Latest / Finally Get Pregnant Naturally: Holistic Fertility Support To Conceive Naturally and Stay Pregnant After Miscarriage / #247 | What If Fertilization Is Happening, but Implantation Is Being Blocked? THIS Is Sabotaging Your Fertility and Chance To Get Pregnant

Transcript

#247 | What If Fertilization Is Happening, but Implantation Is Being Blocked? THIS Is Sabotaging Your Fertility and Chance To Get Pregnant · Finally Get Pregnant Naturally: Holistic Fertility Support To Conceive Naturally and Stay Pregnant After Miscarriage

• 0:00
  Katie: What if fertilization is happening but implantation is being blocked?
• 0:06
  Katie: This is what's being missed in your doctor's office.
• 0:10
  Welcome to the Finally Get Pregnant Naturally podcast, the podcast helping women identify the real reasons you haven't conceived or stayed pregnant so you and your partner can finally grow the family of your dreams.
• 0:24
  I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:25
  Katie Wood.
• 0:26
  Let's dive in, shall we?
• 0:28
  Katie: Three things you'll gain today.
• 0:30
  Katie: Why implantation failure, not fertilization, may be the missing piece in your fertility picture, the three root causes most commonly behind an inhospitable uterine environment, and what to actually assess and address so your body becomes the environment for healthy
• 0:51
  Katie: implantation and embryo development.
• 0:55
  Katie: So let's talk about the seed and the soil.
• 1:00
  Katie: Okay?
• 1:01
  Katie: The fertility conversation almost always centers on the seed, right?
• 1:08
  Katie: The embryo that was created after the sperm fertilizes the egg, and that matters greatly, right?
• 1:16
  Katie: But what I find in my practice is that for a significant number of women, especially those with unexplained infertility or early pregnancy loss, the problem is actually implantation.
• 1:30
  Katie: Implantation is not passive.
• 1:33
  Katie: It is an incredibly complex, tightly orchestrated biological event that requires the uterine lining to be receptive.
• 1:43
  Katie: It needs to be the right thickness, the right structure, the right immune environment, the right blood flow at exactly the right moment in your cycle.
• 1:54
  Katie: And when any of those pieces is off, a fertilized egg may simply have nowhere hospitable to land.
• 2:02
  Katie: And because that loss can happen before a positive test, many women are trying month after month, not realizing fertilization is occurring, but implantation is the thing that is blocking them from getting pregnant.
• 2:19
  Katie: This is the conversation that changes everything for a woman who has been told that their fertility is unexplained because perhaps you have optimized the seed, but we still need to look at the soil.
• 2:35
  Katie: So let's talk about what is actually making the uterine environment inhospitable, right?
• 2:43
  Katie: So number one, the uterine lining.
• 2:47
  Katie: We need the right thickness, quality, and blood flow.
• 2:50
  Katie: A receptive uterine lining needs adequate thickness, ideally eight to ten millimeters, and it needs genuine blood flow to nourish an embryo from the first moment of implantation.
• 3:03
  Katie: Thin lining, poor circulation, or lining that is not developing properly are all direct implantation blockers.
• 3:13
  Katie: The drivers behind a poor lining are often systemic, so low estrogen, chronic inflammation, poor nutrition, gut-driven hormonal disruption, and they are very easily addressable when identified, right?
• 3:29
  Katie: These are modifiable factors.
• 3:31
  Katie: And this isn't just an IVF concern.
• 3:34
  Katie: It is happening in natural TTC cycles, and no one ever knows, right?
• 3:40
  Katie: Because when you're trying naturally, you don't have the ultrasounds to see what your uterine lining thickness is, and we already know if you've been listening to this podcast for any amount of time that your doctor is not running
• 3:52
  Katie: these types of tests to see what is going on in terms of the other things that could be happening.
• 3:58
  Katie: And then we have your gut microbiome, and this is a connection that many women and couples have no idea about in terms of being connected to their fertility.
• 4:10
  Katie: So your gut microbiome is directly involved in estrogen metabolism through what is called the estrobolome, the collection of gut bacteria responsible for processing and recirculating estrogen.
• 4:25
  Katie: When the gut is imbalanced, estrogen metabolism is disrupted, which affects lining development and hormonal signaling across the entire cycle.
• 4:36
  Katie: So gut dysbiosis is also going to drive systemic inflammation, and inflammation in the uterine environment is one of the most well-documented barriers to implantation.
• 4:49
  Katie: There is a gut-uterine connection.
• 4:52
  Katie: Our gut is essentially connected to everything in the body, and it is pretty much never addressed in a standard fertility workup.
• 5:01
  Katie: And I do wanna say too, just a little food for thought.
• 5:06
  Katie: Can your doctor run a stool test on you?
• 5:09
  Katie: Yes.
• 5:10
  Katie: Is it comprehensive?
• 5:12
  Katie: No.
• 5:13
  Katie: Is it going to show you all of the things that the testing that practitioners use in the functional space?
• 5:21
  Katie: Absolutely not.
• 5:22
  Katie: So you may think you're in the clear because you've done a stool test through your doctor, but they are not the same thing.
• 5:29
  Katie: Theirs is very surface level basic.
• 5:31
  Katie: I can tell you I experienced it myself, not for fertility, but did a gut test through my doctor, basically showed nothing.
• 5:39
  Katie: Did a more comprehensive stool test with a functional practitioner.
• 5:43
  Katie: Turned out I had candida, and this was, like, back in 2020.
• 5:47
  Katie: I just don't want someone thinking, oh, everything is, quote unquote, "normal" when actually it was just the testing that your doctor did was not adequate enough to actually show you what was going on underneath.
• 6:00
  Katie: So that can be kind of like a false pretense, like misunderstanding that I see quite often.
• 6:07
  Katie: This goes for H.
• 6:08
  Katie: pylori testing as well.
• 6:10
  Katie: And then we have the vaginal and uterine microbiome.
• 6:14
  Katie: And again, no one's checking this, and also unless you're using a very specific test, the test that I use with my clients, a lot of things can get missed as well.
• 6:24
  Katie: So this is, is one that surprises people the most, and one that I find the most under-assessed or incorrectly assessed, and that's because testing that they're using in the doctor's office is not comprehensive, and they're not test...
• 6:43
  Katie: They're not addressing it to the fullest capacity.
• 6:46
  Katie: It's just, "Here's an antibiotic.
• 6:49
  Katie: Off you go."
• 6:50
  Katie: There's never retesting or balancing the vaginal microbiome.
• 6:55
  Katie: Again, like reestablishing the healthy bacteria that we would wanna see in the vaginal microbiome.
• 7:01
  Katie: I've had many, many, many clients come to me who said that they've had history of bacterial vaginosis, they were treated for it, and yet when we test them, they still have a myriad of different pathogens out of balance
• 7:16
  Katie: in their vaginal microbiome, and zero or very little healthy bacteria.
• 7:21
  Katie: So that's why I say incorrectly addressed.
• 7:25
  Katie: The vaginal and uterine microbiome has emerged in recent research as a significant factor in implantation success and pregnancy maintenance.
• 7:34
  Katie: A microbiome dominated by Lactobacillus species More specifically, L.
• 7:41
  Katie: crispatus is associated with better implantation rates and lower pregnancy loss.
• 7:47
  Katie: Dysbiosis in the vaginal environment or the presence of pathogenic bacteria, BV-associated organisms, or chronic low-grade infection, things like Gardnerella, Ureaplasma, there's a few other ones that we definitely take a look at, has been associated with implantation failure, early
• 8:07
  Katie: loss, and preterm birth.
• 8:11
  Katie: There is a growing body of research on chronic endometritis, which is a low-grade uterine infection that causes mainly no symptoms in most women, but is found in a meaningful percentage of women with recurrent implantation failure and unexplained loss.
• 8:30
  Katie: It does not show up on a standard workup, and it requires very specific testing to identify, and it is treatable.
• 8:37
  Katie: So I actually have a client right now who we are having her explore chronic endometritis with her provider because she has had chronic spotting despite her luteal phase being 14 days and her progesterone levels looking pretty stable, her
• 8:53
  Katie: BBT levels being pretty stable.
• 8:56
  Katie: But when we first started working together, we had tested her vaginal microbiome.
• 9:01
  Katie: There was a lot of things going on.
• 9:03
  Katie: Took a few rounds of treatment to get it in check, and then we also tested her, her gut with a stool test, and some of the things that we found in her vaginal microbiome were actually found in the
• 9:15
  Katie: gut as well.
• 9:16
  Katie: And ironically, a few of those bacteria are ones that are known to travel up to the uterine environment.
• 9:24
  Katie: So guys, these are things that are being totally missed with your doctor.
• 9:29
  Katie: Can you go to your doctor and talk to them about this?
• 9:31
  Katie: Absolutely.
• 9:32
  Katie: She really had to advocate for herself to get this testing done.
• 9:36
  Katie: She's on her second provider to be able to get this done.
• 9:39
  Katie: And I was a very big piece in terms of helping her get to that point as well 'cause it's really hard when you go to your provider with a question or a concern and they just write you off,
• 9:50
  Katie: and they just dismiss you because it Your doctor can't know everything and anything, right?
• 9:56
  Katie: We're not expecting them to know that.
• 9:58
  Katie: They know what they know and they practice what they're able to practice within their where they work, whatever their protocols are, but these things are just sadly being missed.
• 10:08
  Katie: So if any of this is resonating, if you have been trying without success, if you have experienced early losses, if you have been told your fertility is unexplained, here is where I would start asking yourself questions.
• 10:25
  Katie: Has anyone looked at your lining, your uterine lining, assessed thickness, blood flow, and quality at the right point in your cycle?
• 10:34
  Katie: Has anyone assessed your gut?
• 10:37
  Katie: A comprehensive stool test can reveal dysbiosis, pathogens, markers of gut inflammation that are directly relevant to your uterine environment.
• 10:47
  Katie: Has anyone tested your vaginal or uterine microbiome?
• 10:51
  Katie: Vaginal microbiome testing is available and actionable.
• 10:55
  Katie: If recurrent implantation failure or early loss is part of your picture, there is testing which assesses the uterine microbiome and chronic endometritis.
• 11:06
  Katie: These are all worth knowing about and discussing, okay?
• 11:10
  Katie: And working with the right practitioner who can actually get you full-on comprehensive testing and results, not just surface level, not just, "Oh, that's not my area of expertise.
• 11:23
  Katie: I'm gonna just pass you along to another provider."
• 11:28
  Katie: So if you answered no to any or all of these and you've been struggling to conceive, experienced one or more losses, or had a failed transfer and nobody has looked at your gut, I want you to hear this
• 11:42
  Katie: clearly.
• 11:44
  Katie: Your gut may be one of the most important and most overlooked pieces of your implantation picture That's why I've created something specifically for you.
• 11:58
  Katie: It's called Your Fertility Gut Check, and it is the first place I start with women who've struggled to conceive for six months to one year or more, experienced loss, or failed transfers.
• 12:11
  Katie: If you are ready to find out what your gut is doing to your fertility, DM me the word implantation and we can chat to see if this is the best next step for you.
• 12:23
  Katie: The link is in the show notes to my Instagram.
• 12:25
  Katie: Remember, DM me the word implantation.
• 12:27
  Katie: We can talk about what your journey has looked like so far and maybe if this would be the next best step in your fertility journey to help you finally get pregnant.
• 12:37
  Katie: So let's recap.
• 12:38
  Katie: Implantation failure is far more common than most women realize.
• 12:44
  Katie: The uterine lining, the gut microbiome, and the vaginal and uterine microbiome are three of the most under-assessed pieces of the implantation picture.
• 12:55
  Katie: If you have optimized the seed and are still not getting or staying pregnant, it's time to look at the soil.
• 13:04
  Katie: The answers are there waiting for you.
• 13:06
  Katie: They just require the right questions and the right testing with the right provider who can actually help you address them for your unique picture and needs.
• 13:19
  Katie: I wanna thank you so much for listening.
• 13:21
  Katie: I hope you have a fabulous day, and I will see you on our next episode released every Tuesday and Thursday.
• 13:28
  Are you ready to finally discover why you haven't been able to get or stay pregnant?
• 13:33
  The Ultimate Fertility Blueprint is a quick, insightful quiz designed to reveal your overall capacity to conceive and help you discover potential root causes and areas to address to improve your fertility so you can finally get and stay pregnant.
• 13:51
  You'll find the link in the show notes.
• 13:53
  As a quick reminder and disclaimer, this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.
• 14:01
  Always consult your doctor or healthcare provider before starting any new supplement or protocol, especially if you're actively trying to conceive or undergoing treatment.