Bump & Grind – A Survival Guide for Those Trying To Get Pregnant

You may wonder why my headline refers to “those trying to get pregnant” instead of just saying women but what is often forgotten is that the whole process involves two people and the other half is under just as much stress and strain as the potential mother. One of the quotes from a satisfied reader, Danielle, tells how her husband could not put the book down and admitted that he laughed a lot but that was only because he found it was so true.

After 18 months of trying to get pregnant without success, New Zealand lifestyle reporter and columnist Genevieve Morton was told over and over to ‘just relax!’ But she couldn’t and not being a woman who lives up easily she scoured fertility books hoping one would make her feel better about herself. Unfortunately, Instead they made her feel worse but fortunately for other pregnant women like her she decided to write her own book .

Bump & Grind is an honest and amusing A-Z survival guide for every woman trying to conceive and wondering if her sex life will ever be the same again. One of my favourite sections of the book is the “Everyone says” chapter where every cliche you’ve ever heard is trotted out from getting a puppy to just relaxing and having watched a friend going through the agony of trying to conceive for many years I have always been impressed she didn’t just hit people over the head when they trotted one of these perennials out.

The book is very simple in style, easy to read and filled with valuable advice on how to avoid nagging your partner to death (sound and wonderfully funny) and all the other vital topics such as what fertility-friendly foods to eat, how to cope with disappointments, when to dodge annoying questions from well-intentioned relatives and, of course, most important of all how to get pregnant.

There are plenty of quotes from women who have gone through or are in this process so there is a sense of community and that no woman has to be alone with it.

This is a fun and honest guide to coping with everyday life while trying to conceive and will help any woman coping with unexplained infertility and wondering if her sex life will ever be the same. Published by White Ladder Press you will find Bump & Grind on Amazon.

Men have a biological clock too

I don’t know chaps, can’t you let us have anything for ourselves? We would willingly pass on giving birth, at least 50% of the time, but you haven’t lined up for that one yet. What you now are laying claim to is having the same sort of biological clock that we thought was exclusive to women. Despite news stories of men fathering children at the age of 80 and upwards, the average man’s fertility does not go on forever.

Although men constantly produce sperm every 90 days for as long as they live, the actual potency of those sperm has been brought into question. We have seen numerous stories about man’s declining levels of fertility where young men today produce a quarter of the sperm their grandfathers did, and have assumed that it was just environmental factors causing greater delays in men being able to get their partners pregnant. In cases referred to fertility clinics, the ratio is now 50/50 for men and women in assessing where the medical problem lies. Now a French study has found that a father’s age could have as much of an impact on the rate of pregnancy and miscarriage as a mother’s age – obviously Charlie Chaplin was an exception.

Generally, in fertility studies, the older either potential parent is then the chances of conception are reduced, and sadly the rate of miscarriage is increased. Statistically, if the man is younger than 25, around 92% will get their partner pregnant in under a year. However, adding just 10 years to the mix certainly alters the statistics, as the number taking under a year then drops to 85%. It’s not just the increased time it can take to create a viable pregnancy. The older a man is, then the greater the risk to the child of Downs syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Also, fathers over 55 seem to have a greater potential for fathering children with psychological problems with around 37% of them having children who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder at some point in life.

It seems that for men, as for women, the biological clock ticks loudest between 30 and 35 and delaying starting a family may have sound financial reasons – but not necessarily the best health ones.

Chlamydia and male fertility

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium chlamydia trachomatis. In the UK, the number of new diagnoses has been steadily increasing each year since the mid-1990s, and it has now become the most commonly diagnosed STI.

There has been much publicity about the devastating effects of chlamydia on fertility in women, where, if left untreated, it can affect the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. It is estimated that sexually active women aged under-25, have a 1 in 10 chance of getting chlamydia but scientists from Spain and Mexico have now established that it presents similar risks for men.

They have estimated that men who are aged between 20 and 30 are most at risk of becoming infected and that it can make men infertile by damaging the quality of their sperm. As chlamydia often has no symptoms, in both men and women, it can often go undiagnosed, but is easily treatable in the early stages. It is when it is well established that damage can occur so prevention is the best plan by always using condoms and having regular checkups. STI clinics can perform a simple urine test, or there are also home testing kits available.

*** Editors Note ***
Always use a condom, if you’re not sure how to put on a condom, check out this how to put on a condom video.
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