Meet Laura, our Fertility Expert
Are you thinking of having a baby? Or maybe you've been trying to get pregnant for a while? Did you know that nutrition and lifestyle changes have been shown to support natural fertility for both men and women and can improve IVF outcomes? I have specialist training in fertility, pregnancy and postnatal nutrition and have both professional and personal experience with the challenges of infertility and IVF.
I specialise in helping women or couples who are trying to conceive, whether they are trying to get pregnant naturally or are going through assisted fertility treatment such as ovulation induction or IVF, as well as women who have experienced miscarriage. In addition to my studies and professional knowledge in the field of fertility, I also have personal experience of IVF and understand the frustration and emotional toll it takes when the road to pregnancy is not straightforward.
Through functional testing, diet, lifestyle and supplements I help clients to improve their chances of conceiving and continue to support them during pregnancy and postpartum.
Please book below for a Fertility or Pregnancy Package (includes 1 x 90 min Initial Consultation and 2 x 60 min follow ups)
Improve your egg health
Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have. If you think about it, if a pregnant woman is carrying a girl she is not only carrying her own baby but also all the eggs that might one day become her grandchild!
Higher quality eggs improve the chances of:
Fertilisation
High-quality embryo
Implantation success
A healthy pregnancy
A healthy baby
Some of my clients come to me with test results showing that they have low ovarian reserve, which indicates that there are fewer eggs. This can be a scary result to receive but I like to remind these women that it only takes one good-quality egg to make a baby – and the good news is that there’s plenty you can do to improve yours. (N.B. let’s not forget the boys, the same is true for sperm!).
The importance of egg health is why, in an ideal world, I like to see clients at least 3 months prior to trying to conceive, or prior to assisted fertility treatments such as IVF because it takes around 90 days for an egg to mature. That’s 90 days to give yourself the best possible chance (again, a similar story for sperm cells).
These are some key factors that affect egg or sperm quality:
Smoking
Alcohol
Age
Weight
Inflammation
Hormonal imbalance
Diet and lifestyle
Toxic load
Almost all those factors are things we can change, which gives us a huge amount of power to improve egg quality and increase the chances of a healthy embryo, pregnancy and ultimately a healthy baby.
Using dietary and lifestyle changes along with supplements selected specifically for each individual client we can work on optimising fertility to support natural conception or to help improve IVF outcomes.
Top tests for fertility
If you’ve been struggling to get pregnant you might well have had testing through the NHS or a private fertility clinic. So why bother with yet more tests and how are the ones we use in clinic any different to what you’ve had before? Please see below tests that I might recommend for you during our Initial Consultation.
the dutch hormone test
The Dutch Cycle Mapping Test
You might have blood tests on specific days of your cycle, but the Dutch cycle mapping test shows us what has been going on with your hormones throughout the month (or however long your cycle is) so we can see where and when any problems might lie. We can see your androgens (e.g. DHEA-S and testosterone), your progesterone, your oestrogens and even your cortisol – the stress hormone that can wreak havoc with hormonal balance. It also shows us how well you might be metabolising or detoxing. Combined with the information we gather during a 1hr30 consultation, this gives us a huge amount of information with which to come up with a targeted diet, lifestyle and supplement plan. It is even more useful if we also have DNA tests to look at alongside the Dutch test.
The Dutch Complete Test
This test is performed over 24 hours and is for anyone on HRT, Oral Contraceptive pill, post menopause or for women pre-menopause who are only experiencing symptoms in the second half of their cycle. If you're experiencing fertility issues, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fibroids, PMS, irregular or painful periods, mood swings, or endometriosis, taking this test can be extremely helpful. It provides a comprehensive overview of how imbalances in both adrenal and reproductive hormones may be contributing to these issues.
Gut Package
Imbalances in gut bacteria or the presence of yeast or parasites can inhibit the absorption of nutrients, leading to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals essential to fertility. Poor gut health can also result in inflammation in the body which can make it more difficult to conceive and maintain a healthy pregnancy. Using the GI360 stool test we can assess where digestive issues might be and can use a targeted approach to repair and rebuild the gut, and therefore improve overall fertility.
DNA Test Package
Our genes can impact everything from hormonal balance to metabolism to egg and sperm quality. DNA testing tells us how our bodies respond to specific nutrients and where deficiencies might lie. Although we cannot change our genes, if we have this information we can use diet, lifestyle and supplements to make sure that we are providing what is needed for optimum fertility.
THYROID Test Package
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) is often tested if a woman is struggling to conceive but triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) – the active thyroid hormone are not. TSH can look fine even if there are problems further down the chain with T3 and T4 so we need to have those numbers as well. Thyroid antibodies are also rarely tested and these, if raised, can have a huge impact on fertility. The thyroid test we use in clinic measures all of these, along with vitamin D and B12, both of which are important vitamins to consider when trying to optimise fertility.
VAGINAL MICROBIOME
This is one you probably haven’t had! Research now shows that certain strains of bacteria in the vagina can impact fertility outcomes. Some strains can impact ability to fall pregnant, some strains cause active infection and inflammation (e.g. Bacterial Vaginosis) and some can even increase risk of miscarriage (e.g. Ureaplasma). Fortunately, some private clinics are now beginning to recognise the risk of some of these bacteria but they are rarely tested for. Using this test we can help encourage a favourable environment for conception, helping protective bacterial strains to thrive and discouraging less friendly strains with a targeted plan. This test can be particularly useful in clients who have been diagnosed with ‘unexplained’ infertility. This test is available to existing clients.
How can nutrition impact on fertility?
What goes into your body can have a huge impact on reproductive health. Here are just a few ways in which we can work to improve your fertility:
Balance your hormones. Using diet and lifestyle we can help bring your hormones into balance by providing the raw ingredients to not only build your hormones but also to metabolise and detoxify them when we need to clear them out of the body. This can also help support healthy ovulation – essential to getting pregnant. We can also use functional testing to find out exactly where any issues might lie.
We can improve egg and sperm quality by making sure we are providing the essential nutrients required to build healthy cells as well as preventing and mitigating damage caused by oxidative stress.
We can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress through diet – both of which can inhibit conception.
We can replenish and provide nutrients to reduce the impact of stress on the body. Unfortunately stress is often an unavoidable part of fertility problems but there are ways we can support the body’s resilience.
Supporting uterine health. Yes – believe it or not, diet and supplements can help to improve endometrial lining (thin lining is a common problem in preventing implantation) and support blood flow to that area.
Support the body through the different phases of IVF (e.g. downregulation, stimulation, egg collection and transfer). Diet and lifestyle have the potential to help make the process take less of a toll on the body and might increase the chances of a successful cycle.
Nutrition plays an important role in a healthy pregnancy – for mother and baby. Taking good quality supplements during preconception, pregnancy and postpartum is important.