It's time to make a baby. You and your partner ditch the birth control, chart your cycle, pinpoint Ovulation Day, and then proceed to make wonderful love, reveling in the joy and excitement of creating new life. Later, you make lists of names, even daydream about your child going to your alma mater. Then reality hits. You don't get pregnant.

In high school, they warned, "It only takes one time." But age, health problems, and the anxiety that often builds around an inability to conceive can turn that early admonition into a mocking refrain. Today, about 20 percent of couples find themselves riding the cyclone of fertility frustration, alternately flying high on hope, then plunging into despair as each month passes without a positive pregnancy test. For anyone who's been trying to get pregnant for at least a year (the current definition of infertility), Six Steps to Increased Fertility is a must-read. Written by the Harvard Medical School team Robert L. Barbieri, M.D., Alice D. Domar, Ph.D, and Kevin R. Loughlin, M.D., Six Steps guides you through the conception process, explaining what can derail it and detailing the vast range of treatment options for boosting conception odds--from simple lifestyle adjustments to fertility drugs to more aggressive therapies like in vitro fertilization. Along the way, there are supportive tales of couples who've survived the infertility ordeal and checklists of questions for your doctor. A medical glossary and a list of organizations that deal with infertility, mental health, miscarriage, and adoption are tucked in the back.

But what makes this book so appealing is the authors' refreshing six-step philosophy, one that melds natural methods with conventional medicine. Their perspective: technology can be wonderful, but it should rarely be the first step. Oftentimes, depending on one's age and health, changes in diet, exercise routine, and stress levels can make all the difference. Indeed, the cornerstone of the book is the do-it-yourself version of the successful Harvard Behavioral Medicine Program for Infertility that includes easy-to-master relaxation exercises and other stress-reduction techniques. In study after study, research has definitively shown that as stress, anxiety, and depression levels go down, pregnancy and birth rates rise. Six Steps offers sensitive advice and coping strategies meant to help couples understand that while being "infertile" can be all-consuming, it is not the sum total of their lives. --Norine Dworkin


From Library Journal
Recently, infertility books have either followed the medical or the natural approach. Bridging this gap, this book provides incremental guidelines to maximizing chances of conceiving naturally, then progresses to more advanced medical alternatives. Alice Domar, a guru of women's mind/body health, has collaborated with two colleagues at the Harvard Medical School to present this well-balanced introduction to reproductive health. Believing that couples should begin with the safest, simplest approach, the authors recommend lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, and even the type of underwear) as well as techniques for handling emotional stress. Basic reproductive physiology is reviewed with a brief description of male and female reproductive problems, common diagnostic tests, and medications. All this is carefully wrapped up in an overview of the most advanced approach, that is, assisted reproductive therapies. This is a helpful tool for younger couples on the verge of seeking medical assistance; those desiring a more alternative approach to infertility should try Shana Albo's Infertility Solutions: Natural Approaches (Avery: Penguin Putnam, 2000). Highly recommended for all health collections. (Index not seen.)DLisa A. Errico-Cox, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
Rose E. Frisch, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Population Sciences Emerita, Harvard School of Public Health An especially important, useful book....Includes the new role of lifestyle, nutrition, and physical activity, which can alter body composition (the lean/fat ratio), a controlling factor in achieving fertility. Highly recommended.


Book Description
We wanted to write this book to answer many of the questions and concerns we hear daily from you in our offices. Most of all, though, we wanted to write this book to reassure you that most of you will be able to conceive. from the introduction Yes, you probably can get pregnant -- and the really good news is that most of you can conceive naturally, without expensive high-tech intervention, using the information offered in this six-step fertility enhancement program from Harvard Medical School. In the past decade, researchers on fertility and conception have made tremendous strides in their quest to help previously infertile couples conceive. While the headlines have been concerned with breakthroughs in high-tech interventions, other studies -- such as Harvard's ongoing Nurses' and Physicians' Studies and groundbreaking research at Harvard's Mind/Body Center for Women's Health -- have been quietly and steadily gathering information that is even more exciting. It shows how everyday lifestyle factors such as stress, exercise, and nutrition affect conception and how simple lifestyle changes can give nature a better chance for a successful pregnancy. Here is the latest research gathered together and presented as a step-by-step program to empower you to make all the right moves and decisions to optimize your chances of getting pregnant...before considering high-tech intervention. You'll find out about the remarkable Mind/Body Program for Infertility that has more than a 30 percent success rate for conception, here described fully for home use. You'll learn surprising facts about the effect of weight and exercise -- both too much and too little -- on your chances of conceiving; about foods and supplements that enhance fertility and common medications that can inhibit it; about better ways to regulate and target ovulation cycles. You will be led step by step through some simple diagnostic tests to find out what might be the problem and given low-tech treatment options to solve it. And if extra steps are needed, you will be guided toward finding the best specialists and shown how to make the most of the current technology. Each of the authors of this book is an expert in a particular area affecting fertility. Dr. Barbieri specializes in physical problems women have getting pregnant, Dr. Loughlin in physical problems men have in conception, and Dr. Domar is an expert on how the mind and emotions affect conception. Together they present a team approach that brings together leading-edge research in medicine, biology, and psychology, offering new promise for increased fertility.


About the Author
Robert L. Barbieri, M.D., is the chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the Kate Macy Ladd Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

YES, YOU PROBABLY CAN GET PREGNANT...and the really good news is that most of you can conceive naturally, without expensive high-tech intervention. The six-step mind/body fertility enhancement program from Harvard Medical School could give you the answer.

How can I relax when I'm worried sick about getting pregnant? Can antidepressants affect my fertility? Is there some medicine I can take to increase my sperm production? Does being a vegetarian increase or decrease my chances of conception?

Start to help yourself by learning the newest information on how simple lifestyle changes affect fertility.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal