Birth Wait: More women are having babies after 40, despite medical risks, lifestyle challenges (3/21/05, Winston-Salem Journal)

Obesity Drug Helpful for Polycystic Ovaries (3/17/05, Reuters Health News-Yahoo)

Atlanta Fertility Clinic to Offer Patients Mind/Body Approach (3/8/05, Priority Healthcare)

Program Helps Women Cope With Infertility Problems (3/2/05, WRAL.com News-Raleigh, NC)

Emotional impact: Experts look at the role stress plays in pregnancy loss (3/1/05, The Connecticut Post Online)

Delaying Pregnancy (3/1/05, KALB.com, News Channel 5)

Association of body mass index, age, and cigarette smoking with serum testosterone levels in cycling women undergoing in vitro fertilization (Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 83, Iss. 2, Pages: 302-308, February 2005)

Female and male lifestyle habits and IVF: what is known and unknown (Human Reproduction Update, Vol. 11, Iss. 2, Pages:180-204, 2005)

The balance of vitamins in your diet can affect fertility. A deficiency in vitamin B6 may affect fertility by affecting hormonal balance. Vitamin B6 can be found in protein rich foods, such as eggs, beef, and chicken, milk products and dark green vegetables, such as, spinach, broccoli and greens.

Here is a Flank Steak recipe rich in vitamin B6:

1 1/2 lb flank steak; 1 tsp ground pepper; 1 clove minced garlic; 1 tsp oilive oil; 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Rub steak with pepper and garlic. Heat oil in a skillet. Add steak and cook until desired degree of doneness. Baste with vinegar. Serve with a side of steamed broccoli and a baked potato. This recipe yields six 3 ounce servings.

Maria Biasucci- Vianna, MS is a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist.

People experience needling differently. Acupuncture needles are sterile, disposable needles which are hair- thin. The end of an acupuncture needle is smooth and rounded. Insertion is rarely painful, but if any sensation is experienced during insertion, it is often compared to a mosquito bite and disappears very quickly. Once the needles are in the body, people describe their sensations as warming, heavy, numb or tingling. Most patients can relax during an acupuncture treatment, and most fall asleep. Following treatment it is common to feel a tremendous sense of relaxation and calm.

Heike Schulte, MA, MS, L.Ac. Board certified licensed acupuncturist, Full Circle Family Care, LLC

Fashion Trend Setters

I remember I had a friend who was over my house doing some home repairs a few years back. He asked me "So, what do you and the other women talk about in your fertility yoga classes?" "Oh you know" I replied "Ovaries, and sperm quality and fallopian tubes --the usual". My response to him was half tongue-in-cheek and all truth. His reaction was that of embarrassment and (I think) horror. I was surprised at his reaction. So entrenched was I in this world of fertility that I did not realize how much we have normalized a very changed notion of conception: how it is not unusual for us to know every detail of a friend's cycle, hormone levels, medication, blood count, for example and how it is not unusual to use acronyms like ICSI, FSH, IVF in our every day discussions. Are we up to our ovaries in a new pregnancy mainstream? Perhaps we are because after all, it is not unusual that when women today get pregnant naturally, it is now considered getting pregnant the 'old-fashioned way'. So then are fertility procedures considered the 'new- fashion'? If the answer to that is "yes" then I suppose that makes us all fashion trend setters. Hmm, that's kind of nice. Well, food for thought and you can file this under "Just one more thing to think about".

Monica Morell, PhD, www.fertilityoga. com

After receiving many requests over the past few years to recommend Mind Body books, relaxation tapes, and videos, we decided to put together our Mind Body Store.