Fertility Friday | Fertility Awareness Mastery for Women's Health Professionals

After getting such a positive response from episode 95 with Dr. Susan Rako, I decided to release a bonus episode to answer one of the most common questions that I get which is how do I boost my cervical mucus production! In today's episode, I share some important information about cervical health as well as practical ways to boost cervical mucus production and improve cervical health naturally.

Topics discussed in today's episode

• How to establish if you actually have limited cervical mucus production
• What does a normal cervical mucus pattern look like?
• Where is your cervix?
• Where is cervical mucus produced?
• What is the relationship between estrogen and cervical mucus production?
• What are some of the reasons that a woman may have limited cervical mucus production?
• 3 ways to boost cervical mucus production naturally
• What fertility foods should you incorporate into your diet to improve cervical health?
• What nutrients are essential for cervical health and healthy cervical mucus production?

Connect with Lisa

You can connect with Lisa on The Fertility Friday Website and on Facebook and Twitter

Resources mentioned

• FFP 095 | No More Periods? The Blessings of the Curse | Menstrual Suppression | The Pill | Dr. Susan Rako
• FFP 014 | What does a Healthy Menstrual Cycle look like? | The Menstrual Cycle as the 5th Vital Sign | Colleen Flowers
• FFP 012 | Recovering from Post-Birth Control Syndrome | How to get your period back | Laura Schoenfeld
• FFP 068 | Sleep your way to a Healthy Menstrual Cycle | The Connection Between Sleep and Fertility | Shawn Stevenson
• FFP 053 | The Effect of Light on the Menstrual Cycle and Fertility | Sleeping in Darkness to Regulate Menstruation | Natural Family Planning | Joy DeFelice
• FFP 065 | 6 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Xenoestrogen Exposure with Lisa | Fertility Friday
• FFP 009 | Sacred Fertility Foods | The key to having healthy babies and a healthy pregnancy | Sally Fallon-Morell
• FFP 054 | The MTHFR Gene Mutation and Fertility | Recurrent Miscarriage, Nutrient Deficiencies, and Folic Acid | Diane Keddy

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Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic

Mary is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner and acupuncturist who has been in practice for over 20 years. The vast majority of her patients have struggled with gynecological disorders, fertility challenges, and pregnancy-related issues.

She is the author of Pathways to Pregnancy: Personal Stories and Practical Advice for Your Fertility Journey, and she is the founder & CEO of ALIVE Holistic Health Clinic located in downtown Toronto.  Mary’s personal experience with fertility challenges has fostered compassion and a deep respect for the families who come to her for help. Mary has seen the many faces that infertility presents, and the equally diverse pathways to pregnancy presented by conventional and complementary medicine. It is her greatest hope that by she can bring a renewed sense of possibility to infertility sufferers, and deepen their understanding of this widespread condition to the public consciousness.

In today's episode, we talk about issues that interfere with pregnancy and cause fertility challenges. We also talk about the challenge for patients who have received a diagnosis of infertility. We delve into the practical ways women can move forward with hope in the face of receiving such a daunting diagnosis.

Topics discussed in today's episode

• Find out how a diagnosis of blocked fallopian tubes shook Mary's belief system to its core and forced her to embrace Western Medicine as a complement to her Eastern philosophies and practice
• The myth that couples who struggle to conceive can simply "adopt"
• Why a diagnosis of infertility has been shown to be as stressful as a cancer diagnosis
• What is the "Nocebo" effect? And how can it impact women who are seeking medical support to address their fertility challenges?
• How to deconstruct a diagnosis of infertility and maintain hope after being told you have no options
• Are your eggs really "old"?
• What is a poor ovarian reserve?
• The three markers of poor ovarian reserve and what they really mean
• Why a high FSH level can impair your chances of having a successful IVF cycle
• Practical ways to reduce and manage stress without adding more to your plate?
• How to incorporate a mindfulness practice into your daily life
• How to manage the 2 week period after IVF implantation without driving yourself crazy

Connect with Mary

You can connect with Mary on her website and on Facebook and Twitter

Resources mentioned

• Mary Wong (website)
• Alive Holistic Health | Mary Wong
• Pathways to Pregnancy: Personal stories and practical advice for your fertility journey
• FFP 088 | IVF Using Donor Eggs | Egg Donation | Infertility | Donor Egg Bank USA | Heidi Hayes
• FFP 074 | Resurrection Year | Maintaining Hope Through Infertility | Sheridan Voysey
• FFP 089 | Treating Infertility Naturally | Natural Fertility Solutions | Functional Medicine | Getting to the Root Cause | Gabriela Rosa
• FFP 040 | Premature Ovarian Failure at Age 28, IVF Using Donor Eggs, and Fertility Coaching | Sarah Clark

Join the community! Find us on the Fertility Friday Facebook Fan Page

Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast on iTunes!

Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic

Dr. Rako has been a psychiatrist in private practice in the Boston area for more than thirty-five years. She both trained and taught at Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts Mental Health Center, a teaching hospital in the Department of Psychiatry. She has become a pioneering expert on women’s reproductive health. She is the author of several books including “The Blessings of the Curse: No More Periods?” and “The Hormone of Desire: The Truth About Testosterone, Sexuality, and Menopause”.

In today’s episode, we talk about menstrual suppression, and the idea that periods are optional, and suppressing them medically has a no broader impact on our bodies outside.

Topics discussed in today's episode

• Are periods medically necessary?
• The relationship between the pill, estrogen, testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)
• The relationship between regular menstruation and Iron
• The impact of the menstrual cycle on cardiovascular health
• How was Depo Provera Discovered?
• The disturbing link between hormonal contraceptives, HPV, & Cervical Cancer
• The link between Depo Provera and Osteoporosis
• Long-term hormonal contraceptive use, the largest experiment ever conducted on women

Connect with Dr. Rako

You can connect with Dr. Rako on her website

Resources mentioned

• Susan Rako
• The Blessings of the Curse: No More Periods? (book) | Susan Rako, M.D.
• The Hormone of Desire: The Truth About Testosterone, Sexuality, and Menopause (book) | Susan Rako, M.D.
• That's How The Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist | Susan Rako, M.D.

Join the community! Find us on the Fertility Friday Facebook Fan Page

Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast on iTunes!

Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic

Lierre is a writer, small farmer, and radical feminist activist. She is the author of six books, including The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, which has been called “the most important ecological book of this generation.” She is the coauthor,

with Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay, of Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. She’s also been arrested six times.

In today’s show, we delve into the topic of veganism and the impact it can have on fertility.

Hethir is the founder of Natural-Fertility-Info.com. She wants to live in a world where work is play, traveling to new places is the norm, and growing vegetables is foolproof. As a Natural Fertility Specialist, Hethir and her team have helped thousands of couples to get pregnant using natural fertility therapies and lifestyle changes. When she’s not working on herbal formulas or obsessing over research, you can find her in the field playing beekeeper, experimenting with waffle recipes in the kitchen.

Emily is a trained birth and postpartum doula, midwife assistant, birth control doula, placenta encapsulation specialist, and holds a degree in counseling and mentoring. She has been working with newborns and families since age seven and her goal is to be able to take women's hands during puberty and walk with them through every stage of reproductive health. She has been tracking her cycle for the past 3 years!

I was recently interviewed by a woman who is writing a book about female reproductive health, and one of the questions she asked me really stood out to me. She asked if fertility awareness is so straightforward and simple to learn, why would anyone need the help of an educator, and how could it possibly take 2 years of intensive training to learn to teach it? I thought about it and recognized that there are so many misconceptions about fertility awareness.

Gabriela is one of Australia’s leading natural fertility experts. Her compassionate approach to natural health care is aimed at educating, inspiring and empowering couples. She hold’s a Masters in Reproductive Medicine and Human Genetics from Sydney University, Australia and she also trained as a naturopathic practitioner. She specializes in the management of women’s health issues from puberty to menopause, men’s health, weight loss and natural fertility.

Heidi is the CEO of Donor Egg Bank USA. Donor Egg Bank was launched to assist fertility patients in their dream of having a baby. Heidi struggled with infertility herself, and after many years of trying to conceive, she ultimately built her family through adoption and donor egg treatment.

In today’s show, we talk about egg donation and the implications of using an egg donor when struggling with fertility challenges and contemplating IVF.

Arianna is a maternal health consultant who works with women to create a smooth & personalized transition into motherhood. She is a maternal health researcher and social worker by training, with expertise in postpartum planning and social support during early motherhood. She is deeply committed to providing support for new mothers as they enter into the postpartum period and beyond.