Angea Fertility Clinic

GET HEALTHY TO GET PREGNANT: GET PREGNANT BY GETTING HEALTHY

2012-02-21T15:17:00.006-08:00

"YOUR CHOICE"

There was an interesting article published in the Herald Sun “Don’t risk your bub with booze” last week talking about alcohol during and after pregnancy. This article really had an impact on my views towards alcohol before and during pregnancy. Click here to follow the link http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/dont-risk-your-bub-with-booze/story-fn7x8me2-1226272155189

Working in the field of Fertility, I constantly see woman struggling with the issues of infertility. Gone are the days of falling pregnant like our parents did. When I ask my patients about their Mother’s history relating to fertility, most say, Mum had little or no difficulty falling pregnant. Every woman that walks through my door has some issue relating to fertility. It’s hard enough trying to conceive naturally and if your doing IVF even harder again.

"In the past 40 years, Australian women and girls have stepped up to join the men and boys at the bar," Dr Stone said. This indicates that women have a real issue when it comes to alcohol. We live in a culture where we think it’s ok to drink. Have a stressful day at work then have a drink to relieve the stress. Anna Kokavec did a recent study examining the effects of alcohol on hormones. She describes this situation perfectly. In her transcript she quoted “That's right, and most of us, if you do have that glass of white wine it's not unusual for somebody to say 'oh, I really needed that,' and 'oh, I feel so much better'. So there is this reinforcing effect. So if we are lowering the level of, say, stress hormone in the brain, well we will be feeling more relaxed. That has implications for things such as addiction, because of course if you are stressed you're being rewarded for actually consuming that alcohol, so you're more likely to reach for a glass of white wine the next time you're stressed”.

When it comes to alcohol and fertility, the two do not mix. Alcohol has a huge impact not only on your health but also your child’s. We need to take our health seriously when it comes to falling pregnant. All literature and research conclude the same findings that the adverse affects of alcohol range from; infertility, increased risk for spontaneous abortion to impaired fetal growth and development. Bascically, drinking alcohol puts you and your baby at risk for a miscarriage, pre –term birth and other serious health issues.

There are many reasons why we choose to leave pregnancy till our 30s or 40s. For most of us we are in mid to late 30s when make this decision. The decade of the 30s brings security in our careers and relationships, so having children in your 30s makes financial and practical sense. However, pregnancy at any age comes with its distinct advantages and disadvantages. What we are faced with in our 30s is what I call the “odds of success”. We all know that from 30s onwards our eggs are on the decline and the probabilities of conception are reduced with age. Particularly, if we have made bad lifestyle choices during our 20’s and 30’s,

The reality is “the older you get, the more lifestyle choices you make influence your health”. When we make the decision to have a baby we make the choice to live a healthy lifestyle. We want to give our children the best possible start to life and this therefore begins with us. Numero uno. Wanting to have a healthy baby is a primal urge. So most women are therefore capable of being very well behaved while pregnant. It easy, by cleaning up your act it will actually help you get pregnant

What effects does alcohol have?

Alcohol induces a rise in estrogen levels as a consequence of the metabolic breakdown of alcohol in the liver
Evidence points to an induces rise in natural or synthetic estrogen levels in woman.
Increased rate of testosterone- in women
Decreased rate of testosterone in men
Decreased rate of estraodial to estrogen
Decreased levels of progesterone
Alcohol impairs regulation of blood sugar levels

What does this mean?

Ovulatory disorder
Luteal Phase defects
Alters blood sugar levels
Impairs reproductive functions
Interferes with calcium metabolism and bone structure
Inadequate functioning of the ovaries and testes
Hormonal deficiencies
Sexual dysfunction
Infertility

It can be seen that Alcohol has a wide range of effects on the hormone system and can present many real concerns. When it come to our fertility and having babies, make the conscious decision to stop drinking before and during your pregnancy. I have a no alcohol rule and I don’t negotiate this with my patients. I witness the struggles of woman everyday. If we remove the external factors that can contribute to infertility then we are already half way there to having a healthy baby and conception. My advice is think twice before you sip that glass of wine. Ask yourself do I really need this glass of wine? Instead, go for a walk, have your favourite cup of tea or have some dark chocolate (80%). Look for the healthy alternative. Remember get healthy to get pregnant and get pregnant by getting healthy.

Easy Recipes – Quick & Easy Recipes – Easy Recipe Guide

2011-12-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

Easy Recipes – Quick & Easy Recipes – Easy Recipe Guide

THE GIFT BOX

2011-12-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

This year has brought many smiles, many tears, heartache, happiness, sadness, love and the list could go one. It's one big box wrapped up in emotions. It's my gift box i give to myself for Christmas each year.

This year for me has been another year of intense growth, not only in work but also my personal life. On reflection, I have learn't more about myself this year than any other previous years. For the first time in my life I finally feel comfortable in my skin and who i am. I also ponder the question will this change? Considering this is the first time i have experienced this and secondly does everything remain the same? Of course not i say casually. That is the beauty about life and human beings, everything in motion is constantly in a changing state. So, as humans (lucky us) we are constantly evolving, changing thought patterns, changing our belief systems, constantly working on ourselves, our relationships, etc, and the list goes on. So much work, so much work! I confess, life is definitely hard at times. It's the hard times that really push our boundaries, it's these moments that we have to pull out the shovel and start digging deep. Also too, sometimes i think why can't this end? haven't i been through enough, why is this happening again. Ok, universe what is that you are trying to tell me. Haven't I learn't all the lessons???

What I have come to learn, is that sometimes there are no answers!

Give yourself a gift box for Christmas, we all deserve one! We have all worked so hard, and its nice to have these little reminders to be kind to ourselves! To love ourselves! And sitting with just BEING!

This year has been such a big year for so many people on so many levels. At the end of the day all our stuff is a big as each others. There are no comparisons just moments of sharing and experiencing. I have been so grateful for my clients who have blessed me with the chance of knowing them. From each other we all keep learning and growing. I feel so lucky to have been able to share the loss of my Mum with my patients. Everyone has been so amazing!

What does 2012 bring us? The invetible question. My opinion is change. I think 2012 will be a great year. This year we have been faced with many challenges on a large scale. It has been a big year! The energy is definitely shifting. Next year will be the last year we ever have a calender year 12/12/12.

I love writing and I haven't been in the head space to write about fertility. So next year lookout. I have lots of wonderful things to share and write about. I can't wait to put thoughts to paper and share with you what i know about fertility, life experiences etc.

BABY PICTURE: Can you find the baby in the picture.

2011-11-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

One of my friends posted this in facebook. I think it's beautiful. Can you find the baby in the picture?

Ten Tips to Kick "Start" your PCOS diet

2011-10-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

TEN TIPS TO KICKSTART YOUR PCOS DIET

1. Eat low Glycemic Index (GI) carbohydrates such as vegetables and whole grains. It is very important for women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) to completely avoid refined carbohydrates including sugar, white flour, whole wheat flour and products made from them eg: pasta, breads, desserts, lollies, soft drinks)

2. Keep your blood sugar stable with a daily schedule of meals and snacks every three to five hours that includes some protein and good fats (for example some nuts/nut butter, seeds/seed butter, hardboiled egg, hummus dip). Protein foods take up to 5 hours to digest while carbohydrate foods digest within 30 minutes.

3. Eat at least five servings a day of vegetables including two of leafy greens

4. Have a daily serving of legumes like black beans or lentils.

5. Enjoy grass or pasture fed (organic) meat up to three times a week

6. Eat at least three daily servings of fruits like berries --which have a lower glycemic impact each fruit as part of a meal or with a protein.

7. Limit or eliminate milk and dairy as these can aggravate internal dampness. If you do have dairy have only non- homogenized full fat milk

8. Pay careful attention to portion sizes in order to moderate glucose load and minimize insulin resistance

9. Add one or two Tbsp of cinnamon on cereal each morning to help decrease insulin resistance.

10. Include pre-biotic and pro-biotic foods which promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract. Pre-biotics are found in whole grains, onions, bananas, garlic, honey, leeks, artichokes and some fortified foods. Pro-biotic foods are found in fermented foods (sauerkraut, live culture yogurt, kim chi, miso).

10 Fertility Myths

2011-09-26T15:36:00.001-07:00

The Truth about the dos and don'ts for falling pregnant. An article featured in the Herald Sun, Sunday Magazine.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/sunday-magazine/fertility-misconceptions/story-e6frf039-1226144786980
www.angea.com.au

Mum

2011-09-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sadly my Mum passed away on the 4th September.

Mum, Judith this a celebration of your life and what an amazing woman you were.

Mother Teresa put it like this "in this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love. This is how Mum lived. She did everything with great love.

THE SPIRIT OF MUM

Mum, she loved and she loved fully

She touched the hearts of all those she met and knew.

She lived in the spirit of her heart

She lived fully

She had a loving relationship with all of life

Her love unconditional

She saw the preciousness in life and love.

The light could be seen in the brillance of the heart spirit sparkling in her eyes.

Her smile was infectious, warming and inviting

Her words of wisdom I will truly miss - yes Mum you were always right

A survivor, a brave fighter, she conquered breast cancer.

She lived through the changes in life with grace, wisdom and compassion

She moved through life from one change to another growing her spiritual being

She touched each moment of this changing life and allowed herself to be there fully

She has taught us all the value in times of great change is the currency of our heart- the ability and understandings of the heart to live and love.

Her love was the source of all energy that created and connected us all here today.

Out of love, she led all of us here today, to create peace around her, to honour the sacred in her life, to bless whatever she encounters and to wish her well.

In the end she knew that to love and let go were the same thing

Her last wish was for us to be a family again. Reunited as one

Mums wish finally granted.

Now she doesn’t have to fight anymore.

Mum was everything to dad, grant and i. Now a piece of our world is missing. Her warmth, her presence will never be forgotten. For mum will always live in our hearts.

The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away.

The weather is clear again

If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure,

Then the moon and flowers will guide along the way.

As the mystics say in the body of Buddha and the body of Christ

Is even the limited things of the world are filled with inexhaustible sweetness and purity.

Thank-you for making me strong, for giving me the strength to carry on. I will miss you Mum, my best friend, the person in my life who inspires me to a better woman. I love you Judy Cheeks xx

What you need to ask your Fertility Doctor

2011-08-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Amanda Waaldyk will be running an information afternoon on Saturday 17th September from 12 - 2pm about what you need to ask your Fertility Doctor. The talk will cover the "essential tests" you need to get from your Fertility Doctor. This is for patients new to IVF or for those who have had failed IVF cycles.
Bookings are essential. Please call the clinic on 9510 3700 to secure your place.

The Advantages of Acupuncture during IVF treatment and Natural Fertility

2011-08-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Acupuncture works in the following ways:

1. Acupuncture can increase blood flow to the reproductive organs, which dramatically improves a woman’s response to hormonal therapy.

2. Acupuncture has been shown to regulate hormone levels by moderating the release of beta endorphins levels in the brain, which improves the release of gonadotrophin releasing hormone by the hypothalamus, follicle stimulating hormone from the pituitary gland and oestrogen and progesterone levels from the ovary.

3. Acupuncture reduces stress and a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system response.

4. Acupuncture has been speculated to moderate cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin levels in the uterus, reducing uterine motility to improve implantation rates.

5. Herbs nourish the blood, whilst acupuncture moves qi, which facilitates the movement of blood. It has been claimed that some herbal formulas produce high clinical pregnancy rates as well as improve the general wellbeing of patients.

The following descriptions below will describe how acupuncture can integrate with Western Medicine. Each point is directly linked to the points above.

1. There needs to be adequate blood flow to the developing ovarian follicle. This is essential to the initiation and maintenance of normal human pregnancy. Doppler ultrasound evaluation of uterine and ovarian blood flow has demonstrated that improved blood flow in either vascular system is associated with improved fertility outcomes. Women who respond poorly to ovarian stimulation for IVF have compromised blood flow to their ovarian follicles.

2. There are 4 phases in the menstrual cycle. During each phases various hormones are released. The most common cause of infertility is hormonal imbalance.
3. From a Western Medicine perspective, people who are under stress release the hormone cortisol in the brain. Cortisol alters the brain’s neurochemical balance thus changing hormone levels and disrupting the pituitary balance, which is the key to the reproductive cycle. Because of this delicate balance between the hypothalamus, pituitary and reproductive glands, stress is capable of preventing a woman from ovulating entirely.

4. For IVF transfers and implantations the endometrium needs to be of particular
density and thickness for successful implantations and fertilization. The uterus therefore needs to be in a relaxed state.

5. The menses is based on the condition of the blood.

If you would like to know more you can read the clinic study on the "impact of acupuncture on in vitro fertilization outcome". Click the following link or paste:
http://www.eufom.com/Articles/acupuncture%20&%20IVF2.pdf

Did you Know?

2011-08-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Did you know the difference between female and male fertility? The Wall Street Journal published some very interesting research recently, which suggests that although women are born with a limited reserve of eggs, the female egg contains original genetic component, as she ages, that was created at the very start of a woman's life. Male sperm, on the other hand, whilst in abundance, runs the risk of genetic error because it is continually renewed as the man ages.

Angea Fertility Clinic: Recipes

2011-07-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Angea Fertility Clinic: Recipes: "LIVING RAW FOOD RECIPES Last night i went over to Mum and Dad's and cooked dinner for them. It wasn't anything special but it was food ma..."

Australian woman Anthea Nicholas gives birth at 50 naturally without IVF

2011-07-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

At Angea Fertility we love stories like this one! Written in the Herald Sun today and covered in Women's Weekly. I will be writing more about this tomorrow. You can read the article by clicking on the link below.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/australian-woman-anthea-nicholas-gives-birth-at-50-naturally-without-ivf/story-e6frf7jo-1226102833425

The Importance of Knowing your Body

2011-07-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

This topic is very close to my heart.

Eleven years ago Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time she had noticed a lump in her breast and consulted her GP who sent her to for a mammogram. The results came back negative and the GP said come back in 12 months. Mum wasn’t happy with the results so decided to seek a second opinion. The second Doctor sent her straight to a Breast Cancer Surgeon who had a special type of ultrasound performed, after which she discovered she had Breast Cancer. Mum was one of the lucky survivors after having a mastectomy and chemotherapy. For cancer survivors they never really know if they are in the clear. There is always a suspicion that it may come back. Cancer is prevalent in our family; Mum’s Mum passed away at age 56 from bowel cancer and her auntie also from bowel cancer. For Mum, having a regular colonsocopy every 5 years, Pap smear every 2 years and breast checks every year is always a number one priority. Each time her results come back “all clear”.

Over the last couple of months, Mum started to notice she had low-grade abdominal pain and her bowel movements were becoming slightly irregular and in Mum’s words,’ weren’t working perfectly’. Mum’s bowels are like clockwork, guaranteed once a day! In our family talking about bowel movements is an open conversation, especially as I am a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. In my clinic sits a book called “What’s your Poo telling you? This is a favorite. It talks about all the different kinds of wonderful and not so wonderful Poo. You need to add humor to topics that are difficult to discuss. When Mum lost her breast after her mastectomy she jumped on the scales and said, “What, I haven’t even lost any weight, my boob weighed nothing”. Mum has a funny sense of humor. We love her for it! In our family there is never a dull moment. This photo was taken last year of Mum and I in LA - Hotel Roosevelt just after the completion of my yoga course.

Coming back to the present moment, Mum headed off to her GP due to her low-grade abdominal pain. The GP sent her for a pelvic ultrasound. Her results indicated the lining of her womb was 7mm and her ovaries were described as lumpy. She was informed to come back in 6 months again as there was an absence of bleeding. Once again Mum was not happy with the test results. The biggest warning sign for Mum, was knowing her body and knowing that something wasn’t feeling quite right. Over the next week, the abdominal pain moved higher and was beginning to become more intense. She went back to her Doctor and she sent her for a CT scan. The scan revealed she had a blockage in her bowel. Mum was admitted to the emergency ward. Three days later Mum was in the operating theatre having part of her bowel removed and her left ovary. Her pathology results came back positive with a diagnosis of Signet Ring Cell Cancer. To be honest, the diagnosis completely shocked me. I never suspected it would happen again. You think after eleven years that everything will be ok. Mum looks the picture of health to me. Mum is an amazingly strong women, and I have no doubt she will get through this as she did with the Breast Cancer.

Yesterday we had a big family lunch and I asked Mum how did you know? What were the signals? She said “it’s the importance of knowing your body, learn to know your body and it’s signals”. The importance of this message is to listen to your body. Our bodies talks to us in so many ways. As human beings we get so caught up in living in the moment with our busy lives that sometimes our health isn’t a priority. Our health is free and we need to look after it as we do ourselves. For every women it is extremely important that you have your regular pap smear tests every two years and your breast examinations yearly. When it comes to your fertility, firstly and foremost go and see your GP. I always recommend to my clients to have all tests performed before starting natural conception or IVF. Have your FSH levels tested, Progesterone levels, AMH, sperm analysis and have a pelvic ultrasound. Know your menstrual cycle and start to become in tune with your body. Listen to your body because it will talk it you. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t leave it or ignore it. Do something about it, be proactive towards your health and your body. Be responsible for your Health.

Aboriginal Mythology behind Anjea Fertility

2011-07-14T00:07:00.000-07:00