Preconception Naturopath

16/10/2026

By the second loss she has usually already decided it was her body.

Half the DNA in that pregnancy came from s***m, and s***m are incredibly sensitive to oxidative stress, so when that stress has damaged the DNA inside the s***m, or there is an infection present, fertilisation can still happen and the pregnancy can still begin, and then the damage he carried in can be part of why it does not continue.

Even the American Society for Reproductive Medicine now says s***m DNA fragmentation testing may be considered after multiple losses, and while the research on how best to treat it is still catching up, that is a long way from where the conversation started, which was almost entirely about her.

So before another round of tests on her, I want his semen analysis and s***m DNA fragmentation on the table.

Comment S***M and I will send you my men’s preconception essentials.

15/10/2026

So much of what women hear while trying to conceive is either dismissive or loaded with pressure, from the well meaning friend who tells you to relax to the appointment where your bloods came back normal and you walked out with no more answers than when you walked in. Neither of those is the full picture, and neither of them is a reflection of you.

Normal and optimal are not the same thing, and looking at your bloods through a preconception lens can tell a very different story to the one you were given. Your partner is half of this too, and his health deserves the same attention as yours. Through all of it you are still a whole person, with a life worth living outside of the two week wait.

If your bloods came back normal but something still doesnt feel right, my upcoming workshop Cycle Ready Method: Normal Is Not Optimal was made for you.

Comment CYCLE and I’ll send you the details.

14/10/2026

Unexplained should come with a list of what was actually checked.

When a woman tells me she has been told her infertility is unexplained, the first thing I ask to see is her bloods, and so often what I find is a basic panel, an AMH and a progesterone done on day 21 whether or not she ovulated anywhere near day 14, which means nobody has really looked yet.

Before I would ever accept unexplained, I want to see a full iron panel alongside B12 and folate, a full thyroid panel with antibodies (especially if there has been recurrent miscarriage), day 2 or 3 hormones including FSH, LH, prolactin and oestradiol, then seven days post ovulation LH, FSH, oestradiol, progesterone and androgens timed to when she actually ovulated, and then her v@ginal microbiome, because the microbes living there influence how s***m make it to the egg and some of them can be passed back and forth between partners.

Most of these can be requested through your GP, and yet so many women reach a fertility clinic without ever having them looked at.

Comment BLOODS and I will send you the list of preconception bloods I look at so you can walk into your next appointment knowing exactly what to ask for.

12/10/2026

I am angry, and honestly I think more of us should be.

A report came out this month from Pesticide Action Australia where they tested 78 samples of Australian grown produce from the major supermarkets, and 44 per cent of them had residues of pesticides classed as PFAS, the forever chemicals. One strawberry sample had a fungicide at 9.5 times the maximum residue limit.

I felt this exact same anger over 10 years ago when I first started looking into my own health and found out that the products I was putting on my skin every single day were full of chemicals that could affect my hormones, and nobody had thought it was worth telling us. All these years later it is our food, and I still feel like we are far too calm about what is allowed.

I want to eat my fruit and vegetables without wondering whether chemicals linked to hormone disruption are getting in the way of my ability to conceive, and I dont think that is a big ask.

We should not have to be our own food regulators, but the regulator that sets the limits says it does not monitor residues in our food itself, so until that changes I am making conscious decisions about mine. I buy locally and ask growers what they use, I wash everything, I grow what I can at home, and I make noise so this doesnt get swept under the carpet.

This is also why I teach it. The meals I am prepping here are from my 14 day anti inflammatory plan, and inside Fertile Ground you get these recipes alongside the education on reducing your exposure to the chemicals that affect your hormones, so you are not left to work it out on your own.

06/10/2026