AH Fertility Nutrition

The UK just banned social media for under-16s. And while that headline is about teenagers, it points to something much bigger.

Because the grown-ups trying to conceive are on their phones just as much. Scrolling at midnight. Phones on the bedside table. Laptops in bed. Notifications pinging through the day.

And the research is starting to catch up.

Within four years of the iPhone launching in 2007, the regions with the highest smartphone adoption saw the steepest drops in fertility rates. Up to half of that 2007-2011 decline has been linked to early smartphone uptake.

It’s not just about having less s*x (though screens do crowd that out too). It’s the blue light switching off melatonin within minutes, stripping antioxidant cover from eggs and s***m as well as the constant cortisol drip from notifications, blunting the hormone pulses that drive ovulation. And EMF from a phone sitting in a pocket all day, linked to lower s***m motility and DNA fragmentation.

And this is landing on a body already swimming in phthalates, PFAS, BPA and microplastics.

Your phone is one more stressor. And it’s worth knowing that.

I work with a lot of people to help them to bring things back. The word is definitely not the same as when I grew up in the 1970s and 80s but we can turn things around with guidance!

🔗 Link in bio to start this conversation

Hot off the press from the University of Sheffield.

What he eats in the 90 days before conception shapes the placenta. The organ that determines your pregnancy outcome.

New research published in eLife 2026 found that both a high-fat Western diet and a low-protein diet caused significant changes to placental metabolism, structure and gene expression. Even when male fertility appeared completely normal.

Swipe to see what this means for you both.

***mhealth

If diet and lifestyle has an effect on diabetes and cardiovascular health - why not egg and s***m health?

The work I do is in-depth and looks at root cause. We use a functional and tailored approach looking at a range of testing options to guide us to the potential issue.

We also work alongside conventional medicine to get optimal results if needs be.
I’ve just come off a call with a lady who I’ve worked with who improved her follicle count from 6 to 20 after a thorough review, (she’s also a year older now) we worked on gut health support and developed a bespoke treatment plan. We are waiting on the results of ivf now after all her eggs retrieved fertilised.

I’m offering appointments for new clients in June and opening my books to help you and support your fertility journey.

I have many different programs as one size never fits all with me!

Please scroll through my posts to see testimonials, the way we work and if you want to know more why not book in for a free 15 mins call to see if we can help you?
It can often take 3 months to get all the ducks in a row with fertility so starting now you will be well on your way to meeting your baby by 2027.

DM me and tell us more about you - or go through the form on my website.

Really looking forward to meeting you

Fibroids and Surgery

If you have been told you need surgery for your fibroids before trying to conceive, here is what I want you to know before you make that decision.

Myomectomy, the surgical removal of fibroids, can often be the right step. Particularly where submucosal fibroids are sitting inside the uterine cavity, distorting the lining, or where fibroid size is causing implantation issues. In these cases, removing them before IVF or natural conception can make a difference to outcomes.

But there are things your surgeon may not have time to tell you.
Surgery does not change the terrain that grew the fibroids in the first place.
Recurrence rates after myomectomy are significant. Studies suggest that within five years, fibroids return in up to 60% of women who do not address the underlying drivers. The uterus has not forgotten how to grow them.

Before you decide, it is worth asking:
Are my fibroids actually affecting my fertility, or have I been told to remove them as a precaution?

What type, size, and location are they? Not all fibroids need surgical intervention.
What is the impact on the uterine lining and recovery time before trying to conceive?

Has anyone looked at why my fibroids are growing in the first place?And after surgery, the nutritional work becomes critical:
Supporting tissue healing and reducing post-surgical inflammation.

Rebuilding iron stores if heavy bleeding has been part of your picture

Addressing oestrogen dominance, gut health, and detoxification pathways so the environment changes

Giving the endometrium time and nutritional support to recover fully before conception attempts

IVF and Fibroids
Something I hear from clients again and again, and it almost never gets mentioned in clinic beforehand.
“My fibroids doubled in size during IVF stimulation.”

This is not rare. This is not a coincidence. And yet so many women go into their IVF cycle completely unprepared for it.

Why does this happen? Fibroids are hormone-responsive. In a natural cycle, oestrogen and progesterone rise and fall in a carefully orchestrated rhythm. During IVF stimulation, the body is flooded with synthetic hormones at doses far beyond what it would ever produce naturally. The same hormones that feed fibroid growth in normal life are suddenly present in enormous quantities, and fibroids respond accordingly.

I have clients who have watched fibroids go from a manageable size to double within a single stimulation cycle. For some, this changes nothing. For others, it can affect the uterine cavity, compress the endometrium, reduce blood flow to the lining, and contribute to implantation failure or poor blastocyst development.

What nobody tells you before you start:
The stimulation phase creates a hyperoestrogen environment that fibroids thrive in. Monitoring fibroid size before and during a cycle matters and is worth asking your clinic about. Starting a cycle with an already inflamed, oestrogen-dominant picture may compound the problem. Post-cycle, fibroids often remain enlarged for some time, which affects the frozen embryo transfer environment too.

This is why the work we do before IVF is not an optional extra. Getting your hormonal terrain, inflammatory load, and gut oestrogen clearance in the best possible shape before you start stimulation gives your body a fighting chance of managing what is coming.

If you are heading into IVF and fibroids are part of your picture, please do not leave this to chance.

This is exactly what my Thrive IVF programme was built for.

Drop me a message or visit the link in my bio to find out more.

I’ve had a ton of new followers in the last few days - so instead of you scrolling through I thought it might be worth an introduction, especially as it’s 2026 and many people maybe searching for help with fertility!

Why do you need my help? Odds are you’ve been surfing around pages like mine for a while thinking ‘this is the month’ you will get pregnant but it didn’t happen like you thought it would in 2025. There is so much on the web and all the bloody noise on fertility do’s and don’t can drive most people potty - I have adhd so I know all about overwhelm!

If the above doesn’t fit your story - you may have had a loss and are worried about trying and it happening again. Either way I help with practicable stuff like the right tests, IVF clinic selection and help through your Cycle ( as I’ve worked with a ton over the years) and most of all someone in your corner as it’s tough navigating this alone - so I help with coaching and how to understand your body - empowering you all the way! To emotional support, a diet to help your individual fertility and the right supplements for you.

One of the most common phases i here when people start working with me is ‘I wish I’d got in touch sooner…I don’t know why I thought I could do this alone’

If you don’t know me well - I’ve been working as a naturopathic nutritionist and specialist in functional fertility for 18 years. I’ve helped hundreds of families and I now train and mentor other practitioners in my fertility academy (if you want to know a bit more scroll the pictures of a few mums who’ve sent me photos over the years and listen to me speak on some of the podcasts I’ve added)

Shoot me a DM about your story so far - and I will send over how I work. I offer a free fertility assessment to work out what we can do.

If you’ve read this far thanks and i look forward to speaking to you in 2026💗🙏