Your fertility nutrition questions answered.

Ideally yes. I often discover fertility health issues affecting both partners despite a ‘normal’ or otherwise diagnosis. So working with me as a couple allows us a ‘no stone unturned’ approach. And as a baby is 50% of each partner, it makes sense.  My programmes also put you in the best health overall, optimising every internal function, not only fertility. Aches, pains, fatigue, bloating, low mood and other symptoms we often assume we have to live with disappear and we enjoy energy like never before. It’s a perfect side effect and preparation for parenthood! However, I appreciate not all partners wish to be involved and there is still value in working with one of you.

Yes, of course.  I work with women pursuing a donorship route to prime egg health and optimise hormone balance and the uterine environment ready for artificial insemination. If you already have frozen embryos, I work with you to prepare for your Foetal Embryo Transfer (FET). If you are going down a double donorship route, I work with you to balance your system as much as possible, for example balancing hormones, optimising vaginal and uterine health, managing immune system function, increasing general health, vitality and more.

Absolutely! There are no medical interventions that can improve egg health, which is why you may have heard from some medical professionals or clinics there’s nothing you can do to improve this. This opinion is outdated and false. And this is where nutrition is VERY powerful. The maturation cycle of an egg before it is released from the ovary is 3 months. So everything you do in this window from a nutrition and lifestyle perspective will either improve or decrease egg health. Evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle advice adopted during this crucial window will provide your eggs with the right building blocks and the right hormone balance to reach optimal health before conception. This is why my packages are a minimum of 3 months- so I know you have done everything within your control to give yourself the best possible chance of a healthy full-term pregnancy. Optimising egg health in this time not only increases live birth rates, but also strengthens the genetics of your future child and minimises their health risks into their adult life. Something that IVF alone cannot do.

Yes. Sperm cells aren’t made from thin air. The testes have to receive the right chemical messages from hormones to produce healthy sperm (which requires healthy hormone balance). And for optimal production, the body needs the right building blocks ie nutrients from the diet. The timeframe for sperm production (‘spermatogenesis’) is approximately 76 days, and just like improving egg health, everything you do in this window leading up to the moment of conception impacts the quality of your sperm. Increasing the quality relies on providing the body with the right nutrients vital for healthy sperm but also making sure you’re minimising lifestyle aspects that will negatively impact your sperm. If you do have a poor diagnosis, then don’t assume IVF and procedures like ICSI are your only options.

This is where functional medicine and fertility nutrition are so incredibly helpful. Conventional approaches use a much narrower lense to investigate infertility. If everything looked at under this narrow lense comes back as ‘normal’ then of course we come to the dead end of ‘unexplained infertility’. Fertility nutrition with a functional medicine approach, looks at each case with a much wider lense, with much more appropriate assessment and investigation, often pinpointing factors contributing to your sub/infertility. With this information, we’re able to break through the brick wall of that dead end. We finally see the full picture, giving you clarity and much-wanted explanations, as well as a clear and focused roadmap to address your underlying causes.

Absolutely. In fact, fertility nutrition will support your chances of successful treatment and successful full-term pregnancy. Whether IVF is an essential approach for you or a preferred route, it’s extremely demanding on your body. Using fertility nutrition as part of your toolkit may reduce the need for extra cycles. Fertility nutrition can positively improve egg and sperm health, something that assisted reproductive technologies cannot do. Therefore I believe that a fertility nutrition programme should be a pre-requisite for anyone choosing to go down this route.

No – you’ll follow a core meal plan overlayed with personalised recommendations which are small but very impactful ways to address specific imbalances in each of you. Plans are convenient yet highly targeted.

Many of my clients arrive following a healthy diet in good faith or taking supplements they read about or that have worked for someone they know. However, we soon discover during their assessment (and/or through functional tests) that the foods they perceive to be ‘healthy’ or working for them are in fact working against them.

Everyone has different biochemistry, health history, lifestyle and therefore nutrition needs. And those needs can only be understood through in-depth investigation into your health. There’s no one-size-fits-all fertility diet and it’s easy to mismatch supplements based on generic advice. Your therapeutic plan is built based on thorough investigation that leaves no stone unturned and is science-backed, evidence-based and tailored to you.

The maturation cycle of an egg is 90 days, and for a sperm cell it’s 76 days. So in the 90 days before conception, everything you do from a nutrition and lifestyle perspective impacts the genetic quality of the egg and sperm cell. In turn, this determines whether there will be a successful conception and healthy full-term pregnancy. By working together during those 90 days, we optimise all the fertility factors.

Most conventional tests are quite basic and don’t give us the whole picture. Before we meet, I review every test you’ve had done and take this into account throughout the assessment process and when I’m building out the full picture of your case. After your initial consultation, if I can see any grey areas in this picture that haven’t been given the proper attention or investigation, I discuss with you the functional test options to be able to start gathering these last vital bits of information –  those remaining puzzle pieces. Once we can see the full picture clearly, it becomes much easier to address what’s been getting in your way. Your fertility nutrition plan becomes even more targeted to your personal needs, and often shortens the time it takes to get you to your desired outcome.

No, my practice is run fully online. When tests are recommended, I refer you to the relevant diagnostic labs that are the leaders in that area of testing. Because specialist training is needed to understand and interpret tests, in most cases you’ll need a referring practitioner to request the tests on your behalf (i.e. me). I contact the lab and request the exact test needed and have the test kits sent to your address. You arrange payment direct with the labs, provide your sample  (e.g. saliva, blood, stool, semen etc) and use the lab’s courier service to return the sample for processing. I then receive your results which I discuss with you at your next consultation. If necessary (and it often is), I then evolve your personalised plan to take into account the results and where possible, bring your markers back into range.

If preferred, and where possible, I refer to the NHS for testing via your G.P. However waiting list times may mean you have to be prepared to reassess your timeframes.

So if you’d like to understand the root cause of your issues and be able to address them sooner rather than later and therefore get quicker results, then I recommend investing in functional testing as the value of the information revealed greatly exceeds the costs.

Typical costs range from £300 to £2000 per person.

Everyone is as individual as their fingerprint, so necessary tests differ with each client and depend on several factors. Factors include your fertility history, present day symptoms and/or health conditions, any significant family history of infertility-related conditions and your desired timeframes.

During the assessment stage, which includes a 90-minute assessment with you, it’s often very clear to me where imbalances lie related to your fertility issues, especially if you have specific symptoms. However, this isn’t always the case and there can be grey areas which need further investigations. Thankfully testing allows us to get crucial insights and evidence.

Test results give us another in depth layer of information about you. The better we can personalise your nutrition and lifestyle plan, the faster we can act on your underlying issues and the sooner we can see improvements.

However, my recommendations for tests are just that, recommendations based on my experience. If my clients don’t have the budget, then I work around the budget you do have and prioritise the tests that will give us the most valuable information in line with your story/history.

If you’re concerned about likely test costs, then I encourage you to book a complimentary clarity call so I can learn a little bit more about your history and potentially make a clearer ‘guesstimate’ for you.

I am your fertility detective and I give you the time, assessment, investigation, answers and guidance that you deserve and that take some of the hardships out of your journey. That’s where the functional medicine model differs to more traditional routes.

In the medical model, when someone is having very irregular or no periods at all, the most common solution is the oral contraceptive pill. However, as you can appreciate, when someone is wanting to become pregnant, this is not a viable option and therefore the likely next solution offered is some form of assisted reproductive technology such as IVF or IUI.

However, through correct nutrition and lifestyle choices, you have the power to get your periods back and regain control over a regular monthly rhythm, and therefore dramatically enhance your chances of achieving a healthy natural conception.

This is something I achieve for my clients through my 1:1 clinic, helping them avoid IVF which is often invasive, disruptive and challenging on the female body. Instead, they benefit from a gentle and nurturing approach that puts them in the driving seat of their menstrual cycles and fertility.

Regardless of egg and sperm maturation times, shorter programmes rarely allow enough time to thoroughly investigate, identify and address the root cause of fertility issues. So while shorter, cheaper programmes might seem more appealing, they’re unlikely to really make THE difference.

Many studies find positive effects of hypnosis in alleviating anxiety, depression, and fear towards conception, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and birth, empowering women with a higher sense of confidence and improving the overall emotional experience. Two studies also indicate encouraging outcomes in postnatal wellbeing. Some studies also show hypnosis can improve fertility and effectively double the success of IVF treatments.

More generally, hypnosis can provide relaxation at a deeply anxious time, reduce self-limiting beliefs and fears (such as ‘my body doesn’t work’, ‘I’ll never have a child’). And help shift you into a mindset that is much more useful and empowering during your fertility journey. From a physiological perspective, emotions such as anxiety, fear and depression can change your entire biochemistry. Valuable nutrients and building blocks for optimal fertility can be shunted away in order to produce your fight-or-flight hormones and neurotransmitters.

I believe managing your mindset is crucial for your fertility, and this is the reason I gained extra qualifications in neurolinguistic programming and hypnosis. I consider them to be a valuable part of my toolbox and approach to how I support my clients and get them the results they want.

Yes, I’m happy to offer a monthly instalment plan over 3 months.