Joanna Karpasea-Jones's Blog

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

While any increase in positive outcomes in IVF is great for infertile couples, one would wonder why an 0.9% increase would be mentioned, especially as the rate of couples seeking treatment increased by a sizable 6%. Surely this would affect any increase in success rates? Is it really an increase or is it just that there are more women having treatment so there will be more IVF babies.

I'm not putting down IVF at all and think that this news is good news. I'd be the first one to take advantage of science if I needed to, but I can't help but feel medics are missing the point. Surely prevention is better than cure? The answer to infertility must be looking at what causes it and working to protect ourselves from infertility. Here are some proven ways to help preserve our ability to reproduce.

• Don't have lots of sexual partners. Have only one. Then you have much less chance of getting a sexually transmitted infection which could harm your fertility.
• Don't smoke, take drugs or eat lots of junk foods. Keeping your weight down can increase your chances of getting pregnant.
• Try to reduce your chemical exposure (household products, cosmetics, work contaminants, medicines and vaccines).
• Don't drink alcohol for at least three months before you plan to get pregnant.

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

It isn't just household cleaning products and bubble bath that you ought to worry about when planning a baby - take a look at your make up bag.

Did you know that mascara and other beauty products contain mercury, which is used as a preservative?

'Mercury does cause neurological damage to people even in tiny doses', said Democrat John Marty.

Minnesota in the USA is now the first state to ban mercury in cosmetics. It is one of the most toxic substances known to mankind and can cause miscarriage and birth defects in babies and retardation in both babies and children. For this reason, the UK's department of health advised pregnant women not to have mercury fillings and to avoid fish meats with high levels of mercury.

Childhood vaccines which contain mercury are also being phased out. (Flu vaccine for babies and adults still contain it, so if you're contemplating a pregnancy, check any shots don't have added mercury).

Before this time, however, mascara has never been mentioned.

Now if a manufacturer fails to disclose mercury in their products, they could face a fine of as much as $10,000. In fact, putting the toxic substance in any product would mean a fine of $700.

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

I used to love Christmas. It was my favourite time of year, so much so, I got married at Christmas. We had two beautiful daughters and it got even better, because now we could buy toys for them and do the Santa thing.

Then on the 3rd December 1998 I had a miscarriage. It was a total shock, having already had two healthy children. Everywhere around me, women were hugely pregnant. The sound of a baby's cry would reduce me to tears, and trying to feel festive was difficult. I had to force myself to hang baubles on the tree with my little girl.

A few years later, I lost a baby that would have been due on Boxing Day, not to mention my divorce (which was unwanted) that coincided with Yule. I began to hate Christmas and wanted it to be over as soon as possible. If you're struggling with infertility and you feel like you have nothing to celebrate, here are a few tips to help the holidays run more smoothly:

• Don't think you have to visit family just because they want you to. You don't have to accept invitations from people where you know there will be babies.
• Consider going on vacation to take your mind off it.
• See this time as some valuable quiet time to spend with your partner.
• Do something you want to do, eg, the cinema.

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

If you aren't comfortable with the idea of using animal embryos to diagnose embryo toxic factor, or you want a more natural approach to treatment than allopathic medicine has to offer, there are several natural remedies which may help to increase your production of the hormone progesterone and lower your immune response to help prevent miscarriage in any subsequent pregnancies.

Please note that none of these remedies are proven to cure embryo toxic factor and they should NOT to taken during pregnancy, but only as part of a pre-conceptual regime.

The allopathic (conventional) form of diagnosis and treatment of embryo toxic factor is also unproven as it is new and still in its experimental stages. As the diagnostic test uses mouse embryos, it may be inaccurate as human blood cells may reject mouse cells anyway and give a misleading result.

Wild Yam - this is a cream and can be put topically on the vulva to increase progesterone levels.

Vitamin Supplements - Supplement in vitamin Calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B5 and B6, zinc and magnesium which enable your adrenal glands to manufacturer your hormones more effectively. Check labels and make sure you take the right amounts, as it is possible to overdose on some vitamins.

Diet - limit your amount of soy intake. Foods containing soy beans increase the body's production of oestrogen which increase antibodies. This would heighten your (abnormal) immune response, instead of suppressing it.

Avoid processed and fatty foods, increase your intake of fruit and vegetables.

Take Omega 3 - this may regulate your body's hormones and your immune system. Sources are from oily fish. Vegetarian sources are linseed, flaxseed and it is contained in some yoghurt and yoghurt drinks. There is also a vegetarian and vegan omega 3 supplement in a tablet form.

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

I was waiting at the bus stop with my 5 year old daughter and my baby son, when I saw a woman smoking, standing right over the double stroller of her twin boys, smoke billowing right over their heads. I was furious. I wanted to walk right over and ask her if she actually loved her children. I make no apologies to smokers. My father died from cigarette induced cancer and never got to meet any of his grandchildren.

On July 1st the British government banned smoking in public places, including pubs, cafes, restaurants, shopping malls and clubs.

At first glance this seems like a good idea to enhance the population's health, but my worry is it will only cause parents to smoke more in the home, the very place their children are, and it might actually backfire and put children at risk of health problems.

I also think that the will to quit should come from those who smoke, and not enforced by the government. If people don't have the full facts, if they think it's dangerous to smoke in pregnancy but don't see anything wrong in smoking over their baby's stroller, then the health education campaign is clearly not working.

If couples know before they even get pregnant, that smoking prior to conception and after the birth, may actually make their child infertile, I guarantee there would be a lot more people giving up the habit permanently.