Caffeine and Miscarriage

Newly pregnant mothers are often given long lists of things to do and not do. Add caffeine to the list of don'ts for pregnant women to help prevent miscarriage. As reported on ABC News, the risk of miscarriage for women who drank two cups of coffee a day were double the risk of women who did not consume caffeine.

The latest research to examine the risk of caffeine consumption during pregnancy reveals that women who said they drank more than two cups of coffee per day had nearly double the risk of miscarriage compared with women who consumed no caffeine.

Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Research Division in Oakland, Calif., followed 1,063 women during their pregnancy and asked about their caffeine intake. From October 1996 to October 1998, researchers examined the effects of the stimulant among the women who said they never decreased their caffeine consumption during their pregnancy.

They found that women who consumed 200 milligrams or more of caffeine daily — the equivalent of two or more cups of coffee or five 12-ounce cans of soda — had twice the risk for miscarriage. Moreover, the study found that even those women who consumed less than 200 milligrams of caffeine daily had about 40 percent increased risk for miscarriage.

Your best bet? If you have a caffeine addiction, try kicking the habit now. Or restrict the use of caffeine to the pre-ovulatory phase to make sure there is no risk to a newly formed life.

Oral hygene linked to male subfertility?

If the man in your life has male factor issues that are interfering with production of healthy sperm, you might want to check his dental health. This new article from iVillage indicates that dental health may play a part in keeping out infections that can affect sperm health.

Subfertile men have reduced reproductive capacity. Subfertility can be caused by many factors including a bacterial infection in the male reproductive system. Directed antibiotic therapy alone may not offer a permanent cure. This is because oral bacteria may reinfect the reproductive system when they are intermittently released into the blood stream during gingival bleeding. Indeed, the bacteria present in the semen (called bacteriospermia) or ejaculate of infected patients are often identical to common intraoral bacteria. Escherichia coli can reach the male reproductive organs via the circulatory system and reduce sperm motility (Linossier et al. 1982). Bieniek et al., (1993) found that the presence of bacteria in sperm was eliminated when dental cleanings and directed antibiotic therapy were both prescribed. Improvement in sperm motility, morphology and density has also been noted after subfertile males participated in regular dental cleanings (Ensslen et al. 1990).

Bieniek et al., (1989) suspects a direct causal relationship between dental diseases and asymptomatic bacteriosperms, which probably leads to subfertility.

Dr. C. Matthew Peterson, fertility specialist, adds "One investigative group has raised the possibility that intraoral bacteria may be a source of recurrent bacterial contamination of the sperm. Further work will determine the actual relationship of intraoral bacteria and bacteriospermia."

UK IVF clinics destroyed over 1 million embryos as "waste"

People need to understand that a major byproduct of IVF is the destruction of millions of lives. In London alone, over one million souls were created and then wasted. The number I would like to see even more is how many of the 2.1 million embryos created actually made it to full-term pregnancy. I would imagine the number is around 300-400 thousand, as IVF success rates are usually at best around 20-25%. This is a genocide of unbelievable proportions, just for one country. 1.7 million lives created and trashed, over 1 million of those were never even given the chance for life.

May all the souls of these dear ones pray for us from heaven!


UK IVF Clinics Have Intentionally Killed over One Million Human Embryonic Children

The number of embryos used for in vitro fertilisation is expanding year after year

By John Connolly

LONDON, January 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following a UK Parliamentary question, data from a government organization showed that over one million human embryonic children were killed in the UK in the past 14 years as 'waste' embryos from in vitro fertilization (IVF) processes.

The acquired data showed that 2,137,924 embryonic humans were created using IVF between 1991 and 2005, but about 1.2m were never used. Scientists killed the embryos who were not deemed strong enough for implantation, and froze those not considered 'waste' embryos. Those that survived the freezing process will die in ten years if not implanted.

'Surplus' embryos were created because women responded differently to fertility drugs, doctors told the Times Online. As many as 40 IVF-fertilized eggs can be used in some treatments. The embryos are then assessed for viability, with only about 20% usually considered strong enough to implant successfully in a woman.

Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent peer noted for his stance against abortion, tabled the question to parliament and obtained the statistics from the Department of Health. He said that embryos were being created and destroyed at "an incredible rate," and advocates embryonic adoption for those embryos that aren't used for implantation in IVF.

"IVF has ensured that a number of people have been given a chance to have children. But it is surprising how many embryos are being destroyed in the process," he said. "This is a rather unexpected aspect of IVF. If you could just create an embryo to implant, that would be fine. I think it would be much better if these embryos that are going to be destroyed were used for infertile couples. At least they would have a chance of life. The number of embryos used is expanding year after year."

Embryo adoption is legally permitted in the UK and United States, but is rare in both countries. Advocates of the process are also calling for the embryonic children to be given up for adoption, where all of them will be frozen and all the survivors used for infertility treatment, provided volunteers with the necessary money can be found within the ten year period.

"Lots of people do have surplus embryos and if people could think about donating embryos it would be wonderful," said a spokesman for Infertility Network UK. "Embryo donation is a much bigger thing in America; it is like adoption. It would be good thing to explore further."

In America, the Snowflakes charity arranges the adoption of embryos by couples who want children. This has, however, led to the birth of only 157 babies in the past 10 years.

The Los Angeles-based Snowflakes charity said it does not "discriminate" between embryos judged to be healthy or unhealthy and added that embryos it has used, which doctors had judged not to be viable, have still produced healthy babies.

The number of pregnancies that have occurred through embryo adoption remains low in the U.S. and the UK due to its high cost and controversial nature. To avoid twin and triplet pregnancies, embryo adoption agencies attempt to implant one and two embryos at a time, an expensive process that usually needs to be done multiple times before a frozen embryo survives in the womb of the adoptive mother.

Last month the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the regulator of IVF practice in the UK, called for a reduction of twin pregnancies in IVF, leading scientists and doctors to look for IVF methods that will use fewer embryos. The authority wants to see many women offered just one fertilised embryo, a step which would minimize the chances of a twin birth and would reduce the number of embryonic children being created and destroyed a few days later.