I teach Natural Family Planning, a method in which a woman charts her cycle and depending on the couple's intention (to avoid or achieve a pregnancy) they either abstain or not. The worst advice I have seen OBs give their patients is to wait until Day 14. If you have a 21 day cycle, you ovulated around Day 7. From the time of ovulation to the time of bright red bleeding (your period) is between 12-16 days (average 14). No matter how long your cycles are, ovulation to period is 12-16 days. Always. So I have had couples who have been told by their doctors to abstain until Day 14, then try every other day after that until the woman gets her period. When a woman recently told me her OB advised this, I asked how long her cycles are. She said 20-21 days. For over a year they have been trying; it does not take Einstein to figure out why she is not getting pregnant.
I am not sure why the medical profession assumes every woman has a 28 day cycle. I have seen a range of 20-45 and these women are all "normal." (This is why the medical profession states that babies are "late" when they really are not. The due dates are calculated as if all women have a 28 day cycle). So after the couple is not able to achieve pregnancy after a year, she is now on Clomid. I asked this woman if any tests were done to determine why she was not getting pregnant (though I knew why), she said no. They just put her on drugs regardless.
It is so frustrating when the medical community uses women as lab rats for the drug companies. It is far easier to write a prescription than it is to take the time to find out what is going on with her body.
Chart your cycle and see where you are at. Keep in mind that being on the pill, Norplant or Depo for an extended amount of time can greatly reduce your chance of achieving. Note I said *can* reduce, not *will*. Why some women on the pill (or any other hormone) for many years get pregnant the first month and other women try years after going off the pill is a mystery. My midwife friend tells her patients that when they take the Depo shots, it could take them over a year to get pregnant after the last shot was administered. When one messes with Mother Nature and how our bodies were designed, infertility can be an outcome.
I have also told women to quit all caffeine, alcohol and processed foods. In addition, after coming together during your most fertile time, prop a pillow under your bottom and keep still for at least a half hour. As well, the book Nutrition, Cycles and Fertility is an excellent resource.
-H.B.
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 1 Issue 40, Oct 1, 1999)
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