Don't Tell Me To RELAX- Your Fertility Podcast

What is the DUTCH test? The DUTCH test stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones and is an excellent way to get to the bottom on hormone imbalances. This week I am joined by Giulietta Durante, (Hormones in Harmony) a menstrual cycle nutritionist who specialises in hormone health. We look at how you can use the DUTCH test to understand your hormones and what’s going on and make a plan...

Katy and I are joined by Dr Fran from The Lowdown . The Lowdown is a research platform for women’s health. It enables women to review and research their health conditions, symptoms and medications so they can make more informed decisions. This includes contraception, fertility, peri- menopause, PCOS and Endo. Today we are discussing the impact of contraception on fertility and how to prepare yours...

I am joined by the very lovely and very knowledgable Angela Heap and we are discussing toxins and the impact on fertility. In our everyday lives we come into contact with many different chemicals - through the products we use, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. Studies show that endocrine disrupting chemicals can impact egg and sperm health and hormone balance, therefore affecting fertility....

I am joined by Dr Yau Thum from the Lister to discuss Reproductive Immunology. Reproductive Immunology looks at how the immune system and the reproductive system can impact conception and pregnancy. It is an area that is explored and tested when people have experienced repeat implantation failure and/or miscarriage with no other explanation found. Dr Yau Thum leads the reproductive immunology rese...

I am joined by fertility nutritionist Kirsty Harrison to talk about digestion and its links to reproductive health. Kirsty is our lovely nutritionist and a member of the Fertility Nutrition Centre. So she has a lot of great information and experience to share about gut health and supporting this to help improve fertility outcomes. In this episode we talk about: What do we mean when we talk about g...

The Conception Plan with Dr Larisa Corda. Dr Larisa Corda is a fertility expert, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, a spiritualist and TV Doctor and author. You may recognise her from This Morning, where she frequently appears as the in-house fertility expert. She has recently published a new book The Conception Plan, which brings together conventional medicine and complimentary practices to treat...

TWW The two week wait is often one of the most difficult times to get through, in both natural cycles and assisted conception cycles. It is easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed with the lack of control. Symptom spotting, googling and over thinking are common problems and patterns that people fall into. So this episode is dedicated to acknowledging that this is a tough time. And I am joined by Katy...

TTC over 40 There is an increasing number of people in their 40s trying to conceive, both naturally and with assisted conception.  Dr Amanda Tozer, clinical director at Aria Clinic , joins us this week to talk about the challenges and options for people wanting to conceive over 40. At Aria clinic 50 % of people who access their treatment are over the age of 40, they therefore have lot of experienc...

I am joined by fellow fertility acupuncturist Alex O'Connor to discuss the pros and cons of fertility MOTS. Fertility MOTs have had an explosion in recent years and are advertised as a way to understand your fertility and ability to conceive. But what does that really mean and can you really test your ability to conceive and are some tests out there better than others? We discuss it all includ...

Buckle up peeps because this one is full to the brim with helpful information for each stage of the IVF process. IVF can be an intense process, physically, emotionally, financially and today we are with Trudi Campbell Nursing and Quality Director at The Evewel l. Trudi has seen thousands of people through treatment so is well placed to share her thoughts on good practices to help you through. We d...

Happy New Year 💛 Myself and Katy are kicking off the new year with how and why it’s important to prepare for pregnancy. Research shows that preparation can really impact fertility outcomes for both men and women and this applies to both natural and assisted conception. This is a topic we discuss a lot in clinic and it's a huge part of our work in guiding and supporting people with their prepa...

Christmas can be a tricky time when you're TTC and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There can be fear and guilt around eating and drinking, and problems with boundaries with family and friends. The supposed "joy of Christmas" can amplify loss and grief and the end of the year can be hard as it marks the passing of time.  I am joined by Fertility Nutritionist Kirsty Harrison . We don&#3...

Lucy Lines is an independent embryologist, fertility educator and IVF patient advocate. Her goal is to help people navigate the often complicated road of IVF treatment. In this episode we discuss: The gap in care and support between GPs and fertility clinics The problem with the business of IVF The importance of pre conception health  How to choose an IVF clinic  What to do when treatment doesn’t...

Jessica Bourke (AKA The Fertility Detective) provides a unique, individualised service that is founded on her in-depth knowledge of all aspects of fertility, whether trying to conceive assisted or non-assisted. In this episode we discuss the issues around fertility investigations, unexplained infertility and the gaps between GP care and fertility clinics. We discuss: Intro to Jessica and her work...

There are an increasing number of people who are traveling abroad for IVF treatment. We discuss this with Emma from Your IVF Abroad , who had treatment abroad and now works supporting people who are considering this option. We discuss: Emma’s story, her struggle to find a clinic and how she came to set up Your IVF Abroad Why people might choose to go abroad How to start researching clinics abroad...

We are joined by the formidable Claire Mooney, who is on a mission to improve investigations and treatment in male reproductive health. She is a consultant embryologist and medical director of Fertility Solutions . Claire specialises in male fertility and believes we need to work with men more to improve fertility rates with both natural and assisted conception. We discuss What drove Claire to set...

This week we are discussing genetic testing including karyotyping and PGT-A testing with Kathryn Hawes. Kathryn is a senior embryologist and genetic lead at the Lister clinic. And has kindly done talks for our community group and team of practitioners on the role of embryology in assisted conception. We discuss  What genetics are in embryology and their role is miscarriage What is karyotyping is a...

I am not sure Ceci needs an introduction but if you don't know Ceci and her work then she describes herself as "an infertility, anxiety and grief survivor who has spent years as a qualified fertility coach working with hundreds of people around the world to restore their emotional well-being as they're trying to conceive." Ceci offers support 121 and through her collective and ca...

This week Katy and myself are doing a special episode as part of Fertility Awareness Week 2023. We asked listeners “what do you wish you’d known about your fertility” and we took your answers as points of discussion for the podcast. We discuss: what does a normal menstrual cycle look like and why pain, heavy flow, spotting, irregular cycles always need to be investigated. Cervical mucus and the fe...

There has been a huge rise in the popularity in freezing eggs over the last 5 years. COVID is thought to be a huge factor that impacted this. Statistics show a rise of nearly 50% of enquiries into egg freezing since 2020. So what's it all about, what's involved and how does it work? To discuss this I am joined by Rebecca who is the Patient Services Manager at The Evewell. She is a register...

Sarah Banks is an experienced Personal Development Coach and best-selling author who specialises in supporting women through the challenging stages of their life. Having been through her own fertility struggles, Sarah knew first hand that there wasn't enough support for her as she went through treatment. Fast forward the years and Sarah has developed the planner to help people reprioritise the...

Emma Whitney is the Laboratory Manager at The Evewell . She is also Emma the Embryologist on Instagram and does great educational posts about embryology to make it more accessible and understandable, to help people going through treatment. Emma is so passionate and so experienced and shares a lot of great insights. We discuss: Introduction to embryology its origins. What’s the role of an embryolog...

Cervical Mucus. It's something that Katy and myself talk about a LOT. In fact, we first met on Instagram because we were both discussing this topic. I don't know why we haven't dedicated a whole episode to it before but here we are. A whole 30 minutes talking about the wonder that is cervical mucus and why it's so important and so helpful when you're trying to conceive. In this...

Ed Coats is a fertility consultant, hysteroscopic and laparoscopic surgeon and medical director at the Evewell West London clinic. He joins us to share his experiences and thoughts on assisted conception and IVF. He explains, who can benefit from treatment, why and when you might consider IVF as an option. We discuss what is assisted conception and the range of issues which lead people to seek sup...

We're kicking off Series 3 talking about acupuncture! I realised that we have never actually done an episode about acupuncture and fertility so I thought now is a good time to address this. For this episode we have swapped roles and Katy is interviewing me. In this episode we discuss: how I came to acupuncture how acupuncture works how acupuncture supports fertility and what the evidence shows...