How a Dietitian can support your fertility journey
Statistics
Did you know, it has been estimated that 8-12% of couples worldwide trying to conceive are impacted by infertility. Infertility is formally defined as the inability to fall pregnant despite having unprotected sex more than twice per week for at least 12 months if less than 35 years of age and more than 6 months if older than 35 years of age.
Infertility can be attributed to
30% from male complications
30% (also) from female complications
30% from both male and female complications
10% idiopathic (unknown) complications
Fortunately, in Australia we have access to routine tests and procedures to allow both female and male counterparts to identify any specific concerns, which can be addressed early. This allows the fertility team to create a personalised treatment plan and refer to specialists when necessary. If you would like to find out more about these tests, Genea Fertility is a great place to start with valuable bite size information and guidance.
Relationship between nutrition & infertility?
There are several factors that can influence a couples ability to successfully fall pregnant with age being one of the biggest factors. However, several lifestyle factors including nutrition can influence and improve the chances of you falling pregnant.
Maintaining a healthy weight, or most importantly a healthy waist circumference and eating a well-rounded diet individualised to your needs is imperative to optimising fertility and specifically for the mother and child prior to conception, during pregnancy and after birth.
As an Accredited Dietitian working in this space, there are several layers of support that I can provide to ensure your nutrition meets your individual needs and current fertility journey.
For males, this can involve breaking down key nutrients that have shown to support optimal sperm quantity, speed & quality. For females, understanding how certain foods can either hinder or enhance a woman’s menstrual cycle and ovulatory function is essential. We can work with specific dietary conditions including women with gastrointestinal diseases where nutrition might be impacted due to malabsorption and or women with specific hormone imbalances including PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) can benefit from individualised nutrition support too. Based off a woman’s clinical history and current assessment, safe, evidenced based and holistic nutrition recommendations can help improve one’s egg health quality & implantation rates.
My goal as a Dietitian working in this space is to…
debunk common myths or fads associated with fertility (especially those that are unsafe)
investigate safe options for you to trial to optimise your fertility journey
provide you with the latest evidence behind fertility and food and help break this down practically to suit you
individualise nutrition goals based on you and or your partners clinical background and current assessment
work collaboratively with yourself, partner and the fertility treatment team for the best integrative support
SMS me now to organise a discovery call to find out what I can offer as a Dietitian working in this space.
Stay tuned as I am yet to launch my new website tailored to all things related to ‘life cycle nutrition’.
Until next time,
Aimee
