In the heartfelt final episode of this series—and the podcast—Kate hosts one last time, joined by fellow podcaster Kate Cocker, to explore happiness, positivity, and the emotional rollercoaster of the fertility journey. Do listen to the end as you'll also hear a message from Natalie, with a small ask about a survey we'd like you to complete.

Together, Kate and Kate reflect on the challenges of navigating hope and disappointment. Kate shares how the ups and downs can feel overwhelming, often leaving people afraid to hope for fear of being let down. It's an emotional struggle that can be all-consuming.

In response, Kate Cocker introduces The 7 Pillars of Happiness: be self-full, accept the now, practice gratitude, check your self-talk, make a rainbow, manage your energy, and clear your mind. These principles offer a foundation for finding joy and balance, even in difficult times.

This heartfelt conversation encourages you to seek out moments of happiness and hold onto them as a source of strength through your journey.

Tune in to this inspiring episode for wisdom, comfort, and practical advice to support you on your path.

OUR SPONSOR:

We are delighted that the current series is being sponsored by Proceive who are kindly offering all listeners to The Fertility Podcast 15% off any Procieve purchase, when you use the discount code FP15.

Socials:

Follow @YourFertilityNurse on Instagram

Follow @TheFertilityPodcast on Instagram

Check these out!

https://www.thepresentercoach.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/thepresentercoach/ and https://www.instagram.com/officialeverydaypositivity/

Every Day Positivity Podcast available on Spotify

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScBD3cObrjlqP9KQzYVeRL4m9jjTTtk403oiX7jsaLQ-FRW2Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

Also please check out the archive episodes of The Fertility Podcast as we also have:

Getting Pregnancy Ready: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/getting-pregnancy-ready/id1642701326

Pregnancy Loss:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pregnancy-loss/id1608905862

Male Fertility:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/male-fertility/id1608905647

Donor Conception and Surrogacy: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/donor-conception-and-surrogacy/id1609413884

Infertility Support:

In this episode, the penultimate episode that Kate is hosting, Kate is joined by Professor Tim Child.

Tim is Associate Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Oxford. He has published more than 100 research papers, and has brought new treatments and techniques to the UK, increasing both the success and safety of fertility treatment.

In 2021, he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Health to the board of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s regulator of assisted conception treatment and research. Tim Chairs its Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee (SCAAC), responsible for the IVF Add-Ons traffic light system.

And not only that but Kate and Tim worked together many moons ago in Oxford, and Tim was rather partial to Kate’s homemade strawberry cheese cake!

So, Tim is here to talk all things IVF Add-ons with us and I’m sure you’ll agree he’s absolutely best placed to do so!

Kate and Tim discuss exactly what are IVF add ons, whether you should be using them, how they are graded and the importance of making the right decision for you with as much information from your doctor as possible.

The pair also discuss the rise of misinformation on social media, how to filter through this fake information and where to find evidence based information. Go and take a look at Tim’s excellent Instagram account where he shares so much top quality information to help you along your fertility journey.

Thanks for joining

OUR SPONSOR:

We are delighted that the current series is being sponsored by Proceive who are kindly offering all listeners to The Fertility Podcast 15% off any Procieve purchase, when you use the discount code FP15.

Socials:

Follow @YourFertilityNurse on Instagram

Follow @TheFertilityPodcast on Instagram

Follow Natalie Silverman she / her (@fertilitypoddy) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Follow Fertility Doctor (@drtimchild) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Find HFEA: UK fertility regulator website

Back to The Fertility Podcast archive for this episode to celebrate the release of the Netflix movie 'Joy' - Natalie has shared a conversation she had Connie Orbach about how she started her research to curate the British Science Museum's exhibition about the story of IVF.

What was discussed:

• Connie herself admitted how she didn't realize how much content she would find in the archives from Leslie Brown, regarding the correspondence she received from all around the world.
• Connie talked about Jean Purdy who I've learned all about over the last couple of weeks and she is talked about as being IVF's forgotten pioneer, despite being written about by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards as one of the three of them.
• Connie has written a really good blog here Jean was hired as a lab technician however she was tasked with managing the laboratory and in reality, she did much more. Jean Purdy was not just central to the running of the lab but also to the scientific work. Connie and I spoke about whether her gender meant she was taken less seriously by reporters? Possibly, seeing as she was recorded in the photos as being the 'midwife'.
• Was her role as a lab technician seen as unimportant next to that of the surgeon and the scientist? This is so ironic seeing as she is credited with first discovering the blastocyst embryo stage, one of the key breakthroughs in our understanding of an embryo's development.
• Whatever the reason, it was not for lack of trying from Edwards. He repeatedly emphasized Purdy’s importance and unsuccessfully lobbied her name to be added to the commemorative plaque placed at the site of their original clinic. Read more in Connie's blog and here are some other articles that are written for the exhibition
• Sally Cheshire, chair of the HFEA has also written a blog for the exhibition. Martin Johnson discussing the challenges faced by Bob Edwards developing IVF.
• Gareth Downs on the male perspective: Bristol Archives wrote a blog recently about receiving the Lesley Brown Archive

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To celebrate the release on Netflix of the new film about IVF 'Joy' this is an old episode of The Fertility Podcast, which Natalie produced in celebration of Louise Brown's 40th Birthday and the fact that at that point in time, over 300,000 babies have been born through IVF treatment with more than 1 million cycles having taken place. TheHFEA asked Natalie to make a podcast with them, so Natalie is in conversation with its chair Sally Cheshire and one of its Inspectors, a lady called Janet Kirkland MacHattie, who worked as a nurse at Bourne Hall in 1982, under Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy.

In fact, it was during this conversation with Janet, that Natalie first learnt about Jean, and found herself feeling somewhat ashamed that she didn't know about her sooner!

What was discussed:

• Sally Cheshire talked about how at the time the treatment was quite experimental and Louise Brown's parents were quite brave in putting themselves forward
• She explains how the Government and Parliament decided to investigate how treatment should be regulated and asked Mary Warnock to form a committee in 1984 to look at how infertility should be regulated. The law came into being in 1990 and the HFEA came to be in 1991.
• Sally talked about her role at the HFEA and what has changed over the last 40 years and the importance of the focus of its work being on the 70% of people who aren’t successful with their treatment.
• The HFEA has a vital role, thinking about how emotional support can be improved in clinics because, as she explains 'We do know that even if you are pregnant after IVF there’s a level of anxiety you carry with you".
• The importance of being medically, emotionally and financially equipped to try again when going through fertility treatment. Sally explained how 'We still feel a lot of media stories about fertility treatment are positive… very often, there’s a lot of around celebrities with the example of Bridget Neilson who gave birth at 54. Are they being truthful about using donor eggs? Some of those stories give you a false impression."
• Janet explained how she went for the job at Bourn Hall, to join the nursing team - not really knowing what was involved and when she asked Patrick Steptoe his advice on a book she could read to learn more, his reply was 'My dear, they've not been written yet
• What the treatment process was like initially, with Ladies staying at Bourn Hall for ten day periods and how as they didn't have blood tests, the Ladies urine was tested every three hours to find out if they were ovulating.
• Janet talked about an interview Patrick Steptoe gave where he spoke about his vision for the future being "centres set up where people have been properly trained and this technique will be available to women all over the world"

To compare clinics like for like, or rate your clinic visit the HFEA website

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The Fertility Podcast is back with an all time favourite topic… stress!

In this episode Kate is with Alice Domar to talk all about stress and how it affects your fertility. Stress and Fertility is a topic that is often asked by a lot of patients, and it is one that leaves people little answer to whether stress causes infertility.

There is no question that infertility causes stress, through all the waiting, the tests, the remembering so many different things and then sometimes, not ever finding an answer to your unexplained infertility.

So in this episode, Kate and Alice talk about infertility about how most of the women and men going through it have psychological issues and lots of stress. They talk about how infertility effects everything in your life, your friends and family, mental and physical health, your body image and so much more.

Alice talks about infertility is a disease, however, unlike most other diseases, you are blamed for it. She goes onto talk about how it should be seen as a mental health issue or how it should be treated as the same but it is not.

They also talk about being on hold and feeling like you can’t do anything because you don’t know what is going to happen if you do.

OUR SPONSOR:

We are delighted that the current series is being sponsored by Proceive who are kindly offering all listeners to The Fertility Podcast 15% off any Procieve purchase, when you use the discount code FP15.

Socials:

Follow @YourFertilityNurse on Instagram

Follow @TheFertilityPodcast on Instagram

Follow Natalie Silverman she / her (@fertilitypoddy) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Inception Fertility - Inception (@inceptionfertility) • Instagram photos and videos

Website - https://dralicedomar.com/

LinkedIn ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-domar-ab03736/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inceptionfertility/

Alice’s research - The relationship between stress and infertility:

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON WOMEN PREGNANT FOLLOWING ART: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY -

PREVIOUS EPISODE: Stress and Fertility by Kate Davies

Welcome to another episode of The Fertility Podcast! This week is a special week as it is National Fertility Awareness week.

Joining Kate are two incredible women, Jane and Toni, who are here to talk all about fertility and their new book, What Every Woman Needs to Know About Fertility.

This episode, Jane and Toni talk about what it is that they do. Jane, being a Fertility nurse specialist, taught Kate everything she knows about fertility awareness. And Toni, who specializes in sexual and reproductive health information.

Together, they have written a book that is somewhat a guide for a woman all about fertility. From the essentials like understanding your cycles to the bits of information that you might not know like what does IVF mean and how does it work?

They talk about how they have spent their entire professional lives talking to women who don’t have any knowledge around fertility or their body, and then are saddled with fertility issues that they weren’t aware of.

When they wrote the book, they had the intention to deliver clear and honest information about fertility to the world, giving women the opportunity to find out more about their bodies, how they can plan or avoid pregnancy. The book is a guide, like a dictionary for those who are curious as to what a certain term means. It is there to dip into when you need it.

Lastly, they talk about going through fertility, what you can do to prepare your body for pregnancy, what menopause is like and what different terms mean in the fertility world.

OUR SPONSOR:

We are delighted that the current series is being sponsored by Proceive who are kindly offering all listeners to The Fertility Podcast 15% off any Procieve purchase, when you use the discount code FP15.

Socials:

Follow @YourFertilityNurse on Instagram

Follow @TheFertilityPodcast on Instagram

Follow Natalie Silverman she / her (@fertilitypoddy) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Website for Fertility Network - https://www.fertilityuk.org/

Amazon link to book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Woman-Needs-About-Fertility/dp/1399814591

FNUK - https://fertilitynetworkuk.org/national-fertility-awareness-week-2024

Hello again! This episode Kate is joined by the founders of the Swimmers Charity, Tara and Henry.

In this episode, Kate talks with the couple about how this charity is the first and only charity for male factor infertility. Started as a result of their own fertility journey, this charity aims to provide support for those going through infertility and to restore sperm health.

Before Kate and the couple dove into what the charity does and aims to do, Tara and Henry shared their own fertility story that led them to creating the charity.

Back before Tara and Henry were to be married, they decided to check that everything was okay for them to hopefully have children in the future. Through doing all the tests, Tara found that she was perfectly healthy and that there was nothing that flagged concern. Unfortunately, Henry’s results didn’t have the same outcome.

Henry’s results told him that he had low sperm, and that it was decreasing. However there was never an actual reason or explanation as to why this was the case.

The couple decided to go through the IVF process but sadly, they had to abandon the cycle. Tara and Henry tried again, this time with 3 embryos, however, these embryos failed the transfer.

Through all of this, the couple were still trying to achieve their dream of one day having a family. So, after many talks with doctors they were pointed towards DNA fragmentation testing. This unfortunately, came back inconclusive, which Henry explained was incredibly frustrating.

After this, they found out that Henry’s sperm was decreasing in numbers, so Henry made the decision to freeze his sperm, something which he recommends anyone does. Then, Henry made some lifestyle changes, like stopping drinking caffeine, taking cold diets and more.

They then started another IVF cycle and this time it was successful and now they have a baby boy.

They both explain how through this journey, they didn’t tell their family or friends about what it was that they were going through. Although they are wanting to try IVF again, the two of them have said that they would tell their family and friends.

Kate asks about the reasons for setting up the charity and what their goals, and both Tara and Henry shared that they want to help others achieve their dreams of having children of their own. Henry tells Kate about all the exciting things that the charity is going to be doing over the next couple of months such as grants to help those fund their own fertility journey and funding research into finding out why so many people have unexplained infertility.

OUR SPONSOR:

We are delighted that the current series is being sponsored by Proceive who are kindly offering all listeners to The Fertility Podcast 15% off any Procieve purchase, when you use the discount code FP15.

Socials:

Follow @YourFertilityNurse on Instagram

Follow @TheFertilityPodcast on Instagram

Follow Natalie Silverman she / her (@fertilitypoddy) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Follow Swimmers Charity (@swimmers_charity) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

Read more about Request a babyloss certificate here

Hello, this is a little bit of a special episode as The Fertility Podcast is sharing The F Word at Work!

We’re thrilled to have you here, and if this is your first time tuning in, we encourage you to explore our previous episodes.

They feature thought-provoking discussions about why fertility and family-building topics should be a priority on workplace wellbeing agendas. This fourth series focuses specifically on how to support colleagues through various family-building challenges.

In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome Katy Schnitzler, an esteemed trainer and founder of Mist. Katy is an academic whose work revolves around pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and the experiences of those who are childless not by choice, particularly their impact in the workplace.

She is also a lead trainer at the Miscarriage Association, and we're excited to delve into this vital conversation together.

Here’s a glimpse into our conversation:

• Katy emphasizes the holistic approach needed when discussing pregnancy loss, highlighting both the physical and emotional implications for those affected in the workplace.
• We explore common misconceptions surrounding pregnancy loss and the potential physical challenges that individuals face, which can significantly impact their work life.
• Katy offers practical advice for managers and HR professionals on how to compassionately support colleagues experiencing pregnancy loss. This includes the importance of using appropriate language and demonstrating genuine empathy.
• We discuss the emotional toll of pregnancy loss not only on the individual but also on their partner, stressing the importance of acknowledging their feelings and experiences as well.
• We talk about the need for workplace policies that address pregnancy loss and how to implement them, as well as the importance of peer support and training for colleagues
• Katy shares strategies for initiating open conversations about pregnancy loss, emphasising that it's crucial for workplaces to foster an environment where employees feel safe discussing their experiences.

As we approach Baby Loss Awareness Week, we encourage organisations to consider how they can acknowledge this sensitive topic thoughtfully and inclusively.

Thank you for joining us for this important discussion. We hope you find these insights helpful in fostering a supportive workplace culture.

Thank you to Apricity who are sponsoring this series of The F Word at Work. To find out more about how they can support your employees with inclusive fertility care please get in touch with its expert corporate team here. We'd love your support and feedback so please do hit follow and if possible leave a review in the app you are listening to.

StayConnected:

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• Download our guidance Ideal Policy Guidance - Fertility Matters at Work.
• You can book a call to speak with us Calendly - Fertility Matters at Work.
• Explore our services and subscribe to our newsletter Fertility Awareness & Support Training Workshop - Fertility Matters at Work
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