Better late than never You know our national obsession with productivity -- getting more done in less time -- has gone too far when even unborn babies are arriving early and in multiples. A recent report released by the Institute of Medicine found that the number of premature babies born per year has increased by over 30 percent since the 80s. That may seem like little more than an interesting bit of trivia, but the truth is premature infants face a higher risk of a number of permanent, long-term health problems, including developmental delay, cerebral palsy, respiratory difficulties, heart abnormalities, and visual and hearing impairments. Researchers aren't exactly sure what's at the root of this increase in premature births, but they did say that infertility treatments may play a role. These treatments often result in multiple-birth pregnancies, which have a much higher chance of pre-term delivery. And as one infertility specialist put it, "the human uterus wasn't designed to carry multiple pregnancies for 40 weeks." While I certainly wouldn't presume to tell a couple desperately wanting a child not to undergo infertility treatments, I would encourage them to explore natural fertility-boosting methods first. Ones that don't rely on implanting several embryos in the uterus at a time, increasing the chances of multiple births and, in the process, putting those babies at a possible health disadvantage. Dr. Wright has talked about several natural fertility treatments over the years. One of the most effective is PABA (see the "What is..." section below). In one trial, this single, simple, inexpensive treatment worked in roughly 75 percent of the women who tried it. For more information on PABA and infertility, refer back to "Clinical Tip 102: The $20 treatment for infertility that could save years of heartache and financial drain," from the April 2002 issue of Nutrition & Healing. | 
