How to Help Increase Fertility With Herbs

Almost every traditional culture has a history of using herbs to boost fertility. Increasingly, modern couples are also turning to herbs to help achieve pregnancy. Herbal treatments use many different plant parts: roots, stems and leaves, bark, flowers, seeds and berries. The treatments themselves come in a number of different forms: teas, tinctures, pills, powders, infusions and decoctions. Here's how to help increase fertility with herbs

Instructions

1. Chart the woman’s basal temperature and cervical mucus to pinpoint ovulation. Interpreting the temperature and mucus information is not difficult with a little instruction in fertility awareness. Some herbs should only be taken during a particular time in the menstrual cycle, so charting is necessary for safe use of fertility herbs.

2. Take a multi-herb fertility booster if you do not have a specific diagnosed fertility problem. Use honey, lemon or apple juice, or sugar to mask any sharp or bitter taste and “help the medicine go down.”

3. Try Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), as a decoction or tincture, as it is a traditional woman’s aid to fertility. Take it in the first part of the cycle. Black cohosh should not be used by women for whom the contraceptive pill is contra-indicated.

4. Take red raspberry leaf as an infusion or tea. Use prior to pregnancy and again in the last trimester, but avoid use in early pregnancy.

5. Use red clover flowers in fresh garden salads or added to rice or vegetables while cooking. Red clover can lead to a greater chance of blood clots and so is not a good choice for those with a family or personal history of stroke or heart disease. Red clover contains plant estrogens and shouldn’t be used by women who have been told not to take estrogen.

6. Don’t neglect herbs to boost male fertility. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a good male sexual tonic. A teaspoon of powder (from the root) is added to boiled, warm milk. The hopeful father should drink one or two cups per day. This herb, which lays claim to the title “Indian gingseng,” is also touted as a cure for impotence. Ginkgo biloba is another treatment for impotence that is believed to improve fertility.

Tips & Warnings

• False unicorn root (Chamaelirium luteum), sarsaparilla ( Smilax officinalis), and wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) are thought to help enhance both male and female fertility.

• While herbal treatments often have fewer, less serious side effects than traditional medicine and so are considered safer, herbal treatments should be treated like other medicines: stick with the recommended dose, and check with your doctor--especially check with your physician about interactions with medicines you are already taking.

• Some herbs, such as black cohosh, red raspberry and nettle, are good for increasing fertility, but should NOT be taken after conception. Take these only in the early, pre-ovulation part of the woman’s cycle and cease taking during the ovulatory and post-ovulatory phase until after the next cycle has begun.

• Couple to Couple League has excellent fertility awareness resources.