Library Mama

When friends are wanting or having babies, I naturally want to point them to resources. And so many friends are going through this right now and I’m going over the same information over and over in emails, which is tiresome. So I’m going to start a small series on my recommendations for the best in books, internet resources and other services. I'll link to my original reviews, if I did them in the first place.

Books I’ve Read

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Wechsler (note: teen book available, too) This is the classic and recently revised guide to monitoring your own fertility. Most people won’t need anything else. Looking on her web site, I note that she’s also got a book for teen girls, with probably less on getting pregnant and more on understanding your body.

Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon. This is put out by the Couple to Couple League. On the one hand, it is aimed at Catholics. On the other hand, Catholics appear not to believe in using drugs to solve fertility problems. That means a whole lot of cycle and fertility problems with really detailed nutritional solutions. This could probably be used well in conjunction with other methods, according to your own beliefs and situation.

Getting Pregnant the Natural Way by D.S. Feingold and Deborah Gordon, M.D. I found this book by the very scientific method of pulling all likely-looking books off the library shelf, and then skimming and reading bits to see which one looked best. Plus, of course, already carefully selected by our medical librarian. This book, as well as covering the basics fairly briefly, gives nice coverage of nutrition, herbal therapy, movement, massage and stress reduction for conception. This was my favorite for the even coverage of all kinds of therapies, including when they can be integrated with conventional drug therapy and when it is or isn’t safe to self-medicate. There have a lot of solutions to a lot of specific problems, as well.

The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook by Cathe Olson has detailed notes on nutrition for preconception as well as pregnancy and lactation, including suggested recipes. The recipes are full of micronutrients, include nutrient breakdowns, and are really, really yummy.

You Could Also Try

The Garden of Fertility by Katie Singer – recommended by Toni Wechsler
Healing Gourmet Eat to Boost Fertility by the Healing Gourmet – on Amazon

Web Sites
www.ovusoft.com - Toni Wechsler’s site, with her ovulation-tracking software (not free.)
www.fertilityfriend.com - Free ovulation tracking software, lots of FAQs, plus support communities for all types of trying to conceive – by age, number of children already, using donor sperm, etc.

Good luck and sticky vibes, as they say!

With thanks to my mother for finding this book for me...

Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon Ladies, are any of you having any of the following problems: heavy menstrual bleeding; cycles too long or too short; painful periods or unpleasant PMS symptoms? I am, and thought of at least half a dozen friends who could use this book as I was reading it. Shannon, a Natural Family Planning instructor, brings together research on using diet and supplements to solve a host of cycle and fertility problems, including many that I’ve heard less informed doctors either discount or want to treat with painful or invasive procedures. Shannon starts with basic nutrition (including a handy chart to photocopy and laminate for easy reference), moves on to supplements, and then covers the normal female cycle in brief, followed by solutions for a number of specific problems.

Downsides: The Catholic perspective (it’s immoral to use a condom even to collect samples to solve a fertility problem?!) can be jarring if you aren’t extremely Catholic. And, being published by the Couple to Couple League rather than a major publisher, you might need to interloan it. Her recommendations for supplements are a little bit confusing. While the dietary guidelines are in two charts, one for regular people, one for pregnant and nursing women, the supplements have one chart of basics, plus lists of things that you might need more of for specific problems. I personally will have to go through with paper to write down exactly how much of what she thinks I need. Most of the information involves being intimately familiar with your cycle. If you aren’t familiar with charting and basic fertility awareness, I would recommend reading Toni Wechsler’s Taking Charge of Your Fertility first. It seems to be mostly tertiary research, for those who care about these things, but she does include her sources, so it would be easy to follow up. It’s the kind of information that gets published one piece at a time all over the place, so that bringing it together is a wonderful service. While I don’t think I trust the Catholic Church to tell me how not to get pregnant, they’re probably experts on how to have more. Even if you’re not concerned with fertility, there’s a lot of information on many female problems. Now that I think of it, if you’re female and I don’t know that you need this book, it might just be that I don’t know you that well. Read it anyway.