31 Sarah Clark: Fertility Coach, Author & Purpose Driven Podcaster on her Birth Story

Maternal health is as important to Heidi as breathing! This episode features Sarah Clark, an infertility conqueror, author of Fabulously Fertile, and fellow podcast host of the show Get Pregnant Naturally, who breaks down with Heidi all you need to know about the subject.

Looking for a Virtual Doula to create a custom birthing experience and guide you through your journey to parenthood in the United States? Contact Heidi at www.mydoulaheidi.com

For additional free birth education resources and to purchase Heidi’s book, Birth Story: Pregnancy Guidebook + Journal, visit www.birthstory.com.

Want to share your thoughts on the episode? Leave a review and send a message directly to Heidi on Instagram.

TRANSCRIPTION

As a contraction feel like, how do I know if I'm in labor and what does the day of labor look like? Wait, is this normal? Hey, I'm Heidi. My best friends. Call me hides. I'm a certified birth doula host of this podcast and author of birth story and interactive pregnancy guidebook. I have supported hundreds of women through their labor and deliveries, and I believe every one of them and you deserves a microphone and a stage.

So here we are listen each week to get answers to these tough questions, birth story, where we talk about pregnancy labor deliveries, where we tell our stories and share our feelings. And of course chat about our favorite baby products and motherhood. And because I'm passionate about birth outcomes, you will hear from some of the top experts in labor and delivery, whether you are pregnant.

Trying desperately to get pregnant or you just love a good birth story. I hope you will stick around and be part of this birth story family. Hey everybody. Welcome to the birth story podcast. Today I am interviewing Sarah Clark and Sarah came to me via email from Canada. And I could not have been more excited Sarah, to have gotten an email from your assistant about your story and what you do.

So Sarah is really cool. She's like a podcaster and author, and she's got a really neat story. And so we're just going to start right there. Sarah, I want you to tell everybody that. Doesn't know you, maybe hasn't listened to your podcast or read your book like who you are and why you are on the podcast today.

Awesome. Well, thanks so much for having me and yeah, so I am a, on the fertility coach, a author and infertility conqueror wife, a mother, a business owner. There's there's all the titles, but, um, just the person live in their passion, I guess right now, as you know, it's spent years in corporate and then discovered all the work I'm doing now and finally found my purpose.

I love it. Some of my favorite interviews are when I am. Interviewing just mom bosses that say just what you said that they're living out their passions. Like once upon a time they were in corporate America. So you're, you are my favorite kind of guessed. And today we are tackling fertility. We're going to hear about your story, Sarah, and then we are gonna talk about in detail, how and why you knew, you just said, I am a fertility conquer because there are so many women listening right now that need this hope.

But need this message from you that feel really lost. That feels sad. God, that don't know where to turn. And that may be today's episode, like opens a door of something that they haven't thought about before. So let's start at the very beginning. We know where you're at today, right? You're an author and a podcast or going to fertility conquer.

But once upon a time, Sarah was in corporate America in her twenties and looking to have a family. So will you walk us through that period of time for you? Yeah, so corporate Canada. Um, yeah, and it was really, so I always joked in my early twenties that I was having menopausal hot flashes and were being, I was in HR at the time and I'm like interviewing people and I'm like joking ha menopausal hot flash.

And it turns out that's what it was. So I had irregular periods in my early twenties and by regular air a couple of times a year, I thought that was a good thing. Because I didn't get my parents didn't have to worry about it. And then it might in my teens, I had great skin. And then in my early twenties, I started getting acne and I also had yeast infections.

And then I had this weird fungal rash on my chest. So all these kind of seemingly unrelated. Symptoms. And so FirstLine events when you have regular periods and, and, uh, acne is to go to your doctor and there you're put on the birth control pills. So I was put on the birth control pill and the actually didn't really improve, but obviously the periods became regular, but that was not, um, natural way of looking at it more and more of a bandaid approach.

So, um, how this life plan of getting married at 25, got married at 25 and then wanted to have my kids at 28. So just before 28, decided to go off the pill. At that time, the periods were still irregular. So I went to see my OB GYN. And then I was told that I had premature ovarian failure, which is the loss of function of your ovaries before the age of 40.

And the only way I'd ever have children is by using donor eggs. And I remember her, I remember her being in her, in her office and she reaching up onto her shelf and grabbing the brochure for a IVF. And told me that's what I need to do. And I remember I was like a complete shock at 28 saying, wait a minute, donor eggs.

And I, I left the office. I'm not a big crier, so I wasn't crying, just more stunned. And, but I didn't take any time to grieve. I didn't take any time to figure out all those different symptoms I was talking about there. And so I went straight to the fertility clinic and went on a list or a donor aid. And this is back in the day where.

I was basically going on. So someone was going through male factor infertility and she in turn would donate having her eggs to us if we paid for her treatment of, um, going, going through IVF. So did that went on the list? Um, this is like almost 18 years ago. So when I, when I tell people donor eggs, they looked at me with like a blank stare.

They didn't even know what a domain was. And now we have, because of all, all the IVF procedures going on, we have a donation, we have a big adoption. I'm like, I just interviewed someone for my podcast and she adopted an embryo. So not a adoption, um, uh, embryo adoption and a embryo donation. She adopted a little embryo.

And the natural siblings are 13 years old and her little baby, he just turned two. So that's pretty cool. Um, but yeah, but we didn't, we didn't have that guy back then. So, you know, it's, it's, it's a newer thing. So when I said donor eggs, people even know what I'm saying. And so we went to this fertility clinic or put on the list and back then I received the donor profile in the mail.

So, um, and I didn't even get a picture of the donor, but we had, um, the maternal and the paternal history back back to the maternal and paternal grandparents. So we, um, lined that up. I'm super tall, like six foot. So I wanted to have a somewhat tall donor knowing I wouldn't get a six foot donor, but. You know, that tall height was the thing for me.

And also, you know, trying to, trying to somewhat match, you know, my physical characteristics, but without seeing the person now with the donors they have, you can see them, see what they look like, which I dunno, it's kind of even weirder because then you end up, you know, there's like a whole thing where it may be you're going to pick something.

Right. I don't know. And it was, I didn't have a pitcher. We just had the profile and we're lucky enough on the first fresh transfer that it worked. And my daughter has just left the house and she is off to university. So she's almost 18. So her husband's from my husband's farm and donor egg. And then, and they just did, you know, the, um, I am assuming that there was a period of time where though, where you had to do the whole IVF procedure with the hormones.

Can you tell us some, you didn't have to do any of the injections or anything. So during this sort of time, I thought like, I actually thought. But I had it easier than other people that had to, you know, use their own. I had to go through years and years of it not working. I had to go through all those different, you know, hormone shots and things.

Now I always had to do some preparation to get my body ready for it, like taking, and this was years ago. So I'm probably not to remember exactly what I took, but like some hormones to prepare my body, but I did not do any injections. There wasn't any of that. Okay. Um, and then obviously you had to. You know, you know, monitor my hormone levels.

So, so there was that piece running back and forth to the clinic. Um, and then really also we had the other piece of the lady that was donating. So I was taking half of her eggs and she, she was dealing with, with male factor infertility. So she got, I mean, she had 18 eggs. I'm telling you, you have to us.

And, um, and we had. Yeah, they've been planted too. And then they had chambers that were leftover and, um, both of them were like green day, like top, top embryos and. It worked on the first transfer for Reva and I was, um, 31. So, so you were 31 years old and you started this process about 28. So it was over a three year fertility journey for you.

And you said that you implanted two and then one was successful, but you knew that twins was a possibility. Yeah. And also not that this would play play to Matt, but my mom's a twin, but like, so, but that was not my genetics. So yeah, more than that, if the XSplit exactly, exactly people, you know, dealing with bad people with triplets and more so.

Yeah. So I was lucky enough on the first stress transfer and then. On then after a year, one of my kids close together, had those two embryos there and went back in and my husband's like, Sarah, you seem a little stressed. And like, you know, I was bound determined to have the kids close together and went back in and that didn't work.

So then we went on another list for a separate donor. And, um, the same process, the mailbox, and, you know, the maternal and paternal grandparents history looked at the height thing again for me and obviously the physical characteristics and then also health, things like that. And then we were lucky on the first press transfer to have our son and he's 15.

So we are, we're one of the fortunate ones that this actually worked. So both of your children then are not a hundred percent biological siblings. No. No. Okay. So let's go back really quick, just because I'm curious, I've got a question about, like you said, you went in a year later and you seemed a little stressed.

Did they? At that point, did they implant? Both of those two remaining is at the same time. And then we're about to get into. You know, more of your story. Do you feel that any thing else played a role in that transfer being unsuccessful, or do you feel that it was stress. Yeah, I, I, I do believe that I was like keyed up and, you know, maybe my hormones hadn't quite balanced back from the year, I think a whole host of things going on.

But I think the fact that the stress thing that I had to, you know, I was bound and determined this was going to work and I didn't really, and back then, like, I help people now with mind, body and, you know, we do diet and lifestyle, all these things. So I did none of that. I just went back in, did the transfer and, and really didn't have, and even the counseling, they provide a back.

Back then it was more like it was very limited counseling. So there wasn't really anyone to talk to about this. And I just thought at the time all my girlfriends are having babies. It was a, you know, you get to be that age 28 to usually pass 28. When everyone got married, all my friends got married around the 25 Mark all started having babies kind of the 28 early thirties.

So there was a big, was a baby epidemic and all my friend group and, um, Yeah, I wanted to join the party. Yeah, I know what, I didn't have my first until I was 35. So I remember many years of sadness trying to be really excited when everyone was pregnant with their third baby. And I was like, still not pregnant.

With my first, so, well, this is a really good place to pivot Sarah, because what I really want to do is dig in and do as much teaching today as possible because there is a lesson there, right from the first transfer to the second transfer to the third transfer. And then we have additional lessons that we're going to dig into on your specialty and your passion that kind of grew out of this.

But I want moms to kind of have heard from you, maybe some of the things, if they're in the middle of this right now, and they're going in for that IVF transfer, like what would be some key recommendations? To help them reduce their stress and their anxiety and not be keyed up to best prepare their body for, you know, accepting a transfer.

So I thought we could touch on that for just a minute and then turn into what it is that you do today, right. To help, um, conquer fertility. Yeah. So if somebody, we take a functional approach, so we say the IVF is your last step, but if you are going to IVF in the next month or two, and that's what you've decided to do, we, like I say, to basically really dig into the mind body side of this and looking at visualization, looking at meditation.

Talking about your emotions, like really dig into this, visualizing this working, because there can be a lot of stress, obviously leading up to this and pressure and sort of really kind of dig into self care. And this is based on, uh, Alice Domar. So she's a Harvard researcher and she's been running mine, uh, mind, body fertility groups for over 20 years.

And I shouldn't people in her group, um, that did these, these mind body strategies. So visualization, fertility, yoga. Meditation like being in a group and talking about their, you know, their, their experience. So 55% of women got pregnant within six months. And then within two years, 95%, uh, went on to become a mother somehow.

So this stuff has, is well-proven and. If you're going to IVF, that's where you want to go. I, we take a functional approach, which looks at things completely differently, but if you're doing the IVF rate, that's right. That's where I'd go. Okay. Okay. So before we turn to functional medicine, if someone's already at that stage right now, like they they've missed this podcast, they've, you know, been directed they're in the process of IVF and the say they they're listening and they're like, Oh, I'm.

Really terrible at mindfulness. Like this feels like something, I just don't even know where to start. Um, is this S does Alison's group still? Is that something that our listeners could be part of today? Yeah. Alice Domar has still runs a group in Boston. Like we, we run groups a couple of times a year.

I've got one coming up in a couple of weeks in September and that I co-facilitate with the therapist and she's run the mind, my mind ready groups and in a hospital setting for, for years. It's based on the, on the principles of that, but really if the mindfulness piece is, is too much, you've got to, you know, spend hours meditating.

It's more. Yeah. Or like if the sitting still meditation work, then try fertility yoga. If that doesn't work, when, you know, when you, when you're on a walk just to be present, not, you know, obviously like people listen to podcasts, but when you're actually on a walk. Take the earbuds out of your ear and listen to the birds.

The sounds around you, your foot hitting the pavement or another part of mindfulness can be eating. We all eat when you eat. Instead of shoveling the food in like I used to do and sit there, you're eating really quickly. It's more. You know, to each bite, sit at the table, have a nice plate, you know, have a whole kind of, uh, um, routine around around this.

So it feels very calming and not like eating at the counter and stuffing in your face. So those are kinds of things for mindfulness. So it's either mindful eating, mindful walking, or even the shower. We all take a shower or bath. And, um, while in the shower, and this comes from Jon Kabat Zinn. So he is, he's the pioneer of the grant, the grandfather of, of mindfulness, and really when you're in the shower and he was on Oprah years ago and she that she, she uses a uses analogy with her saying when you're in the shower, feel the water on your body, smell the shampoo.

Um, there's a lot of times when the shower we're planning our whole day, we're not even in the showers every time you come back. So the water on your body to smelling the shampoo or to, you know, feeling, you know, whatever it is that, that the heat of the shower that's mindfulness you coming back. So those simple things you can do as you start to prepare, and there's the therapy and things like that too, but just that things cause there's a lot of.

Pressure and worry and, you know, comparison and triggers everywhere for people that are dealing with infertility. And like I was saying, when usually in this age, a lot of people around you are getting pregnant. So a lot of triggers, jealousy, anger, resentment, all of these emotions to be able to. Give a voice to them and not stuck them down.

Yeah. Thank you. I think that those are all very practical pieces of advice. I interviewed just a short time ago, a hypnotherapist. And so no matter where you're listening from, these are things that you can type into Google with your local city type in things. Um, like there's an application that I use. To call the Headspace.

And I'm a big fan of that helps someone who's not great at mindfulness. Um, it starts with one, three and five minute meditations. So just really getting into some practices that help with that deep. Relaxation and help eliminate some of that, um, release of adrenaline and cortisol, and really help that body get out of that fight or flight response mode.

So I will link to Alison's group and John's research into the show notes as well as maybe a link for some apps that would help anyone who's currently in that IVF process. And now we're going to, she'd go like a back a little bit further. So if you're listening and you, or someone, you know, or love has been struggling with fertility, like Sarah was, you're not in the, like, you're not at the, in stage of this, right.

You're just wondering about some of these menopausal hot flashes or irregular periods or. You're have been trying to get pregnant and you're have been unsuccessful for many months. Your skin is changing. You've noticed, you know, smelly, discharge or yeast infections. You had mentioned like random. I know the eczema or the fungal things on, on your body.

There are so many. Uh, nausea. I mean, sleeplessness restlessness, there are so many symptoms that we get talk about that kind of are symptoms of infertility. And so this is where Sarah's life work began after this story that she told us and the success of having these. Beautiful children through a long journey.

And through that, that loss in between, and here you are today. So let's Sarah specifically talk to the women that are listening that are right there in that space. They are, um, they're getting triggered. They're sad. They're trying. Every time their period comes it's. You know, a moment of grief for them.

Let's first define what is a functional medicine practitioner. Yeah. So functional medicine looks at the root cause of disease or illness instead of so international medicine, we'll name it. In this case, we're going to name an infertility diagnosis. And a lot of people get stuck on that infertility diagnosis and not looking at the whole body.

So functional medicine, nutrition, functional, the functional approach. We'll look at the whole body and, and to answer, to, to think, to ask why. And, and to dig to dig deeper. So for me, I was going to track track a little bit back to my story, sort of how I figured all this out. Cause it wasn't, it was like years of me trying to figure this out.

So after I had my daughter, um, I had like nine colds. Every call went into a sinus infection. I thought it was a great idea to take antibiotics for every cold. Not a great idea. I destroyed all my gut flora. And then after that I started getting vertigo. I got chronic bladder infections. I was peeing blood.

And then he became allergic to all the antibiotics because I just kept taking antibiotics for the bladder infections, sinus infections. And then the yeast infections became chronic. Um, the acting got worse. I dandruff Tony, Tony, all infections. And although at the time I was still functioning. But, and I was in corporate still, but my immune system was, was pathetic.

There was like, you know, I got him, I got everything in the past whiny. And then I, the life coaching course. And that's when I discovered that I loved, um, health and wellness. And then I took this health coaching course. And that's why I discovered that I had these food sensitivities. So for me, when I took out dairy and gluten and later corn, The sinus infections, the bladder infections, the yeast infections slowly started going away.

And then it was taking out the dairy and dairy and gluten, and then also digging into targeted the supplements. And then few years after that, taking a stool test and figuring out I had gotten infections. Um, so it was a, it was a lot, and I didn't discover any of this until I was, I was 40. So I was fully in menopause.

I was no longer cycling. So if you're still cycling naturally, there's, there's things we can do. And I think a lot of times people come to me and they'll say, they're eating a clean diet and you know, but as we dig into, I say, most people will say they don't have food sensitivity and say a hundred percent of people that we work with.

There's some, there's some sort of food sensitivity going on and not to say that if you have that right now that you'll always have it. Cause it's a reflection of your, of the, of the current state of affairs with, with, with your gut health. As we start to look at potential gut infections and heal that, then we can allow the body to heal, but really with functional medicine, it's looking at those stressors.

Be it being a food sensitivity, being a got infection. Looking at environmental toxins, we're all exposed to those. So the personal care, your cleaning chemicals, your plastic fix the water. That's not right filtered. So those kinds of environmental toxins, the mental, emotional stressor. And a lot of times with fertility, we focus a lot on the mental, the mental, emotional stressor, and forget the other environment, get infections, food sensitivities, then also structural stress that there's a pensioner.

So those sorts of things and digging deeper and we, and we use functional testing to really test don't guess. Cause right now, if you go on Google fertility foods, or fertility superfoods, you're going to be inundated with a whole bunch of. Boots. And then even though the supplement side of things, people get stuck taking all these supplements, not knowing why they're taking it.

So ours, we use testing to then take a target approach to it. And when you say testing, you mean some blood or stool tests, saliva tests, like what kinds specifically, what types of testing. Yeah, so we use, so we started off by using the leap MRT tasks. That's a food sensitivity test that uses that looks at 200 foods and food chemicals, fruits, and the yellow.

You keep up for 60 days fence on the rad you'd keep up for 90 days. And then while we're waiting for the results of the food sensitivity tests, we have you do an elimination diet. And elimination diet. We have you do that with your partner. So in the beginning I was just coaching women. And now we weekly coach couples to really impose.

It takes two to tango, even though most people that come to us are female factor in fertility. There's always things that we can do to optimize preconception health for that, for the male partner as well. So we do, um, the elimination diet. So taking out the top allergens, which are dairy, gluten, soy, corn, peanuts, and eggs.

You take those up for 10 days and then systematically reintroduce them. So really the, the, um, the gold standard to figure out a few times activity is the elimination diet. And then, so you reintroduced them. We've got people that bring back in corn. I could flare up their asthma, bring back in dairy, feel Fleming.

You bring back in gluten, digestive issues. So it's different for everyone. So not until you actually. See how it feels. Cause you could do a food sensitivity test. They could come back that you're sensitive to all your favorite foods, which then could just indicate that you have a leaky gut and you need to work on your gut health, but it can be overwhelming.

And I've had that where you take the food sensitivity test and you're like, what the heck? What am I going to eat? You kidding me? Let me pause you right there. Because so many people mentioned this leaky gut and yet so many people have no idea what that is. Is or what that means. So could you just kind of dig in a little bit on leaky gut?

Yeah. So leaky gut or intestinal permeability, basically the body is mounting an immune response to, to, uh, food. So it's like these got these little, like little cheese cloth and as the, as the, the proteins and things coming through it, your body is that then becomes on hot on high alert and things that were normally fine for you as, almost as this tipping point to where you're like, wait a minute.

I've had gluten my whole life or I've had corn or almonds, whatever it is. And also the body is like, no, I can't take it anymore. So is it, so it's that tipping point and really with the leaky gut and the leaky gut can be caused by. So we see a lot of people that have been on longterm hormone, birth control, um, same for me.

So that will then impact your, your nutrient levels as well as it impacts the health of your gut. So predisposing into these food sensitivities and gut infections. So, and an antibiotics then that that's the backend, um, uh, impacting our leaky gut chronic stress and a lot of times, and when I look back now for myself and I'd be like, Oh, I wasn't stressed.

I didn't think I was stirring, but look like going through infertility is a stressful. And even though I, you know, at the time could handle stress. It just got to the point where I couldn't, I couldn't anymore. And now when I find myself saying yes to too many things, it's like, wait a minute, you gotta dial it back and really focus on self care.

So a lot of those things can be underlying causes for it, for leaky gut, then predisposing you again to these, these food sensitivities. So it is kind of, it is that. And so we, so we did a food sensitivity test. We also do a Dutch test that looks at your hormones, using urines, looking at your sex hormones and looking at your.

Your cortisol and your melatonin and really, um, seeing which pathways they, yeah, the hormones are going down. So, so, so as part of my team, uh, I work with a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner. She's the one running the tests and then developing. The protocol based, uh, based on the testing. So it's a test don't guess model.

So it's a food sensitivity testing and we do the Dutch test. And then, and we've had people that come in with low ovarian reserve or premature ovarian failure, and actually their is fine. Or, and other times we have other those flats. So it's, it's different for everyone. And sometimes people will be taking different supplements for what they think that there's like a hormonal imbalance with what they think it is.

And then with the Dutch test, we actually know what it is. So that's a, that's a crucial task and then allow them the third test we do as the stool tests. And we use the GI map test. It looks at the DNA of your stool and say the majority of people that we work with, there's something going on in the gut, be it, um, a parasite, a bacterial infection, a fungal infection there there's some sort of gut infection.

And then as we use targeted, targeted supplements to address that. Then you can start to heal. And then, then you potentially, Hey that you were sensitive two, you can start bringing them back in as you start to heal the gut. And then the last one we do as the heritage and mineral analysis, and that looks at, um, your mineral status.

Cause a lot of times you're eating this healthy diet and if you're not absorbing it and so you can tweak a lot of that with, with diet and one was in some targeted supplements. So those are the four tests we use and then we develop a protocol and really start at the beginning. People get stuck kind of on the task part of it, but that's really the beginning.

Cause you've got to then make all these, these lifestyle changes. So with making diet changes and it's more than just cause you can hear this targeted diet, it is more, more than just diet. It is looking at lifestyle, looking at your sleep. So sleep hygiene is the foundation of good health. And, and fertility is the work on sleep hygiene with clients for months, um, movement that's right for you.

Um, the environmental toxin load. So beginning getting rid of that, and it's not about going to your, you know, going to your house or your personal care and throwing it all out. Is when they expire, then you can get a better option. And for that it's to go to the skin deep database and you can look at your current product and you want it, but, um, between a one and a three.

So just check what your current products are. And then as again, as they, as they expire, just going to get a new one. So it's not panicking here. Sometimes people will go into that. Yeah. The panic mode on like, Oh, I got to change everything over it. That that in itself causes stress. So this is a. And we have a six month program.

It's with your partner. It's, it's a, it's a slow approach, but it's slow, but you can get resolved quite quickly. By making these, these targeted changes and not panicking about the whole thing. I know. And I'm so glad that you mentioned the skin care because our S the skin is our largest organ. And I think people sometimes forget when you put lotions on or perfume or deodorant or your makeup, or, you know, shaving gel or shampoo or conditioner, like all of these things play a role, also, not just the food that we're putting inside of our body.

So I'm glad that you mentioned that. Now we're going to take a short break to just share a few things with you. Things for listening to the birth story podcast. I am so excited to announce the launch of my book, book, birth story, a 42 week guide for your pregnancy, a collection of these birth stories, ton of doula advice and journaling prompts.

You can order a copy today@birthstory.com. It also will mean the world to me. If you'll spread the word about this podcast, so on Stitcher or on iTunes, just leave a review. Thanks. One of the things I wanted to ask you is because there is, you know, women that are listening to this podcast are going to be of all different ages.

Some of them might not have gone down the IUI or the IVF or this other route yet, which, which in this interview, we are considering a last resort. But there's also the age of the mom is sometimes playing a role in and how much, like they're getting nervous because they feel like they're, they're having on a fertility journey, but they're also running out of time.

So what I wanted to talk to you about as if someone is listening today and they're in rural Montana. And there is not a functional medicine practitioner and they're interested in what you're saying. Can some of these things be done? Can functional medicine practice like yourself, work with clients.

Remotely is my first question. And then the second, what is the typical timeframe? Both from the time someone comes to you with infertility, you do all of the testing, you do the implementation, and then you say, now you should try to get pregnant again. Yeah. So we work with our couples or a couple of worldwide, it's all on visas.

So via video chat and also all the tech, all the tests are shipped internationally and through and through North America. So we're lucky. We're in 2019, this is super accessible to people and really functional medicine, functional nutrition. The functional approach is the future of conventional medicine.

Instead of just as we say, just naming it and throwing a pill out at this little. This is the look, look to see why, because if your body, if an infertility, there's a one in six in Canada, one in eight in the U S and one in five in, in, in the UK. So, and even stats were bore. It was 60% female fertility, 50%.

That's 40% male. And now it's showing more 50 50. So it's, this is. Amp. You've seen the, the, the show, the Handmaid's tale. I watched that show and I'm like, Oh my God. Cause they're talking all about the, you know, the, the food and the water and all these contaminants. And, um, that may not be too far off, but is, I was like, maybe I should give it another try.

I didn't even make it through the first episode. It like. It's so weird. And I was like, this is too far. This is too far for me. I won the second season, but I'm like, damn, this is a bummer of the show. But anyways, um, it's, it's it's well done, but the, so that we, we, we work remotely for sure. Yeah. To interject right there is that, um, so many women take on the responsibility of thinking that they're in fertility is because of them.

And I'm so glad that you just. Threw those statistics out because your partner, if you're in a heterosexual relationship looking to get pregnant this way, then your part than your male partner, their diet, their nutrition, their stress, their food sensitivities there. Products that they're using in the shower and on their skin and on their face that they are ingesting that, that, that is 50% of the puzzle that, that your male partner, if that is your relationship is just as important to be on this journey.

It is not just on us. The women who are carrying the baby, creating a healthy embryo is 50. 50. And so I'm so glad that you touched on that this is a journey for both partners to be on. And even I'm assuming, you know, even for a couples that you're working with, that may be going the IUI or IVF or embryo adoption route because they are in and not in a heterosis.

Sexual cisgender relationship, but they still, the hearing mother is still has to prepare her body. And when the caring mother has to prepare her body, you still need your partner on that journey with them. Yeah. Cause it's, it's, it's mostly women that come to me, I'd say about 99% of. Women are the ones that reach out to me first.

And they're the ones making all these changes. And the partner typically is quite supportive and they may not even know what to do. And they may try to do some supplements and try to do some things, but they're not quite sure what they can do to optimize it. And also men, men, and women handling fertility differently.

Women tip typically are the ones that joined the forums during the phase space. But groups reach out, we'll have an account on Instagram and really reach out that way and maybe tell a few, a few close friends, men. Generalizing stereo stereotypically. Well, we'll tell no one, but it doesn't mean they're not equally hurting.

So that that's a point as well. And I think you've mentioned before about the age thing and we have women. And couples, it doesn't matter what age they are, like 28, 30, eight, 44, wherever they are. They're they're past the point where they want to expand their family. So I'd say everyone's in a panic, which, which, which can be scary because even the lay people are 30 or getting in a panic.

So it doesn't matter the age. It's really like how they, how they are. And then they're feeling. That their only choice is to go to the fertility when that was the last step. Like, why do you want, if, if, if it, if it takes that, if an idea we have an average IVF has a 30% success rate and it takes an average of three cycles and a cost of $60,000.

Why is that the first step? Why, you know, let's look to see, well, why do you have a regular periods? Why do you have an unexplained infertility with functional? The functional approach is not unexplained. You have people coming in with unexplained, infertility. They actually have an undiagnosed autoimmune disease, multiple gut infections, food sensitivities, high stress, you know, there's there's reasons.

It's not unexplained. So that is just like, it's not, this is, you know, glazing over that the issues. So I think that, that's what I was so important about what you do as a functional medicine practitioner. As you started this podcast, you said I am looking for the root cause. There is always. Always a root cause whether it find it or not.

And one of the easiest examples that I give to my clients when I'm talking to them, and again, I'm just a dual, I'm not a functional medicine practitioner, but I'm when I'm working with my clients, especially if they've had one or two babies and then all of a sudden they're having trouble getting pregnant with them third.

Right. Because maybe hormones. Sensitivities things have changed. Stress levels have changed, you know, over time. But I say, you know, if you go to the doctor and you have heartburn and they give you a heartburn pill that day, it's going to take away your heartburn. But that's just a bandaid. We're just covering up a symptom.

But why are you having heartburn? What did you eat? Right? Is your lower esophageal, sphincter loose? Do you have celiacs? You know, there's always an underlying cause and this is the same with fertility, if you, and when they, and here in North Carolina, if you, they tell you to try for one year, this floors me, I believe that if you are healthy, And you were trying to get pregnant and you are not pregnant with it six months.

Yeah. I believe you should be seeking a functional medicine practitioner to be making big lifestyle changes by understanding your gut bacteria, your gut, flora, your food sensitivities, your lifestyle. Like this is where I believe Sarah Clark comes in. And Sarah, I could not be more excited that you said that you can work across the world with.

Anyone on zoom because so many of my listeners are listening in from rural parts of many different countries. And so I wanted to be able to put this podcast out here with some functional advice about functional medicine, but that if someone's listening, that they feel like they could also take action no matter where they live.

So how Sarah would people get a hold of you? If they are listening to this podcast, they're in the middle of this fertility journey. They're not ready for that last resort of IVF. And they're really interested in doing this testing with you. Yeah, sure. So they can, well, they can find me on the, get pregnant naturally podcasts.

So we interview functional doctors as well as people in the natural fertility space and the mind and the mind body space. So really looking at this completely differently. And I sort of look, I'll even take apart. Like if you have acne, what should you do if you have. Uh, mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, you know, how are these all linked to your, your, your infertility and they all are so, um, we'll kind of tease apart different symptoms, even though in the functional approach.

We don't focus on that, but I think it's for people to kind of say, wait a minute, cause some spaces, people will come to me. I'll be like, Oh, I have infertility class. Oh, by the way, I have an autoimmune disease. Oh, by the way, I get migraines. Oh, by the way. And it's not, by the way, it's like, Oh, that is a huge clue.

Oh, by the way, I've been on, you know, 10 years of birth control it's those are huge clues. So someone can push pause right now on my body guest, go into your podcast app and search for, get pregnant naturally and hit subscribe, and then push, pause, and come back to listen to the rest of this podcast. And then, um, so how else, I know you wrote a book.

Will you tell us a little bit about the book? Sure. So it's fabulously fertile it's on Amazon. And basically just goes through the, the down the foundational steps. Be it, um, diet and lifestyle steps. It also has a, a meal plan and a recipes and marriage really. Take the first steps of what you need to do as far as looking at diet, looking at lifestyle, looking at sleep, all of that is, is detailed in the book, but yeah, that's that's and I also the cookbook too, but really, to me, the best places to go to the podcast and you'll see it all laid out there.

When we talked about the elimination diet, I tell you how to go through the elimination diet in the podcast. So yeah. And then I see that you're active on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. Will you share with listeners how they may follow you? Yeah. Sure. So on Instagram, it's fat fertile fab fertile, um, as is the handle.

And then on Facebook access, the coaching as ESA coaching and Twitter is found fertile, Feb fertile. That's my that's my site. Yep. That fertile fab fertile. And then do you have a website also? Yeah, it is the fab for a doll. So fat, fertile.com and all of this, Sarah, I will link to in the show notes so that everyone that's listening, that's interested in learning more about your services, that they know exactly how to get ahold of you, but I really do hope that everyone will start with the get pregnant naturally.

Podcast and kind of add that into your podcast lineup. So Sarah, thank you so much for being on today. I just know that there are going to be women that are listening and. Today we have kind of maybe had an opportunity to slow down their journey, give them a voice to go look towards a functional medicine approach.

Maybe they'd never heard of any of this before, and they can just kind of push, pause. Take a look at what's going on in their body. Make notice if there's any of those other symptoms that we were talking about that could be red flags that are contributing to the infertility when, so that they may consider.

Something like IVF as a last resort rather than the first stop. And then again, this is always, this is a little lifestyle change too. So as you mentioned, you know, I'm over 40 you're over 40, even once the child bearing years have kind of. Um, come and gone that knowing this information,  about what your food sensitivities are and the way that your body and your gut responds, the way your skin responds to different things, including stress.

This functional medicine is in. Is not just for fertility is what I'm trying to say is this as something that then you can adopt into your children's lifestyles and we have the opportunity to raise the next generation that comes behind us too. No things about mindfulness and the healthy eating and relaxation.

I've talked about this many times on my podcast, my children and I are on the Reed diet. It was a provider here in the United States, Katie Reed, but essentially. My son had a stroke. Um, when, when I was birthing him and has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, and we see a huge changes, his ability to verbally communicate I'm at four years old and to.

You know, have easier transitions when the inflammation is out of his body so that the neuropathways between his gut and his brain can communicate well, even with brain damage. And the differences have been completely night and day by cutting out dairy, you know, gluten, soy, corn, all of these. Things that STEM back to, to glutamate.

So I, you know, I'm a raving fan of yours, Sarah glargine and functional medicine practitioners and general. And I just, couldn't be more thankful for this podcast today. Well, thanks so much for having me on Heidi and yeah. Doing the work that you do as well. And yeah. Look looking at the functional approach.

You can't go back. That's why I'm sharing it with everyone, because once you find it, it's like what. Why didn't I know this. Yes. I consider myself a educated, somewhat smart woman. And I'm like, why did I not know this? And so I think it's, it's, it's up to us to, to, you know, to spread, spread the word. Yes.

Spread the word. Please share about this episode, please share about the, get pregnant naturally podcast. And you never know at the end of this, you may have a little baby in your arms or a toddler like me that in the mornings you're. Turning on your Vitamix. And you're putting things like fennel, kale, spinach, carrot greens, and beet greens.

All of those things went into my child's smoothie this morning and it was finished within 30 seconds. So it is possible. It is possible. So I hope we make a bunch of believers and Changemakers out of this podcast today. Thank you, Sarah. And we will talk to you again soon. Let's have you on again. Awesome.

Thank you. Bye.

Thank you for listening to birth story, Michael it's you walk away from each episode with a clear picture of how labor and delivery might go and that you will feel empowered by the end of your pregnancy to speak up plan and prepare for the birth you want. No matter what that looks like.