated as your tummy extends forwards. This can put extra strain on your already stretched abdominals and more stress on your spine.

Heavier, fuller breasts can cause you to round your shoulders and slump forwards, which in terms forces your chin to jut forward, placing extra stress down the back of your neck (cervical spine). Due to your increasing weight, you will probably stand with your feet apart for balance, and that in itself can apply different stresses to the hips and lower back. Core strengthening exercises will help minmize and alleviate the postural strain and stresses on your pregnant body.

Your spine has four curves, three moveable, one fixed. Beginning at the top, the concave curve of the neck moving down tho the slightly convex curve of the upper back, then to the concave curve of the lower back, and finally the fixed convex curve of the triangular bone that forms the rear wall of the pelvis–the sacrum. These curves are essential to the spine begin able to function well.

Good posture does not attempt to eliminate the curves; instead, it should eliminate any exaggeration. and aim for balance between them. Erect upright posture improves your health and wellbeing, your muscles function better, you are able to breathe deeper and your self-esteem will be boosted by a confident stance.

Be ware of how you stand, walk, sit and lift during pregnancy. A little care and self-correction in order to maintain good posture can really help you avoid discomfort. Not many of us have perfect posture to begin with, so if you have been out of alignment for years, then correcting yourself is going to initially feel weird. Correcting little and often, is the key,so every time you pass a mirror do a quick “self check and restack.”

You can improve your chances of having a comfortable pregnancy by paying attention to your posture while sitting and standing. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

STANDING SMART WHEN PREGNANT

Working down the body from your head to the feet, run through this postural alignment for good standing posture.

Chin tucked to that your eyes are looking forward, slid your chin back towards your spine (retraction), shoulders down and back, tuck your tailbone slightly under, feet hip distance apart, knees soft and not locked into extension. Finally, lengthen through your mid-section by extending the gap between your ribs and hips.

Try imagining a plumb line attached to the very apex of your skull and gently pulling you up a few centimeters. It is often not until you go through this checklist and restack your body that you realize how slumped you were. The next time you are standing in a queue at the supermarket or petrol station—stop, check and restack.

SITTING SMART WHEN PREGNANT

You may think that slouching on a couch is resting your body, but that is not the case when it comes to your lower back. Sloppy sitting puts a lot of pressure on the discs in your back; the spongy bits between the bony vertebrae. Lying applies the least amount of disc pressure; when standing the pressure is four times greater than in lying, but when sitting it is a whopping 16 times higher. That is why when you have a sore back, sitting is one of the worst positions to be in for any length of time, as any increased disc pressure can exacerbate discomfort.

However, sitting is something we do a lot every day and that’s not going to change, so here’s how to sit smart. Your anchor points are your sit bones (ischial tuberosities). Beware of sitting evenly on your sit bones, as the process of elongating and stacking your spine correctly starts right from the sit bones and continues all the way up to the top of your neck.

Be aware of maintaining the small natural curve in your lower back. Try using a small pillow, lumbar roll or rolled-up towel to help you maintain that natural lower back curve, and make sure you shuffle your butt to the back of the seat.

Then, “sit tall,” by lifting your rib cage away from your pelvis, creating a sense of elongation in your mid region. Finally, roll your shoulders back and won. Long car trips or plane flights can be particularly troublesome for backs, so if you are traveling for any length of time, use a lower back arch support as suggested above.

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FIT FOR BIRTH AND BEYOND

Many older women spend months, if not years, trying for motherhood, then endure an anxious pregnancy wondering if they are eating and exercising properly. Fitness expert Suzy Clarkson has been there. Her first pregnancy at the age of 38 was relatively trouble-free, but trying to get pregnant again a few years later was very different. Following fertility treatment, she finally gave birth to her second child at the age of 45.

Qualified in physiotherapy, Suzy has now devised a practical guide to assist older women through their pregnancies, using her own experiences of motherhood to support her text. This easy-to-follow fitness program will take you through each trimester, showing suitable exercises and suggesting how to develop healthy habits to achieve a safe outcome, a successful childbirth and a speedy recovery afterwards. The book is fully illustrated with step-by-step photographs showing the exercises in detail. The information she provides is based on the latest research, and is endorsed by leading specialists in obstetrics and fertility.

But the book is more than its exercises. Suzy is a ‘real mum’ who offers encouragement and a compassionate helping hand to all older mothers. Fit for Birth and Beyond is the guide you can trust and use with confidence.