Today, in celebration of Mother’s Day, I have decided to write on a most delicate subject: the difficulty of conceiving babies today.

This is a reality that has taken a while to surface because women think they do not want to have babies early on in their marriage. But the reality is, they cannot conceive because of several reasons.

In the late 1990s, there was a massive shift in the way we lived our lives. We developed a liking for fast food, junk food, processed foods, use of artificial seasoning to flavor our food, changes in dietary habits, late nights, too much drinking and food bingeing, among others.

Then the computers and all the modern gadgets were introduced so sedentary lives became standard. People were glued to their computers at home and at work. They barely moved. They only walked to go the comfort room or to drink water by the water cooler.

Then the pandemic struck. More changes in lifestyle were introduced. This time though, people begun to evaluate their daily schedule. However, because people were stuck at home, they watched more Netflix and ate more processed food. Then came the perfect storm: sedentary lives became more sedentary. Because of globalization, people connected with everyone else by computers and mobile phones — rarely visiting family and friends. Less movement, the sedentary lives continued and sleeping patterns changed, too. People stayed up through the night and therefore the cells could not regenerate.

Even parenting styles changed. Parents became lax and the discipline needed to shape up the values of the young begun to wane.

Because of all these negative developments in our modern lifestyles, it became more difficult for newlywed mothers to get pregnant. They would seek IVF — In Vitro Fertilization to be able to conceive. Doctors begun to observe and they arrived at the conclusion that it was the modern lifestyle that was causing the problem. The artificial means to conceive called artificial reproduction has become big business, and even then, many times the medical procedure was unsuccessful.

I spoke to an OB-GYN who has been practicing for 36 years, Dr. Gilda G. Martinez and I asked her how we could reverse this dire situation. “We need a shift in lifestyle,” she said.

So, these are her suggested solutions:

1. Mindful eating. We need to eat healthy, nutritious food with high fiber content.

2. Movement is good. Walking and moderate exercise should be the norm.

3. Sleep quality of seven to eight hours daily, ideally the same time each night.

4. Stress management. Stress affects the gut biome which releases the hormones, affecting our glucose. That is why diabetes is so prevalent today.

5. Strive to be happy.

6. Discover your higher consciousness and connect with God.

7. Be involved with life-changing advocacies that uplift the poor and keeps our adrenaline going.

Let us treat the problem and avoid band aid solutions. Hopefully we will be able to reduce the negative effects of modern living so that more babies are born to couples who want to be parents without resorting to artificial reproduction.