The Balance Plan Fertility and Preconception Care Course

• What you will get out of the course

  • A detailed understanding of the main issues to consider when trying to conceive
  • No need to spend hours online trying to figure out what you can do to help optimise your fertility without knowing what is going to really help
  • Understand the science behind the signs and symptoms in your body that offer clues about what you can do to help yourself during your fertility journey
  • Understand how your fertility works, what the evidence tells us may help at a population level and then how to personalise this to you
  • Myth busting advice on everything from seed cycling to whether or not to eat dairy
  • Confidence you are doing all you can in terms of what you can control and support in accepting what you can’t
  • A clear picture about your next steps

• Why we started the course

  The course has been a real eye opener and has really made me think about what we eat and what nutritional value the food we eat has.

  We understand that experiencing fertility problems can be really tough for both men and women. Most of our patients have felt upset, stressed, out of control and at the mercy of doctors when they discover that getting pregnant isn’t as easy as they expected it to be. But you have so much more under your control than you may think.

  We started this course for our patients to give them evidence-based information about things they could do to help themselves when trying to conceive naturally or going through fertility treatments such as IVF. Not all information you find online is reliable, so we wanted to create a trustworthy source of information for men and women who experience problems with their fertility and reproductive health generally, so you don’t waste time and money with things that aren’t going to help.

  When we delivered this course in the IVF clinic, it became such a success that patients began asking how their friends could benefit. After making the changes we recommend, some patients conceived naturally after long periods of infertility, including experiencing miscarriages, and some after previous IVF cycles had failed.

  We can’t meet the demand for our services in person, so this is the first step for us in moving our work online. We want to make a real difference to many more people experiencing problems with fertility and reproductive health.

• Why we are different

  • The only online fertility programme that has been working successfully in an IVF setting for several years
  • Our courses are developed and delivered by leading experts in the field who have an in-depth knowledge of nutrition science, fertility and reproductive health
  • We work with fertility patients day-to-day in a clinical setting and have a tried and tested formula for combining natural interventions with medical care
  • Adam Balen is one of the world’s leading fertility experts and his significant portfolio of research has influenced clinical practice around the world. He is the past Chair of The British Fertility Society, has written guidelines for The World Health Organisation and is the spokesperson for Reproductive Medicine for The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
  • Adam and Grace have written The Fertility Book, Your Definitive Guide to Achieving a Healthy Pregnancy, which is available for pre-order now.

• What is causing my fertility problems?

  Often, when we experience fertility problems, there are underlying biological factors for both men and women that contribute to difficulties conceiving, aside from known medical problems. We also know that, as the body ages, there are various cellular functions that start to work less well. This ageing process can be worsened by damaging lifestyle habits, which, in turn, also affect fertility. Subfertility can be seen as a protective mechanism by the body to stop a woman getting pregnant when conditions are difficult, and can be an opportunity to optimise health before trying for a baby.

• How can The Balance Plan preconception care and fertility course help?

  

  The Balance Plan preconception care and fertility online course offers expert advice from reproductive biologist and nutrition scientist, Grace Dugdale, on health and lifestyle issues that may be preventing you from conceiving. We want to support you in getting into the best possible health whilst trying to conceive and before you undergo fertility treatment.

  We provide evidence-based guidance on the dizzying amount of information available online. Since conditions such as infertility and PCOS are complex with many components, including inflammatory, metabolic, hormonal and immune function, the course provides information on these issues, together with guidance on dietary and lifestyle changes that can help. This is important not just for fertility, but for the future health of your child. Many common health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression have origins during development in a mother’s womb, as a result of underlying biological dysfunction that can accompany infertility, for example systemic inflammation, impaired metabolism and a disrupted microbiome (the “good bacteria” is our bodies). This is why it is important for the future health of the baby to get things right both before and during pregnancy.

  Since maintaining a healthy weight is vital for fertility and the health of the baby, we offer evidence-based information on gaining or losing weight, where needed, whilst advising on key nutrients that are important for pregnancy.

• Male factor

  Thank you so much you have changed my husband's life!

  One in three cases of subfertility is due to issues affecting the father. And since sperm health and the general health of the father are increasingly known to contribute to the health of the child and to achieving a successful pregnancy, Balance Fertility encourages men who are planning to become fathers to enrol in the course too, even when you have a normal semen analysis.

  Participating in The Balance Plan fertility course will give you confidence that you are doing all you can to achieve a successful pregnancy.

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