Fertility SOS

​Author: Daminda Senekal-Griessel
Publisher: Reach
Reviewer: Nancy Richards
It’s said, the most environmentally friendly thing you can do is to not have children. But try telling that to a woman who has been trying for years, even one year, to get pregnant.
Unless you’ve been there, you will find it hard to understand the anguish of infertility. Of not being able to have a baby when you want to, when you are ready to. It can feel like a 

conspiracy. Everyone you know, all your contemporaries are expecting or have babies. And every woman on the street, even those who probably don’t want or can’t afford another child, seem to be in the family way. It’s just not fair. But it is a reality.
‘Infertility affects millions of couples globally.’ Daminda says in her book. It doesn’t help you to know that, but generally knowledge does help.
‘I also had a difficult journey to motherhood’ she continues, ‘doctors kept telling me there was no reason I could not fall pregnant naturally, yet I didn’t. The fact that I never had a reason, a condition to blame for my infertility, drove me insane.’ But it’s also what led her to finding out more, to founding a fertility consulting and coaching business, and writing this book
She admits that all the information in the book can be overwhelming – she also says up front that it is not intended to diagnose or take the place of medical advice. But there are things you can do and what she offers here is an eight-pillar guide – the first and key pillar being The Power of knowledge. Followed by The role of your immune system; Hormones gone haywire: take control of PCOS; Banish chronic inflammation; Take action; It’s all in the preparation; What’s up with the man and Your future.  
There’s way too much info to isolate the one thing that may be affecting you – but one that is affecting the fertility of many these days is PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome. In the last 20 years the incidence has risen by over 30%. The four most common types are: insulin-resistant; birth-control pill induced; inflammatory and hidden, with the most common causes being hereditary; surplus insulin and low-grade inflammation.
There’s much on the subjects of ph levels, medication, cells, supplements, blood groups, antioxidants, diet and exercise. As well as, on that sensitive area, understanding and countering male infertility. It does after all take two to tango. But most importantly there is much advice on how YOU can be proactive, not least by building your support team. At the back is a Resource Library with tracking charts – but especially encouraging on the first and last pages are the words DON’T GIVE UP. ​