What is different about FertilityCare and Nutritional Therapy?
I often speak to women who have been through a lot before they reach out to learn more about NaPro. By the time I speak to them they may have already undergone lots of testing, blood panels, ultrasounds, hysterosalpingograms, cycles of hormones, trigger shots, even several heart wrenching treatments of IUI/IVF. They may have been told everything looked great but something is just not right leaving them with the frustrating diagnosis of unexplained infertility.
Generally, by the time I speak to women they are discouraged and frustrated with their fertility journey. Often times when going through infertility treatments couples are left feeling more like they have been run through a physically exhaustive, and very expensive, conveyor belt of treatments. When they are spit out at the other end with no more answers than when they began.
Then they hear about NaPro
Perhaps from a friend, family member, or a success story they hear about this other thing, NaPro Technology. By the time I speak to these women the big question I generally get asked over and over is, “What is different about NaPro?”
Let’s start with what NaPro is. NaPro is short for Natural Procreative Technology. NaPro seeks to identify and treat the underlying causes of women’s health issues. Women may seek out NaPro for a whole host of issues included, but certainly not limited to, PMS, infertility, PCOS, endo, heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, recurrent miscarriages. FertilityCare is the two pronged approach of NaPro Technology along with the standardized way that women chart their cycles with the Creighton Model. Through FertilityCare women often are pleased to say that they were treated with greater care and compassion than they had previously experienced. We believe that every life is valuable and your fertility should be protected and preserved.
But let’s take a look at how this different approach might look. If you were told to take a basic blood panel the doctor was probably looking for things like your iron levels, cholesterol, Calcium, vitamin D, generally sex hormones, and perhaps even thyroid levels, etc. The results may have come back normal or with some things that were low, perhaps even really low. You may have been prescribed with a high dose of Vitamin D or put on a prescription that can help your hormone levels come back into the normal range.
An example of the difference in the NaPro approach
Looking at the graph above, if you were to have your blood drawn on day 14, which is generally what a physician recommends when looking at hormone levels, you may be as much as 8 days before your ovulation. If, however you cooperatively get your bloodwork drawn with your charting say on P + 3, P + 5, and P + 7, we know with in a very specific range of where your progesterone and estrogen levels should be and where they should fall in relation to each other. This gives greater insight into your hormone levels.
This is just one example of the many ways FertilityCare is able to help dig deeper into cycle issues.
So, if your levels are normal and you do not feel ‘normal’ or you have other markers that are telling you something is wrong (extreme fatigue, cycle irregularity, infertility, inability to gain/lose weight, miscarriages, etc.) then I encourage you to become your own best advocate and not be content at being told that everything is ‘normal’. FertilityCare may be the missing link to uncover what is awry with your cycles. We begin with a standardized way that you learn to chart cycles, and then utilize NaPro technology to cooperatively dig deeper, we are able to look for a more specific range of what is normal for your estrogen and progesterone among other things.
How can Nutritional Therapy help?
After teaching FertilityCare since 2015 I have become acutely aware of the ways that diet, supplements, and lifestyle changes can also impact fertility and women’s health. This is why I have pursued additional education as a holistic nutritionist. So let’s take a look at how that may also aid women on their health journey.
Say that through the course of your blood work it came up that there are very low vitamin D levels. Your doctor may supplement to get those levels back up to appropriate levels. When there is a fat soluble vitamin that is very low this could be a result of having inadequate digestion of fatty acids. Perhaps there are not enough fatty acids in your diet, or your body is not able to properly emulsify fats and therefore utilize those fat soluble vitamins found in the diet. There could also be a need to support digestion so your body is able to absorb the nutrients from the food you are consuming throughout the course of digestion. Or we may need to be sure you are consuming foods that contain those vitamins and minerals to begin with.
Regardless, of what the physiological reason is that has led to the deficiency, with nutritional therapy we will take a deep dive into your unique bio-individual needs and assess the best steps to take to support healthy functioning. We will also guide you through how to implement changes, and educate you on the importance of taking these steps to improve your overall health and fertility.
And I don’t just leave you there! Nutritional Therapy is also about helping you to trouble shoot how to incorporate more of those foods into your diet. We talk about what hurdles you may need to overcome in your day to day life to increase your intake of vitamins and minerals. Or how to help set up you up for success and prevent those moments of desperation that so often come our way of low blood sugar and the need to just eat something right now.
How did you first hear about FertilityCare? And what did you find was the biggest difference in how you were treated?
