Fertility Life Raft

Nichola Ludlam-Raine is a renowned registered dietician with 14 years experience, a TV regular and runs a big Instagram account; here she shares her story of secondary infertility and double pregnancy loss.

This was an amazing, honest and vulnerable chat - which also, bonus (!) - includes tons of helpful information on nutrition (though not specific to fertility) but we cover how to make choices about who to trust; how much to take on without feeling overwhelmed or adding blame and using the idea of NURTURE not restriction.

We do also talk a little about BMI and the issues around this (I hate that it's used as an NHS funding barrier for example). If you are affected by this, please find the podcast I recorded with Nicola Salmon here.

Live listeners really loved this conversation and we hope you do too:

Thank you so much for all of this. It's been so reassuring to listen that I'm doing what I need to do. Feeling a little emotional after listening to it all.

Thank you, interesting and helpful!

Thank you so much, this chat has been so interesting and informative :)

You can find Nichola on Instagram here

Learn how to ride the waves by following my simple to implement Life Raft framework so you feel absolutely safe, secure and able to navigate this incredibly tough experience while receiving high quality coaching; community support from like minded souls and discover the confidence and headspace to make conscious, empowered decisions every step of the way.

The Life Raft membership is the highest value option for anyone on this journey that you'll find anywhere. Read more and join our amazing community here today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helen and I have regularly shared between us on many many whatsapp voice notes, how we feel about the wildly enormous pressure put on people trying to conceive and the bombardment of information available.

It's not that we can't take responsibility for our health and feel empowered education and the information needed: it's about how we communicate it and what this massive pressure does to people who are told that negative thoughts, wifi or a thousand other things are going to impact their chances of having a baby.

Or that they have a mindset block or somehow they're repelling fertility simply by...being.

Just: no. It is so important that we get the right information, the information that we can actually do something about AND that it is correctly communicated so that we don't pile on yet more blame to those who are also being told to just relax or go on holiday. GAH.

Breathe. We've got you.

One of the most powerful things you can do in a fertility journey is to breathe and reconnect to yourSELF. How? I'll do it with you...

RECLAIM, my course, is open now and is the ultimate companion for anyone walking this path feeling overwhelmed, stuck, frustrated, lost...you name it. I have supported nearly 500 people through my programme: it works. Find out more here and grab one of the last remaining £50 off codes with LRRECLAIM

Was this a helpful episode for you? Share it and/ or leave us a review to help more people know: IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. We really do need your help to make sure more people see this message: the antidote to the blame game in the fertility wellness industry.

THANK YOU. PS have you got questions about RECLAIM? Just send me an email [email protected] and I'll come back to you. Ax

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we were going through treatment I only knew ONE person who had been abroad and I just wasn't in the right headspace to even consider it... if only I knew what I knew now!

Deffo have a listen to the super inspiring Emma who shares her story and everything which led to her setting up her business. Not just for those considering going abroad but an incredible story of resilience in the face of early perimenopause, male factor infertility, NHS funding denied thanks to BMI and finally a successful story of double donor conception.

Emma is so kind and empathetic and REALLY gets it. She's been through so much and now uses all her experience to help others with her business: Your IVF Abroad.

Here's a summary of the stuff we talk about:

Join the Life Raft from £7/month and you'll be able to claim a generous discount on Emma's services as well as gain access to our incredible library of resources; unique community and live top quality expert support, coaching and expert calls.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and Join me by saving your space here.

Come and find me on Instagram at @fertilityliferaft and @thisisalicerose and head to fertilityliferaft.com for live and downloadable coaching, mindset support and empowerment.

Take care friends,

Axx

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author Pippa Vosper wrote an article for Vogue after she lost her son Axel 5 months into her pregnancy. It went viral. Publishers kept asking her to write a book but she wasn't ready...until lockdown, when she felt she was able to sit and write with considered clarity after time to process what she had been through.

The result is the most warm, calm, gentle and beautiful book: Beyond Grief, which is out now.

This conversation, despite the sadness, feels light and gentle and just as Pippa says at the end "I have, strangely, loved it...". Me too Pippa, me too. Pippa also shares a story which gave me actual goosebumps as she shared it, I really would love to know if it moves you too...

We recorded this live with women in my membership online. You're going to finish it feeling comforted, reassured, warm and heard whether or not you have been through a similar experience (I haven't personally).

I loved this conversation.

Let me know what you think and leave us a review on Apple or Spotify - it helps others find us and spreads the ripple of light I hope to share. Your contribution to that ripple is SO appreciated.

Come and find me on Instagram @thisisalicerose and head to my website www.thisisalicerose.com for live and downloadable coaching and mindset support and empowerment.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode.  Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Take care friends,

Axx

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I get asked so many questions through Instagram and through my membership and community spaces, and a lot of them are often quite similar. My mission here is to impact as many people as I can in the most accessible way possible, so in these Bitesize episodes, I'm going to take a question and give a pointed answer which I hope will be inspiring to you! I would love to hear how it lands and if it’s helpful for you, so please do reach out and let me know!

In this Bitesize Episode, I answer the question: How Do You Stay Positive and Realistic at the Same Time? I share two ends of the spectrum and then dive into the specifics of The Positivity Balance, which are things you can use for support on your journey. There's such freedom and empowerment available for you, and I hope this episode is an encouragement!

In this episode, we speak about:

• A common question asked: How do you stay positive and realistic at the same time?

• How to stop worrying about being positive all the time

• How to stop deliberately choosing negative thoughts

• How anyone can stay truly positive always, completely, effortlessly - and it isn’t what you think!

• A reminder that we are all human beings on planet earth having a human experience

Powerful Quotes:

It is not possible to be a human having a human experience on planet earth and only be positive.

It’s really hard to feel energized or motivated or excited about anything in your life if you’re keeping yourself in a negative mindset to protect yourself from the pain if things don’t work out.

How we stay effortlessly positive is by understanding that positivity means truthful and truthful means alignment with who we are and what we’re going through and not judging ourselves for what comes up.

———

Thank you for listening to the Fertility Life Raft! I would love for you to share this episode and let me know what you think! Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode.  Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

About Alice Rose

Hi! I'm Alice and I am on a mission to support and empower anyone trying to grow their family (and while I’m at it, changing the social narrative we see around fertility too...) Learn more about me at www.thisisalicerose.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had the honor of chatting to Dr. Belinda Coker in today's episode of Fertility Life Raft. I love speaking to women who are entrepreneurs who have been through something incredibly hard, that have looked at what they’ve experienced and have decided to do something useful with it. It makes me feel really excited! I love that by using all of her experience both in life and professionally, Belinda’s chosen to put her energy into this amazing thing. She's so inspiring!

Dr. Belinda Coker is the founder and CEO of Your Trusted Squad. Belinda has been a medical doctor for almost 20 years, initially training in obstetrics, gynaecology, reproductive and sexual health before becoming a GP. She is an executive medical director with extensive experience in virtual healthcare, quality, compliance, patient safety, and patient experience. But it was Belinda’s experience of infertility and repeated miscarriages that led her to start Your Trusted Squad.

Your Trusted Squad empowers and supports couples who are trying to have a baby and finding the journey harder than expected. Your Trusted Squad helps you make informed decisions by providing coaching support and by signposting and introducing you to trusted services and sources of health information that are relevant to your specific needs.

In this episode, we speak about:

• Dr. Belinda’s story and how she ended up in this space

• Using evidence-based research and information to make informed decisions

• Situations and experiences Dr. Belinda’s clients are coming to her with and how she’s helping them

• When you’re running a support space, making sure to have the community of peer support and also being clear on what’s a trusted, reliable source of information and what might not be

• Mindset as a key part to the infertility journey to help take back self-ownership and reduce stress as much as possible

• You don’t have to fight all of the time - there’s no shame in having others advocate on your behalf

• The items in Dr. Belinda’s Life Raft

• and more!

Powerful Quotes:

That’s what I found on my journey, even though I’m knowledgeable about the ecosystem of women's health, I still found I did a lot of research… It did take a lot of time and energy, so what I’m trying to do is just make it easier for others.

When you make informed decisions, you need to know the pros and the cons of whatever choice you’re trying to make.

Mindset is the key part to all of this. Having that right mindset, and feeling calm and in control as much as possible. So much is outside of our control. If we can get control where we can, it helps us feel that we are somewhat having some power over it.

It’s helpful to have others to advocate on your behalf - your partner, relative, trusted friend. There’s so much power in that. That’s also something that does come up… You feel like you have to really fight, but sometimes you don’t have to. There are other people who can help you and there’s no shame in asking for help at all.

Connect with Dr. Belinda Coker:

Website - https://www.yourtrustedsquad.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yourtrustedsquad/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/yourtrustedsquad/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-trusted-squad/

Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had the pleasure of chatting to Helen Davenport Peace in this week's episode. I have found Helen to be somebody I can talk to about pretty much anything, and she's one of the most wise and gentle people out there, full of knowledge and wisdom. If I’d known about Helen when we were going through our own journey, she’s someone I would have wanted on my team supporting me. I Just think she’s wonderful and I'm excited to share this conversation with you!

Helen is a yoga teacher in Greater Manchester, teaching at her new studio The Fold. She specialises in yoga for women who are trying to conceive, with an emphasis on creating a restorative space for connection to self and others. The studio is a hub for trying to conceive support with other events such as women’s circles and from autumn 2021 holistic treatments including womb massage.

In this episode, we speak about:

• Helen’s vision of wanting to create a community to be seen and heard and understood for those who are trying to conceive

• Bringing in more tenderness and self compassion, and needing to normalize conversation around guilt, shame and blame

• The personal responsibility around what information we take in and the importance of asking ourselves: what makes me feel nourished?

• Shifting out of the rigidity of the view on food and diet into one of intuition and the joy that comes with eating

• Using breathwork as a micro-moment of grounding and embodiment

• Honoring our pain and realising that it’s okay to not have a label for every feeling we experience

• The items in Helen’s Life Raft

• and more!

Powerful Quotes:

So many of us have these moments and our bodies don’t always know how to process them. The physical impact of long term anxiety and stress on our physical being is really tough. We have to begin slowing down and taking some space to think, “what can I do with that?”

You have to find the breath that works for you. Just taking 30 seconds just to do that in your day when everything feels too much can be an energetic reset.

We don’t always know what we’re feeling. Maybe numbness is perfectly valid. I think it’s about adding validity to all of the things that we feel and experience. You don’t always have to have language to attach to something; you don’t always have to know. We just have to give ourselves space.

Connect with Helen Davenport Peace:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/at_the_fold

Website: https://thefold.uk/

Thank you for listening to the Fertility Life Raft! I would love for you to share this episode and let me know what you think! Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

About Alice Rose

Hi! I'm Alice and I am on a mission to support and empower anyone trying to grow their family (and while I’m at it, changing the social narrative we see around fertility too...) Learn more about me at www.thisisalicerose.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had the pleasure of chatting to the wonderful Naomi Woolfson in today's episode. We share a helpful, actionable conversation with lots of stuff you can take away and use right now to start feeling better straight away. Be sure to visit Naomi's website to download her free “3 ways to stress less and enhance fertility using the mind-body link.” Which includes the first chapter of her upcoming book, a three minute reset MP3 and a beautiful guided visualisation.

Naomi Woolfson, of Embrace Fertility, is a therapist who specialises in supporting women through trying to conceive, fertility treatments and then pregnancy and birth following infertility. She and her partner went through almost 4 years of infertility, IUI’s, IVF, anxiety, surgery and a miscarriage before they went on to conceive both of their ginger children naturally! For the past eight years, Naomi has worked to raise the level of understanding about an infertility diagnosis – from the debilitating emotional impact and the overwhelming feelings of sadness, helplessness and grief, to the simple yet powerful mind-body techniques that provide relief and build resilience during this highly emotive time while greatly increasing your chances of conceiving.

In this episode, we speak about:

• How some on this journey reach rock-bottom early on rather than near the end

• Finding mindfulness and other support techniques through books, people, and synchronicities 

• Practicing EFT and supporting others whilst going through fertility treatments

• The story behind Naomi’s choice to call her business “Embrace Fertility”

• Regaining control and personal power through recognition of the choice we have over our thoughts and emotions

• Naomi walking us through the “Yes, Please” technique that you can begin incorporating today

• The items in Naomi’s Life Raft

• and more!

Powerful Quotes:

Instead of striving for: Pregnancy is the goal. The goal is for you to find yourself again, and to release the anxiety, stress, and overwhelm.

That book [Full Catastrophe Living] was saying to me, it wasn’t the fact I was infertile that was causing the anxiety and panic attacks. It was the thoughts I was having about it.

So then I started and it was 3 rounds of tapping and saying statements, and I felt a shift. I felt vividly different to how I had five minutes before. Another moment where I felt that this is some kind of magic or I need to understand more

You can’t pick what thoughts come into your head, but you get to pick the next thought and what you do with that.

It’s very much about finding the thing that does work for you, and realizing that on different days different things will work for you.

Connect with Naomi Woolfson:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/embracefertility

Facebook: www.facebook.com/embracefertility

Website: https://embracefertility.co.uk/

Thank you for listening to the Fertility Life Raft! I would love for you to share this episode and let me know what you think! Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Free Gentle Mindset Challenge

Join me and nearly 500 people from all over the world for this free 3 day challenge- we start today, but if you’re finding this later, you can still sign up to get the replay sessions…there is no expiry. Join today at https://alicerose.lpages.co/the-gentle-mindset-challenge/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had the pleasure of chatting to Becky Kearns in today's episode. Becky is a friend of mine who I met through the online community sharing our stories and how we found we didn't have the support we needed as we were going through our experiences. In this episode she shares her story and says she remembers how lost and alone she felt. By hearing these stories, by opening the dialogue, by smashing down these taboos it just makes it so much easier and so much better for all of us to understand much more about donor conception. I hope that you love this episode!

Becky is a mum to three girls all thanks to egg donation. After an early menopause diagnosis in her twenties she went on to have five unsuccessful cycles of IVF, including a miscarriage, with her own eggs. Making the decision to move to donor conception wasn't easy, but eventually Becky found hope in this path to parenthood as she began to redefine what it meant to her to be a mum. Becky and her husband were fortunate that with their first attempt using donated eggs they were successful and welcomed their eldest daughter Mila into the world in 2016, before having their twins in 2018.

Now finally a mum, Becky remembered just how alone and lost she felt on her fertility journey as well as how little donor conception was talked about and so she started her DefiningMum blog almost three years ago, sharing both her fertility struggles but also her reflections and parenting journey now. In 2020 she launched a virtual donor conception support platform - Paths to Parenthub, designed to offer information, support and much needed connection for anyone needing to use a donor to build their family.

In this episode, we speak about:

• The importance of self-advocation and finding a good GP who can empathize and help you through an initial diagnosis

• Defining hope and shifting your perspective to become hopeful for many different outcomes in your life 

• Processing grief and the emotional challenges that come up along your journey of infertility

• Having self-compassion as we experience sadness and happiness coexisting with anything we go through in life

• The items in Becky’s Life Raft

• How important it is to have a space where you can share how you’re feeling and not worry about judgment or shame

• and more!

Powerful Quotes:

There’s so much work to be done around supporting people through that, and helping them to build their own family narratives and having that confidence to talk about their story without shame.

There are so many different pathways within donor conception. It all can feel quite lonely until you meet someone else who’s been on it.

It took me saying “I’m sure there’s something wrong.” I think it was just having to really find that within me to know that This is MY life and my body. They don’t really mind what happens to me and I do. It’s affecting my mental health. All I’m asking for are some tests.

Connect with Becky Kearns:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/definingmum and https://www.instagram.com/paths_to_parenthub

Website: www.definingmum.com and www.pathstoparenthub.com

Thank you for listening to the Fertility Life Raft! I would love for you to share this episode and let me know what you think! Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had the pleasure of chatting to Professor Joyce Harper in today's episode. We have a real mix of guests on this show as you know. It's important to recognize that a part of this journey is just absorbing information, and that can be absolutely overwhelming. It can sometimes be hard to hear the truth or the science behind all of this because sometimes it’s not what we want to hear. In this episode, we hear from Joyce what it was like working as a profession in the field going through fertility treatments, and how it still impacts her now having this insight, knowledge and empathy. I love her way of way of talking about this information. I hope that by listening, you begin to empower yourself with knowledge, while not getting overwhelmed by it or allowing it to dictate your life.

Professor Joyce Harper. Joyce is a Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health at the University College London. She's the Director of Education at the IFWH and Head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group. Joyce has worked in the fields of fertility, genetics, reproductive health and women’s health for over 30 years and she’s particularly passionate about education and discussion about all aspects of women’s health. Joyce is also the mother of 3 sons all born through IVF.

In this episode, we speak about:

• Joyce’s passion for education about reproductive health

• The importance of normalizing menstrual cycle conversations to minimise misinformation and properly provide people with information and support

• Working as a professional in this field while personally going through fertility treatments

• Preconception health as evidence for fertility and how balancing your 4 pillars of wellbeing - Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Mental Health/Wellbeing - can empower you on this journey

• Specific, technical advice for those who are at the start of trying to get pregnant

• The disconnect between patient and healthcare professional, and why it’s even more important to empower the patient not just with knowledge, but understanding what's happening emotionally and mentally.

• and more!

Powerful Quotes:

I also want women to understand their menstrual cycle, just for their own reproductive health. There are some women who have problems with their menstrual cycle - if you’re never taught this, how are you going to know what’s not right? We need to get these conversations on the table. Let people know what’s not normal. It’s not all about having babies. Majority of it is education about reproductive help.

What my mission is with the education is just to give men and women the information to make sure they know, because we’re never taught this.

We are all totally individual. So what applies to one person will not apply to you. What anyone needs to do, individually and as a couple, is take it all in and then decide what’s right for you. That’s what’s really important. There is nothing magic that says: if everyone does this, they’ll get pregnant. It just doesn’t work like that. We’re too varied and too individual.

Take in what you can, be aware that people are going to have different views and decide what’s best for you. 

Connect with Professor Joyce Harper:

www.instagram.com/profjoyceharper/

www.joyceharper.com

Thank you for listening to the Fertility Life Raft! I would love for you to share this episode and let me know what you think! Join our Instagram community for more support: www.instagram.com/thisisalicerose . As always please take a moment to rate and review right now or half way through or at the end - it makes the world of difference!! Thank you so much to everyone who has already.

I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices