Suggestions for research into fertility and pregnancy health?

lifebyfire88

New member
2019 is my self-titled ‘year of self improvement’, before NTNP/TTC from December onwards. Problem is, my goals aren’t very specific yet: eating better (vegan weekdays to cut down on various ‘treat’ foods like cheese and chocolate), losing weight (20lbs to make me within the normal BMI healthy range), making healthier choices like drinking less and walking more...

So far I’ve ordered the often-recommended book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and listened to the first episode of the ‘Mastering Your Fertility’ podcast, which was probably a little bit helpful, but mostly it seemed preachy and out of touch with how most of us live our lives.

In contrast, I recently watched the documentary ‘9 months that made you’ on Netflix and I loved it because it pointed out how different environmental factors can affect fetal development at various stages. It was so clear-cut: studies have shown that X makes Y much more likely to happen at stage Z.

Even better, it was honest enough to show that we still don’t know a lot about our development, so I didn’t feel like they were offering a magic silver bullet for the perfect pregnancy. It was great, and I want more!

Is there a book or podcast (or documentary etc) that takes a similar look at fertility and prenatal health? I want to read the scientific studies which tell us exactly what ‘being healthy’ for ttc/pregnancy actually involves. I mean, really explains WHY I should do certain things. Because otherwise I feel like I’m just eating more broccoli and less steak for the sake of it.

TL/DR: please give me suggestions for books/podcasts/documentaries/blogs etc. to help me to make informed decisions about my health prior to, and during ttc/pregnancy ☺️
 
@lifebyfire88 I know how unhelpful this is, and I promise I will go search for what I’m referencing, but I just saw a comment/thread either here or over on r/tfab that had some great scientific recommendations. I think it was a website with great science-based recommendations and resources. I’ll go look and I can edit this comment if I find them!
 
@lifebyfire88 Just a small edit to the above poster, but I think it's r/tryingforababy that she meant to link! They have a lot of great resources that are science-based. One of their mods, devbio, actually teaches this kind of stuff, so even just perusing her post history might give some more insight for you.
 
@lifebyfire88 Update! I cannot find the thread. But I’m 99% sure I remembered the name of one of the top websites mentioned. It’s https://expectingscience.com . I’ll let you know if I ever find the rest of the recommendations! I’m seeing “Expecting Better” and “The Science of Mom” recommended on other somewhat similar threads.
 
@lifebyfire88 This is so annoying. I KNOW I read a thread yesterday, but I didn’t save it and Reddit’s search function isn’t the best. I cannot find it for the life of me! I will let you know if I come across it. Now that the question is in my mind, I’ll probably keep searching out of annoyance.
 
@lifebyfire88 I am very interested in this as well so thanks for asking this question! I just started watching The 9 months that make you documentary and am enjoying it. I was told it would be scary to see all the things that can go off course, but I felt more amazement as how often things go according to plan.

I really enjoyed the book Expecting Better by Emily Oster. She is an economics professor from Brown University and she goes into many aspects and myths of pregnancy and the studies/statistics behind each (for ex: how much alcohol/caffeine is actually detrimental, what prenatal screenings have more risks or higher accuracy). I really enjoyed her thoroughness and her writing style was very clear and approachable. She also cites every study (practically all are from peer-reviewed journals).
 
@katrina2017 Thank you so much for this! I’ll look into the book 🙂

I am constantly amazed that we have to ability to make tiny humans just like us - we are super complex creatures and it baffles me that more doesn’t go wrong more often, as you say!
 
@lifebyfire88 I really love the book "Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives" by Wenda Trevathan.

It's an anthropological take on women's reproductive health, and is super insightful. It is quite dense with a lot of scientific jargon, but I have read it twice- once for uni, and once when TTC and pregnant with #1- and it is so worth it, imo. It's amazing to learn that little bit extra behind why our bodies function a certain way, especially when it comes to conception, pregnancy, and post-partum issues.
 
@katrina2017 Sounds like an interesting read! I’ll look into it for sure!

More to do with evolution than anthropology, but it makes me so mad that humans evolved to walk upright lol - so unfair that our pregnancy and labour is more difficult than most other creatures because of it!

(Special shout out to the kiwi bird, I saw a skeleton of one carrying an egg and literally crossed my legs and winced).
 
@lifebyfire88 I’m guessing (haven’t read but intend to) “The Period Repair Manual” by Lara Briden and “Beyond the Pill” by Jolene Brighten (out in January 2019?) are two that would talk about fertility from a naturopathic perspective. Not sure if they go into pregnancy health though.
 
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