Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, I'm Dr McMinn
and welcome to the Wellness
Connection MD podcast.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
Have you ever been out andabout and you heard someone
speaking a foreign language andyou wish you could understand
what they were talking about?
Well, your very own body has alanguage of its own.
However, we usually don't takethe time to listen and most of
us have never learned thelanguage of the body.
Well, on today's show, we'regoing to visit with fertility
(00:24):
care practitioner ElizabethEllison, who is going to educate
us as to how we can use theCreighton model, a natural
method that emphasizes cervicalmucus, to interpret the messages
that our bodies are sending us,so that these women can better
understand their cycles, takecharge of their fertility and to
improve their overall health.
So many women suffer fromreproductive health issues,
whether it be irregular periods,menstrual pain, pms, heavy
(00:47):
bleeding and so many otherconcerns.
So Elizabeth helps us demystifythe cycle, empowering women
with evidence-based informationso that they can identify and
get to the root cause of manyproblems.
And if you just take the timeto learn the language, our
bodies will usually tell uswhat's wrong with them.
I hope you enjoy the show.
Will usually tell us what'swrong with them.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I hope you enjoy the
show.
Welcome to the WellnessConnection MD Podcast with Dr
McMinn and Coach Lindsay, wherewe bring you the latest,
up-to-date, evidence-basedinformation on a wide variety of
health and wellness topics,along with practical take-home
solutions.
Dr McMinn is an integrated andfunctional MD and Lindsay
Matthews is a registered nurseand IIN-certified health coach.
Together, our goal is to helpyou optimize your health and
(01:30):
wellness in mind, body andspirit.
To see a list of all of ourpodcasts, visit mcminnmdcom.
And to stay up to date on thelatest topics, be sure to
subscribe to our podcast on yourfavorite podcast player so that
you'll be notified when futureepisodes come out.
The discussions contained inthis podcast are for educational
purposes only and are notintended to diagnose or treat
(01:51):
any disease.
Please do not apply any of thisinformation without approval
from your personal doctor.
And now on to the show with DrMcMinn and Coach Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Hello and welcome to
the Wellness Connection MD
podcast with Dr McMinn and CoachLindsey, the evidence-based
podcast on all things wellness,where we bring you honest,
commercial-free, unbiased,up-to-date, evidence-based,
outcomes-oriented information,along with practical solutions
in order to empower you toovercome your healthcare
challenges and to optimize yourwellness in mind, body and
(02:21):
spirit, and to become a greatcaptain of your ship.
We thank you so much forjoining us today.
I'm Dr Jim McMinn.
I'm here with our co-host nurseand certified health coach, ms
Lindsay Matthews.
Good morning, coach.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Good morning, dr
McMinn and hello listeners.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we've got an excellentpodcast for you on a topic that
affects all women acrossmultiple generations.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
That's right, but
we're coming at this topic from
a different angle than, I wouldventure to say, most of you have
ever heard when you think aboutthis topic.
I can certainly attest that thisapproach to women's health care
was never taught to me inmedical school or in residency.
So who should listen to thispodcast?
Well, if you or someone youknow is considering starting a
family or has fertility concerns, then this podcast is a must
listen.
If you're hoping to avoidpregnancy or have questions
(03:07):
about birth control options,then this podcast will shed some
light on this for you.
Now, this topic expands beyondfertility conversations, though,
and as such, it is also for allwomen at every stage of life
who have concerns about theirhealth or who just want to learn
more about their own body andhow it works, and to understand
more about their cycle and theirhormones.
So the bottom line is thispodcast is for all women and for
(03:29):
those who love them, whichhopefully would include most men
.
So I guess, when you add it allup, if you're a human being,
then this podcast is for you.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I love it, Dr Mack.
It's here to really empower uswith the knowledge of our own
body and its rhythms.
This podcast will equip you todelve further in empowering
knowledge of your own body andits rhythms.
In one of our most recentepisodes, we examined the
(03:58):
concept of preconception carecare.
So that's the idea that men andwomen can both prepare their
bodies prior to pregnancy toachieve optimal egg and sperm
health, to therefore achieveoptimal pregnancy outcomes.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So today we're going
to pivot a bit and delve further
into the idea of understandinga woman's cycle and how this
serves in many ways as anoverall indicator of a woman's
health.
In the Preconception podcast,we talked about fertility as an
indicator of both male andfemale health.
Today, we expand the idea bytalking about a woman's cycle
and how all aspects of the cyclecan serve as biomarkers and
(04:32):
measures for overall health.
Now you men please don't tuneout here I would argue that this
topic matters to us too.
Understanding a woman's cycle ismore than just a fertility
conversation.
Today you will hear that inmany ways, the status of a
woman's cycle reveals a lotabout the status of her health
and, as a man, if you care aboutthe women in your life, then
you'll care about this topic.
Understand these concepts canhelp to support the women in
(04:53):
your life as they navigate thefluctuations of their hormones,
their cycles and their issuesinvolving fertility over a
lifetime.
Additionally, we all havefamily members and friends who
might benefit from thisknowledge, so please consider
sharing this podcast withsomeone who might need further
assistance tracking down issuesrelated to fertility cycles and
hormone rhythms.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And I also just want
to take a moment here before we
jump in to remind you, listeners, that we keep this podcast
commercial-free intentionally,because we really want to focus
on the content and not interruptthe show.
But this does take time andenergy and our resources to keep
this going.
So we'd love to just invite youto help us in supporting this
(05:35):
mission, and one of the waysthat you can do that is either
donate directly to the show,which you can do on our website
at the bottom of the page.
On our website at the bottom ofthe page, mcminnmdcom you can
find that information, but youcan also shop.
So if you buy supplements andyou're looking for really good,
high quality ones, then checkout our page with full script to
(05:57):
get physician grade supplementsto help you, and that helps us
too.
It's a win-win and weappreciate you considering that.
So, without further ado, we'vegot the shop talk out of the way
and hopefully got you intriguedinto this topic.
I am so privileged and excitedto introduce to you our guest
for the show.
I get to work with her at ahospital here in Birmingham, and
(06:21):
so she's both a postpartumnurse and a fertility care
practitioner, and she has herown business called Flourish
Fertility, where she works withwomen and couples to teach them
how to track their cycles,naturally using what's called
the Creighton model system.
She's also my dear friend, andwhat a gift she is.
(06:41):
So, without further ado,elizabeth Ellison, welcome to
the show.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Thank you so much.
I truly am honored to be here.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Yes, we're so happy
you're here with us today, so
tell us more about the Creightonmodel system.
What is it?
What should we know?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Yeah.
So I believe that every womanshould have the opportunity to
know how her body works, shouldhave the opportunity to know how
her body works.
Through years of research, thismethod was developed to help
give women confidence inlearning what their bodies are
telling them.
The system relies onstandardized observation and
charting of biological markersthat give understanding to a
(07:17):
woman's health and fertility.
These biomarkers giveinformation to know when a
couple is fertile or infertile,as well as indicating any
abnormalities in a woman'shealth.
What makes the Creighton modelsystem unique from other types
of fertility awareness methodsis that it has an added medical
component.
Natural procreative technology,or NAPRO technology, is a
(07:42):
women's health science that goeshand in hand with Creighton.
They provide medical andsurgical treatments that
coincide completely with thewoman's natural reproductive
cycle.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Excellent.
Well, thanks for sharing that,and I'm excited to delve a
little bit more into that.
You know, information is power,and when we understand what's
happening inside of our bodies,we learn, and we learn how to
effectively read them.
I believe we really becomeempowered in our health.
We're no longer part of thissymptom pill ideology, and so we
start to wake up to our ownability to navigate our health,
(08:15):
rather than becoming or stayingvictims.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
It seems like women's
cycles often feel mysterious,
and research shows that mostwomen don't really feel like
they know enough about theircycles.
Coach, maybe that's because wedon't teach them anything about
it.
I don't know what you're sayingright, but understanding how
your body functions is a basic,fundamental right, and this
knowledge is teachable.
Women want to learn it and theycan learn it, and they'll all
be better off for it.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Right, I agree, dr
Mack.
One of the things I liked is wewere looking further into this
topic and just from my ownpersonal research on it,
elizabeth, is that the Creightonmodel uses this languaging of
unleashing the power of awoman's cycle.
I just love thinking about thecycle in such a positive way,
because more often than not,it's discussed cynically and
(08:58):
negatively.
So tell us more about what youdo as a fertility care provider.
How do you help women access orunleash this power in their
cycles, right?
Speaker 4 (09:08):
My role as a
fertility care practitioner
focuses on women's reproductivehealth and helping women to
understand their bodies morefully in order to meet their
fertility health goals, whateverthey may be.
I give an introductory sessionto women and couples who are
interested in learning and thencontinue to meet, either in
person or virtually, to teachthem how to listen to their
(09:31):
bodies and track their cycle.
This is done in a one-on-onesetting, as every woman's body
and cycle is so unique.
Throughout my training, Ilearned information that I never
learned in nursing school oreven once I became a nurse that
I wish I had learned a long timeago.
My hope is to encourage andempower women with more
(09:51):
knowledge about their ownreproductive health to help them
grow in appreciation of theirfertility.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
So, elizabeth, let me
see if I got this right You're
basically an educator in thisrole, and you help people
identify trends so that they canrecognize when things are going
right or not going right, andthen, if need be, you help them
escalate their care to aprovider like a doctor or an NP
who specializes in this approach.
Is that the correct way ofputting it?
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Yes, exactly.
I help women learn to observefor biomarkers and place their
findings on a chart and wereview patterns that may appear
with consistent charting.
This is more of a longitudinal,long-term view that helps
doctors as they make diagnosesand it helps women recognize
patterns and accumulate harddata behind symptoms that they
(10:37):
may be dismissing as justanother part of their cycle.
I know lab work can be criticalin diagnosing and treating.
In the moment, this methodserves as a complement to
diagnostic testing, offering awealth of additional information
in the forms of patternsidentified over time.
With the amount of informationwe can gather from accurately
(10:59):
tracking biomarkers, it wouldn'tbe a stretch to think of the
menstrual cycle as another vitalsign.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I think so often we
just think of our cycle as the
days when we have our period andyou have this active bleeding,
but you're constantlyexperiencing changes in your
hormones throughout the entirecycle, and so your body's
telling you things that you mayor may not be aware of.
And you know, acog, theAmerican College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists,put out a statement in 2023,
like you're saying, elizabethand they were advocating for the
(11:30):
menstrual cycle to beconsidered an additional vital
sign, just like blood pressureor heart rate or temperature.
So I think this is a fantasticillustration of what we're
discussing here that assessingthe cycle is really a great tool
to assessing overall health.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Yeah, so we were
talking before we got on air
about things like the femaleathlete triad, which not only
affects cycles but affectsthings like osteoporosis and
stuff like that.
So this is not just aboutperiods, it's about overall
health.
So, anyway, that's all reallyinteresting and I appreciate
what you're bringing to us today, Elizabeth.
This provides such a unique andimportant tool to help empower
women with so many aspects oftheir health.
Unfortunately, most doctors arenot adequately trained in this
(12:10):
area, so learning about theseconcepts can also empower
doctors to help their patientswho are struggling with these
issues and often find nowhere togo to get the answers that they
need.
In an ideal world, a providerwill have the knowledge and
skill set to optimize a woman'scycles and hormones, almost like
she's tending a garden.
To take this analogy just a bitfurther, a gardener is often an
observer, constantly analyzingwhat is needed to create a
healthy environment and to helpplants grow and thrive and to be
(12:33):
happy and healthy plants.
I'm proud to say that my wife,Dr Cheryl, is a master gardener.
In fact, she is the queen ofthe herb army at the Birmingham
Botanical Gardens.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I love that.
Queen of the Herb Army, what atitle.
That's what I want one day.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
That's right and
she's always checking out the
plants and she's able tointerpret the signs and symptoms
of plant health, just like adoctor would do for a human
being.
And if a plant's not doing well, she can gather information
through her observations whichwill help her figure out the
root cause of the problem.
She which will help her figureout the root cause of the
problem.
She can tell if it needs morefertilizer, more sunlight, more
water or the soil is just notright for the plant.
(13:07):
And in the same way, a detailedobservation of a woman's health
, especially her cycle andhormone health, like with this
kind of method that you aredescribing to us today, can
provide more accurateinformation to help the woman
and her provider find the rootcause of her hormonal and cycle
issues and then to make thechanges needed to steer her into
a healthier direction.
But without this type ofdetailed information from the
(13:29):
patient, then doctors reallycan't figure out or treat the
root cause and they're stuck,often covering up the problem
with things like drugs whichoften have untoward side effects
.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You know, I also love
that this type of approach is
so empowering to the patient.
You know, I think you knowdoctors sometimes they're
limited to the tools they haveand everything, but then they're
also limited by the patient'sbuy-in.
So this approach really getsthe patients to buy in and be
empowered.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I think most patients
want to buy in, don't you
Lindsay?
Yes, I agree, but we have kindof disempowered them all their
lives and not invited them tobuy in.
But I think, kind ofdisempowered them all their
lives and not invited them tobuy in.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
But I think most of
them really want to be involved.
Yes, I agree.
So let's get a bit morespecific, elizabeth, tell us
more about what are thebiomarkers that Crayton relies
on, how does a patient recognizethem and what are those signs
saying?
And then we can progress moreinto the details of a woman's
cycle.
But first, what are thosebiomarkers that they utilize?
Because, gosh, there are agajillion fertility systems out
(14:28):
there now apps, ovulation strips, wearable devices, and so some
of them, I think, rely on basalbody temperature, which is just
that temperature when a womanrises before rising.
Others look at cervicalposition, or because that cervix
changes position throughout thecycle, and then cervical mucus
is a sign.
So, and then, of course, wealso got to mention that some
(14:49):
women experience a whole gamutof body symptoms prior to their
periods, like ovulation pain,for example, when the egg is
released.
But what does Creighton use andwhy?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
You are right.
There are quite a few differentbiomarkers that a woman's body
gives us to help determine daysof fertility and infertility,
and many tools out there to tryto learn them.
The Creighton model systemitself uses one single biomarker
, actually, and that is ourcervical mucus.
(15:20):
This gives us all theinformation we need.
So ovulation occurs on a singleday in each cycle, and that egg
that's released can only livefor 12 to 24 hours if it's not
fertilized.
In order to achieve a pregnancy,we of course need a sperm and
(15:40):
an egg, but a third componentthat's just as important is our
cervical mucus.
This mucus, produced by ourbodies, provides the pathway for
the sperm to meet the egg.
As ovulation is approaching,our estrogen begins to rise and
we begin to see this productionof cervical mucus.
(16:01):
At this point, our window offertility opens.
Typically, a woman would seethis mucus over a period of
three to seven days but this canvary from woman to woman and
then she would have a dramaticchange back to dryness, closing
that window of fertility withina few days after that change.
Sperm without this mucus candie within hours, but with this
(16:27):
estrogen-rich mucus, sperm cansurvive for three to five days,
allowing them to be perfectlypositioned and ready for when
that egg is released atovulation.
So, for example, if a couplehad intercourse when she saw
this mucus, even if it were upto five days before she actually
ovulated, then pregnancy couldbe achieved, because this mucus
(16:50):
is helping the sperm to live,it's providing the nutrients
that it needs.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
So interesting.
But, in summary, this system,when used regarding fertility,
can help people identify fertileand non-fertile times and act
accordingly, but this could alsohelp people identify problems
based on the quality, timing andother characteristics of the
fluid.
Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Correct.
Yeah, cervical mucus can alsobe a huge indicator of our
personal health.
Some women may observedifferent variations of mucus
every single day, causingconfusion in identifying fertile
or infertile periods.
This is where working with apractitioner comes in, as we can
help determine the true windowof fertility.
(17:32):
If she is seeing mucus everyday, continuous mucus like this
could indicate that something inthe environment could be
causing irritation.
For example, maybe she'swearing underwear that's not
100% cotton and her body istrying to flush out any toxin
that could be there.
Or there could be someinflammation in her body that's
(17:53):
causing an increase in mucusthat's observed.
Or maybe her estrogen is at ahigher level than what's
considered normal, due to PCOS,for example, and that hormone is
causing fluctuations in themucus she's seeing more than
just at the time of ovulation.
It's also possible that a womanmay not see any cervical mucus
(18:14):
at all, but she may not realizethis unless she were looking for
that sign, unless she werecharting her cycle.
So a lack of cervical mucuscould indicate subfertility or
infertility, and there may be areason that her body is
suppressing that production ofmucus.
There is a lot that mucus cantell us about our bodies, and
(18:36):
it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
It is pretty amazing.
I think a lot of people mightnot even be aware of this whole
thing.
That's happening.
Your cervical fluid is tellinga story and what is it saying?
So just to give our listeners amore concrete idea of what
we're talking about, the way onewould observe their own
cervical mucus through Creightonis by wiping across the vulva
both before and after using thebathroom to look for vaginal
(19:00):
discharge.
So it doesn't involve like somekind of internal exam.
Just to make that clear,Creighton instruction includes
how to make this observationbased on if mucus is present or
not, the stretch, the color, thelubricant to the feel of that
mucus.
It's funny, you know, just topause and think that we all
intuitively, since we're little,observe mucus in our body, like
(19:23):
with our sinuses, and we knowwhat's normal and abnormal.
But there's definitely, I think, a misconnect or complete lack
of awareness for women aboutcervical mucus.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, I think mucus
kind of gets a bad rap.
You know, like when you have acold you're blowing your nose
all the time.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
I think about that
little green guy on the
pharmaceutical commercial, butit's vitally important.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
If you think about
gut mucus, it's a huge component
of gut health.
So, yeah, it's really kind offascinating.
But, elizabeth, in one of yourprevious interviews on a
different podcast, you saidsomething to the fact that
reproductive health is helpfulto know for all women, no matter
what season of life she mightbe in.
Can you speak more about thattype of information, how
Creighton helps provide thesewomen with beneficial
(20:05):
information in general?
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Sure.
I would say that there are threebig applications for tracking
your cycle using Creighton.
The first would be for healthand wellness.
This system can benefit singlewomen or any woman truly who
desire simply to learn moreabout her body as a woman.
I would say that it's a greatway to track your cycle.
We have said our bodies areoften trying to tell us
(20:28):
something, and learning how totrack our biomarkers gives us
the ability to listen, learn andeven take next steps towards
healing.
Learning this method can helpto identify the root cause
behind reproductive issues suchas PCOS, endometriosis,
irregular bleeding, hormonalimbalances and more.
(20:50):
The second benefit of learningto track your cycle would be for
planning your family.
This system is beneficial forthose hoping to avoid pregnancy
but who are not reallyinterested in added artificial
hormones or barrier methods.
It has proven to be 99%effective in avoiding pregnancy
naturally when it's usedproperly.
(21:10):
9% effective in avoidingpregnancy naturally when it's
used properly, and even forwomen who are postpartum
learning.
This method can help to spaceor prevent future pregnancies in
a way that's most helpful fortheir families, even predicting
ovulation before your firstperiod returns when
breastfeeding.
This can be empowering, givingconfidence in knowing days of
fertility or infertility, inorder to make an informed
(21:32):
decision as a couple whethertheir goal is to avoid or
achieve a pregnancy.
And the third application wouldbe for those struggling with
infertility.
Too many women feel discouraged, overwhelmed and alone in their
fertility journey, andutilizing the Creighton method,
paired with the Napro technologythat I mentioned earlier,
(21:54):
allows us to come alongsidethese women to provide care,
encouragement and deeperunderstanding.
We hope to help find the rootcause, the why behind their
infertility struggles.
Through tracking with Creighton, patterns are seen, which gives
the doctors the informationneeded in order to further
diagnose and treat.
(22:14):
Again, a woman's chart providesmore than just one moment in
time like a lab value, but showsmonths of patterns in their
health.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Elizabeth, can you
tell us just a bit more about
Napro technology, for instance?
Who is a Napro provider, whattype of credentialing is
involved in that, and what sortof interventions are they able
to provide that your typical,say, obgyn doctor does not
provide?
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Right.
So natural procreativetechnology is a form of
restorative reproductivemedicine.
This works cooperatively with awoman's menstrual and fertility
cycle.
With a woman's menstrual andfertility cycle, napro
technology was developed by DrThomas W Hilgers, md, at the St
(23:02):
Paul VI Institute for the Studyof Human Reproduction.
Napro physicians, or even nursepractitioners, are board
certified, most often in theOBGYN or family medicine realm,
who have been trained andcertified by the St Paul VI
Institute to offer naturalprocreative technology care to
their patients.
In addition to using aCreighton chart to see patterns,
these physicians can alsoutilize imaging technologies,
(23:26):
ultrasounds, x-rays.
They use blood hormone testing,exploratory surgery and other
diagnostic tests to identifyunderlying reproductive
disorders and hormonalimbalances.
In order to treat thesedisorders, including infertility
, these physicians may utilizetargeted bioidentical hormone
(23:46):
therapy protocols, varioussurgical procedures, diet and
lifestyle changes, and more.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I know that you refer
your clients sometimes to NAPRO
providers, right?
So how common is NAPROtechnology?
If anyone listening wereinterested in looking into this,
could they easily find aprovider.
What would then also be thedifferences between this type of
provider?
And, say, a fertilityspecialist, that one would most
(24:13):
commonly be referred to by OBGYN?
I think it's safe to say thattraditionally, most doctors
would not be tuned in to reallyunderstand, like if a patient
walked in and handed them achart, their Creighton chart, so
they wouldn't really know whatto do with it.
So how could people find aprovider Right?
Speaker 4 (24:30):
I will say.
Unfortunately this is not aswell known as I wish it could be
, but I think it's growing.
I know that a list of providersare offered on the website
wwwfertilitycareorg slash naprotechnology.
Many providers work withpatients virtually if there's
(24:51):
not one local to you, which is abenefit, since these providers
use more of a restorativeapproach, as I mentioned,
instead of using assistedreproductive technology such as
IVF or in vitro fertilization orIUI, intrauterine insemination
or even artificial hormones, thegoal, as I've mentioned before,
(25:14):
is to treat the root causes ofinfertility.
This often benefits the overallhealth of the woman too.
As I mentioned before, there ismore of a restorative, holistic
approach with a focus on dietand lifestyle changes,
bioidentical hormone replacement, supplement support and more.
These physicians can alsoreceive specific training for
(25:37):
surgical procedures using what'scalled near-contact laparoscopy
.
They excise endometriosis, theyuse wedge resection for
polycystic ovaries and more.
They just have a lot morespecific training in these
women's reproductive healthareas than I think maybe the
general OBGYN might receive.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You know it's
interesting.
I think we really underestimatethe power of diet and lifestyle
changes.
I had a good friend one timeback in the ER.
He and his wife were trying toget pregnant for years and
nothing was happening.
So they finally adopted twins.
And then, shortly afteradopting twins, the pressure was
gone.
She got pregnant.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I feel like that
story is so common.
That's stress.
It is so stressful.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Once again, those
lifestyle changes like stress
reduction and diet and stufflike that can really be powerful
.
But, elizabeth, usually we startwith the assumption that the
cycle is 28 days and theovulation occurs on day 14.
And we get labs at certainpoints in the cycle based on
this underlying assumption.
However, there's so muchvariation in this, but without
each woman understanding her owncycles, doctors are limited in
(26:46):
making these generalizedassumptions.
For instance, there's anarticle in the journal Nature
published in 2019 that analyzedover 600,000 menstrual cycles of
women, and this is a directquote from the study to
illustrate my point, quote it isa common belief that ovulation
occurs on day 14 of the cycle,but our analysis has shown that
the majority of women in thereal world that this is not the
(27:09):
case.
End quote.
They also said quoteanecdotally there is poor
understanding of fertilityamongst the general population,
which can lead to bothunintended pregnancies and
delayed time of conception,which is associated with
psychological suffering forthose wishing to start a family.
End quote.
So this misunderstanding is abig deal and causes real world
problems for women and forfamilies.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Speaking of lack of
knowledge, I think it's
important just to make the pointthat there's a huge lack of
knowledge about the cycle andabout hormones and about
fertility across the populationabroad, and then even among
healthcare professionals, andthat's what we've been talking
about here too.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
So I won't go into
details, but an article from the
peer-reviewed journal Birthfound that the vast majority of
women didn't know when theirnext period would be, the
average number of days in acycle, the timing of ovulation
and did not know how long an eggor sperm could live in a
woman's body, again justreflecting a general lack of
knowledge about their peoplesurveyed, both including health
(28:13):
care professionals like primarycare doctors, et cetera, and
just general population.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
overall, the health
care professionals surveyed did
not demonstrate a betterfertility knowledge than the lay
participants, and I find thatto be a kick in the pants for
all of us, doctors and nurseshere, but you know, I think it
also just reflects a system-wideissue.
Not, you know, it's not bad onthose individuals, but you know,
(28:37):
how are we educating our?
Speaker 1 (28:38):
whole population
about this.
So this podcast has always beenabout empowerment for everybody
, but especially for women, andwhile we won't bore you with all
the details, we think that it'simportant for women to
understand the basics of what isgoing on in her own body.
So let's do a brief overview ofthe cycle and what hormones are
coming into play and when.
So, elizabeth, would you walkus through the basic main phases
?
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Absolutely so.
We go through four phases ofthe menstrual cycle that truly
can each be so beautiful in itsown way.
First is what's called ourfollicular phase.
Here a hormone our bodyproduces, called estrogen,
begins to rise and thisstimulates the growth of a
follicle.
A follicle is a smallfluid-filled sac that holds the
(29:21):
egg.
During preparation forovulation, many people are
feeling energized, stable,clear-minded, as that estrogen
is rising at the beginning ofher cycle.
Then, as estrogen peaks, wehave the ovulatory phase next.
So this peak in estrogen causesa spike in a different hormone
(29:42):
called the luteinizing hormone,or LH.
Here the egg that's beendeveloping is released by that
follicle, almost like a littlewater balloon popping.
Women are feeling good at thistime.
They're confident, happy,social, comfortable in their
skin.
So after that egg is released,we have what's called the luteal
(30:03):
phase, where your body secretesa different hormone called
progesterone, secretes adifferent hormone called
progesterone.
For women, energy levels aretypically getting a little lower
here.
So this is a time to take careof yourself, to rest and listen
to your body.
And then, finally, we have themenstrual phase.
So, without fertilization ofthat egg that was released, we
(30:25):
shed the thickened lining thatour body has prepared for
gestation all over this pastcycle and we bleed.
This is a time for continuedrest as we allow our body to
detox and recover, and then itstarts all over again.
Our bodies truly are capable ofso much, but a few things I
(30:46):
want to point out that ourbodies can do that are really
incredible and unique are first,ovulation, as I've just
mentioned.
This is the ability to produceand release an egg each cycle
that could lead to creating newlife if it were fertilized.
We also have the ability forgestation.
We can carry children and growa life within us.
(31:09):
And then, third, we can sustainthis child by producing milk
for this new life to thrivethrough lactation.
So really beautiful and amazingwhat a woman's body is capable
of doing.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
It's just incredible,
isn't it Amazing?
I'm blown away by some of this,you know, like just the concept
of all this cycle stuff that'sgoing on all the time and then
birth.
I mean it's amazing that itever goes right.
It's just so complicated, butit does.
It's just this miracle it is.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
It's an amazing
design.
Not every woman has the exactsame experience with her
menstrual cycle.
There are many uncomfortableand even painful symptoms that
we, as women, can experience,some of which can impact our
fertility.
A lot of women live withsymptoms that they just
associate with just being awoman.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And you know, lindsay
, over the years I've seen so
many women who were miserablewith things like painful
menstrual periods or emotionalswings and stuff like that, and
it was really, really tragic andI think we shouldn't discount
that.
It's a huge issue.
So seeing somebody like you,elizabeth, and getting things
back on track it can help withall that stuff, for sure.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Yeah, Until we start
to quantify the information, we
don't have a way of recognizingpatterns that lead us to these
root cause discoveries of whyour bodies may be responding
this way.
So painful periods, spottingbefore or after, heavy periods,
no bleeding, inconsistent cycles, significant PMS symptoms, acne
(32:39):
or just general mental healthconcerns surrounding the cycle
All of these things are justinformation until, Elizabeth,
people come alongside and westart learning a system that
gives you more specifics howlong are you dealing with these
symptoms each cycle, how regularare your cycles, what's the
color and the quality of yourbleeding, etc.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
And all that
information helps us to see
patterns, like you're talkingabout this longitudinal picture,
so that then we can start totend the garden, Dr McMahon like
you said earlier, dr McMahon,like I said earlier, now let's
take a look at all this stuffwe've been talking about and
discuss how it can help womentend to their bodies, like Dr
Cheryl tends to her herb garden,and this can result in better
overall health.
Elizabeth, can you give us someexamples of what a woman's
(33:20):
chart may show as far as warningsigns that things might be a
little bit off kilter?
Speaker 4 (33:24):
So through learning
to track your cycle, you begin
to have information to see whatyour body might be saying, as
you were just mentioning earlier, the PMS symptoms, or
premenstrual syndrome symptomsthat a woman could be facing.
You can identify when that'shappening on your chart and
truly I've found some clientsthat have experienced pretty
(33:47):
significant symptoms with thisthat are not normal and I think
it's so normalized for womenthat, oh, before we start our
cycle, we're just going to facea tough woman right here.
But it's actually there'sthings that can help that to
ease the PMS symptoms.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
And so it's not just
like oh, it's just your time of
the month.
Here comes angry woman again,Right.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
She might need some
supplemental support or some
progesterone support for thatand I've had clients completely
turn around and feel so muchbetter after something like that
.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
And it's important
for her partner to understand
that it's not her fault.
She's really a nice person.
It's her hormones talking right.
Yes, it's not her fault.
She's really a nice person.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
It's her hormones
talking right, it's not her
talking, but I want to mentionthis helps you to see what's
happening and to get help,because it may not be normal for
her, so it may not be her truestate of health.
Maybe a woman's charting andnotices brown bleeding at the
tail end of her cycle.
This could indicate also a needfor progesterone support or for
(34:52):
further testing, becauseactually brown bleeding is not
normal or a sign of health.
Or maybe you experiencebleeding in the middle of your
cycle.
You have some spotting.
I had a client struggling withinfertility who had irregular
bleeding like this and shediscovered that she had polyps.
With further testing, afterhaving these removed and adding
(35:15):
in some supplements for furthersupport, they were actually able
to achieve a pregnancy.
If your cycle is fluctuating inlength every month, maybe
ranging from 23 to 50 days,that's a good range and it can
be hard to know when ovulationis occurring, just like what you
were saying earlier, dr McMinn.
Your ovulation probably is noton day 14 every month, but with
(35:39):
tracking you can more easilydetermine when you're fertile or
not and this could be reason tolook into the cause of why your
cycle is fluctuating in length.
To look into the cause of whyyour cycle is fluctuating in
length.
This could be due to stress,because stress can actually
delay ovulation.
Or it could be due to PCOS.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Some women with which
is polycystic ovary syndrome.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Yes, Some women with
PCOS or polycystic ovarian
syndrome experience anovulationwhere they don't ovulate at all,
or maybe they have long orirregular cycles.
Some women with this may havemucus almost every day.
As I mentioned earlier.
Their estrogen might be alittle higher, causing them to
(36:22):
see that, while others may havenone at all.
These are all reasons to learnto chart your cycle to help
determine what might be going onbeneath the surface.
And if I come across a womanlike this and I see these
patterns, I would definitelyrefer to a NAPRO doctor or nurse
practitioner who can help treatthese things.
And for those struggling withinfertility, the goal of
(36:46):
tracking is to help determinethe root cause, as infertility
in many cases can be a symptomof something else going on
that's causing it.
I do have some clients who havestruggled with infertility, for
example, who have had symptomsof painful periods, brown
bleeding, decreased mucus, etc.
(37:07):
That later learned, afterconnecting with a NAPRO doctor,
that they had endometriosis andthis can be a huge cause of
infertility.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
I think what you're
saying here really bears
repeating, that our body'sfertility is really revealing
deeper things about our health,and that's a huge shift of
thinking for many people.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So on the podcast,
we've always been huge advocates
of preventive medicine, so ifpractitioners could tap into
these signs and recognize theseissues earlier, we could have
more opportunities of helpingwomen steer away from or slow
down the progression of thingslike endometriosis or PCOS.
We did an entire podcast on thebenefits of bioidentical
hormone therapy and also we didone on PCOS, which I think were
(37:52):
quite good, if I might say so,and you might be interested in
going back and reviewing thoseat your convenience.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Let's talk about the
application of this method for
family planning.
I think in general in themedical world, historically
speaking, when someone mentionsnatural family planning, people
assume they're not effectivelygoing to be able to avoid
pregnancy.
But the research with Creightonshows otherwise, that this
method's effective, rightElizabeth?
Speaker 4 (38:17):
That's right.
It is and I think you're right.
There is a stigma surroundingthis, unfortunately, but when
used properly it can be soeffective.
So I'm going to throw out somenumbers here.
The method effectiveness ofusing the Creighton model system
to avoid pregnancy now, methodeffectiveness means absolute
(38:40):
perfect use is 99.5% effective.
The use effectiveness ofCreighton, which means we are
human, we might miss anobservation here or there
because of life, miss anobservation here or there
because of life it's still 96.8%effective.
It's worth mentioning too thatthe method effectiveness of the
(39:01):
birth control pill, which againis perfect use is 99% comparable
there, while the useeffectiveness meaning we're
human, we make mistakes, mightmiss a pill or the wrong time of
the birth control pill isactually 93%.
The use effectiveness ofcondoms, on a different note, is
87%.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
So let me repeat that
to you to clarify for our
listeners.
There's two types ofeffectiveness ratings that we're
dealing with here Methodeffectiveness and then use
effectiveness.
The second, the useeffectiveness, allowing for
human error.
So for method effectiveness forCreighton, that accounts for if
you charted every day, younever missed sign biomarker, you
(39:42):
didn't misinterpret yourobservations at all.
Or with birth control, themethod effectiveness is if you
never skipped a day, like yousaid, you're a perfect little
robot taking that pill.
And then condom effectivenesswould be the barrier, never
leaked or tore.
So let's repeat those numbers.
So 99.5 for Creighton and then99% for birth control pills.
Perfect use.
Then, if we account for humanerror when applying those
(40:05):
practices, effectiveness forboth decreases.
For Creighton, 96.8%, birthcontrol pills 93%, 96.8 percent.
Birth control pill is 93percent.
So this might help people whenthey consider going to this type
of method but don't trustthemselves to do it.
So, listeners, statisticallythe numbers are for you Right.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
So what about the
opposite?
What is the research behindusing this method to become
pregnant?
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Yeah.
So on the flip side, for thosewith the goal of achieving a
pregnancy, who have normalfertility, 76% of couples were
able to achieve within the firstcycle of use because, again,
they have the information to seewhen they're fertile or not.
And by the sixth cycle of use,98% were able to achieve a
(40:51):
pregnancy.
Percent were able to achieve apregnancy.
Now, for those struggling withinfertility, 20 to 40 percent
were able to achieve a pregnancyusing the Creighton model
system alone and up to 80percent were able to achieve
using Creighton plus medicaltreatment with a NAPRO provider.
This method can be used toachieve pregnancy, to avoid
(41:13):
pregnancy and to monitor ourhealth and fertility, and it's
shown to be quite effective.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
And listeners by now.
You know we always do ourhomework for you.
However, if you want to take adeeper dive, you can find this
data published atwwwcreightonmodelcom.
I'm going to spell that out foryou C-R-E-I-G-H-T-O-N-M-O-D-E-L
dot com.
It came from a meta-analysis ofdata of five separate studies
totaling over 1,800 patients,and this study was published in
(41:40):
the Journal of ReproductiveMedicine.
And again as Elizabeth quoted,the study found that the
Creighton model has a methodeffectiveness of 99.5% and a
typical use effectiveness of96.8% of avoiding pregnancy and
a typical use effectiveness of96.8% of avoiding pregnancy.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Let's zoom out for a
moment and briefly also talk
about birth control methods ingeneral.
They can be broadly categorizedinto hormonal, non-hormonal and
natural methods.
Hormonal options includingpills, patches, implants and
IUDs, and then non-hormonalmethods including copper, iuds,
condoms and then diaphragms.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Hormonal
contraceptives work by
preventing ovulation, thickeningcervical mucus and thinning the
uterine lining.
They're highly effective whenused correctly and, as Elizabeth
pointed out, for us the pillhas a 99% efficacy rate with
perfect use.
However, as Elizabeth shared,human error brings us down to as
low as 91%, according to theCDC website.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
As we're an
evidence-based podcast, we do
want to discuss both benefitsand risks briefly.
Benefits for these other usesof birth control would be like
efficacy, ease of use,convenience.
Those are all big ones for manypeople, However, the side
effects can include nausea,headaches, mood changes and also
this can affect your bleeding,causing irregularities too.
(42:57):
Another thing to consider wasthere's a whole lot of different
studies that we kind of want toshare with you too.
An example of that would be astudy from 2015.
The British Medical Journalfound that combined oral
contraceptives, especially thosecontaining newer progestins,
can double the risk of bloodclots compared to non-users.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
And, of course, the
major risk of blood clots is
they go on to cause strokes andheart attacks.
In fact, in the 2021 studyfound that birth control pills
can increase the risk of strokeand heart attack by
approximately 60%, although, tobe clear, when you look at what
we call absolute risk, it stillremains pretty low, with only
about eight out of every 100,000women taking birth control
(43:39):
pills experiencing a stroke eachyear.
Another bummer is the researchfrom the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Metabolism,following over a million women,
which found a 40% increased riskof starting antidepressants
among hormonal contraceptiveusers, particularly teenagers.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
That's pretty
significant, Dr Mack.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
There's also, of
course, the question of
long-term exposure.
A 2020 review in environmentalresearch raised concerns about
synthetic hormones potentiallyaffecting endocrine function and
accumulating in the body.
This kind of thing couldcontribute to inflammation and
disrupt your natural hormonalbalance.
Speaker 4 (44:16):
I want to intersect
and say something here.
In my training, where I learnedall about Creighton we were
talking about this and how womentaking the birth control pill
there is so much estrogen thatis being flushed out of our
bodies that's actually in thewater everywhere.
And I learned about this peachfarm where the peaches were
(44:39):
being affected by the estrogenin the water that they were
being watered by.
They weren't growing as theyused to be because of all the
estrogen from the birth controlpill out in this water.
So kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
The hormones in the
birth control pill are not
really natural human hormones.
They are called endocrinedisrupting chemicals, which then
get into our environment andhave effects on wildlife and
stuff like that.
So, yeah, there's so manyangles to this, aren't there?
So many ways you can look at it, but certainly a lot of impacts
on our environment.
So hormonal contraceptives canimpact liver function and
cholesterol levels in some users.
(45:12):
Also, emerging research pointsto concerns about the
accumulation of synthetichormones and toxins over time.
Studies such as the onepublished in the Environmental
Research have detected traceamounts of synthetic hormones
and heavy metals in thebloodstream of long-term
hormonal contraceptive users.
These toxins can furthercontribute to inflammation and
disrupt endocrine function.
(45:33):
And, although this is a topicof hot debate, some experts
argue that synthetic hormones inthe birth control pills can be
classified as EDCs endocrinedisrupting chemicals because
they interfere with the body'sown natural hormone function.
And in fact, if you look at thedefinition of an EDC, it states
quote an exogenous substance ormixture that alters functions
(45:54):
of the endocrine system.
So it seems to me like BCPs orbirth control pills fit that
definition.
I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
Right, I hear you.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yeah, and one more
aspect of the birth control pill
I'll mention is the impact onthe microbiome.
A review in Frontiers ofCellular and Infection
Microbiology suggests thathormonal contraceptives can
alter the vaginal and gutmicrobiomes, potentially
affecting immune response andoverall health.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
It's also worth
noting that hormonal methods can
influence nutrient absorption.
Even Research in the AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition in
2018 had documenteddeficiencies in vitamins like B6
and magnesium with long-termuse, so there's broader health
implications as well.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
And these risks
underscore the importance of
education and understanding theupsides and downsides of
hormonal birth control.
In an ideal world, each womanwould have a comprehensive
conversation with a healthcareprovider maybe a naprofighter
about her options, although thereality of the situation is that
in this day and age, when somany OBGYN doctors are seeing 50
patients a day or more, thenthis kind of comprehensive
(47:00):
conversation can be really hardto come by and to be even-handed
.
Here it's appropriate to saythat the pill has been around
for many years and we haveumpteen million women who have
taken the pill, and most of themseem to do fine with it and at
least they think that thetrade-offs are worth it for them
, although many of them havenever been really given the
option or any information aboutnatural family planning.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
And also just to kind
of quickly cover non-hormonal
options like the copper IUD.
They can be an alternative.
The copper IUD is over 99%effective and can last up to 10
years, but I think it's worthkind of thinking through how it
works, which is by creating anenvironment that's hostile to
sperm.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
Yeah, it employs
actually several different
mechanisms, which I won't gointo here, to prevent pregnancy,
and it may be quite effective,but it's not without some
potential drawbacks.
Some users report heavierperiods and cramping, especially
in the first few months.
On the plus side, it's hormonefree.
Let me be clear there aredifferent kinds of IUDs and of
course we have the copper IUDwhich we're talking about here,
but then you also have the kindof hormonally impregnated IUDs,
(48:02):
Right, and that's a wholedifferent story.
Yes, right, so anyway, butlet's not forget the barrier
methods like condoms, and theireffectiveness is a little bit
lower, at about 85% with typicaluse.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
So now let's circle
back to the natural methods,
which, of course, creightonfalls into this category.
Just to kind of give us a broadpicture, there's the fertility
awareness method, fam.
That involves charting of threebiomarkers your basal body temp
, the cervical fluid and thenalso cervical changes.
So this method allows forincorporation of the barrier
(48:33):
method for contraception as well.
It's method allows forincorporation of the barrier
method for contraception as well.
It's kind of for during thosefertile periods.
Then there's natural familyplanning, which, creighton,
falls into this model, and themain difference between this and
the former is just the use ofabstinence during fertile times.
And then finally, there's justthat outdated rhythm method
that's really consideredineffective because it doesn't
(48:55):
require actual observations andcharting.
It's based on mathematicalcomputations, which we've
already said.
Every woman can have a reallyunique day for ovulation and
timing and length of their cycle.
So in many ways I feel likethat's almost the opposite of
Creighton, even though it's putin the same category.
So all these natural methodsthat we're talking about,
(49:16):
they're benefits, low cost,hormone free, so really no side
effects to consider.
And then the whole toxin issueis really a non-issue.
But the biggest thing is itdoes require discipline and for
each of us, as a patient, totake an active role in our
health monitoring, which may ormay not be something that people
are willing to do or an optionfor them at this time.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
That's correct.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
Right.
Speaker 4 (49:38):
Creighton.
It takes time and patience andyou're really learning how to
listen and be in tune with yourbody.
There are many benefits notmany side effects, as Lindsay
mentioned, but it's not as easyas popping a pill every day, but
truly, in my opinion, it'sworth the time and the
investment to learn to listenand know what your body's saying
(50:01):
.
There's a lot of value in it.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
One of our main
blessings in our life is our
health and learning about yourbody, as you pointed out.
I think it's quite worthwhilethe time you invest in that, but
our purpose here on the show isnot to bash any particular type
of birth control.
We're simply trying to sharewith you the evidence-based
information so that you can makeempowered choices about your
reproductive, hormonal andperiod health, whatever that
(50:24):
choice may be.
To summarize the optionshormonal methods can be highly
effective and convenient, butcome with some side effects.
Non-hormonal options, like thecopper IUD, offer fewer systemic
risk but on the other hand,they do have some localized side
effects.
And the natural methods, likethe plan that Elizabeth brings
to us today, can provideautonomy and no medical side
effects, but do require moreeducation, active management and
(50:47):
engagement on the part of thepatient.
Elizabeth, lindsay and I havebeen talking so much, and you
are the expert here, so what'syour perspective on these
methods?
Speaker 4 (50:56):
Often, women are
treated with hormonal
contraception in response tomany difficult symptoms that
they may be facing.
This hormonal contraceptionprovides an artificial boost to
(51:18):
our natural hormones and canhelp resolve symptoms that they
may experience, but this boostmasks rather than addresses the
underlying cause behind thesesymptoms.
While this can be helpful forsome women, in certain
situations, taking hormonalcontraception can interrupt or
alter your natural menstrualcycle, which can impact your
health and body.
For this reason, I've becomepassionate about a natural
approach to fertility care andhope to teach and empower women
(51:40):
to connect with the wonderfulbodies that God has given us.
Speaker 3 (51:44):
I love your heart
behind that.
One of my personal soapboxes isthat health and learning about
health should be considered abasic life skill, like reading,
you know.
In the parenting podcast we didrecently, we talked about potty
training being a basic skillthat's taught, in the same way
that learning how to eat andcare for our bodies should be
just a basic life skill, andthis information we're
(52:04):
discussing today, in my mind,about fertility and our
reproductive health, is in thesame vein.
It's just a basic life skill,life knowledge that we should
all have, but that's just reallynot the case, right?
Speaker 4 (52:16):
Right.
I really wish that somethinglike this was offered to was
really required for teenagegirls to learn in school, maybe
around the time when they gettheir first period.
I believe there's so muchhelpful information in learning
to listen to your body at such ayoung age.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
So when I was in the
eighth grade, they took the boys
and took them to shop class orwhatever, and they took the
girls and took them to adifferent room.
Speaker 3 (52:41):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (52:41):
And they taught the
girls something right, Right.
Well, they didn't teach us thisthough, but they should be
teaching this.
Speaker 4 (52:49):
Right, I think that's
the time that's what I'm saying
.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
They should be
teaching these two girls at a
young age?
Speaker 4 (52:56):
Yes, but what are
they teaching?
Speaker 3 (52:57):
I mean, I think
they're teaching Cross your legs
At CDs.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
As Nancy Reagan said,
just say no.
Speaker 4 (53:03):
Yeah, I think they
touch on hormones and like
bleeding, but nothing aboutnothing at this length of detail
, all right.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
So that's funny
though yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, so anyway.
So who does this informationapply to?
Who can benefit from creighton?
Speaker 4 (53:20):
I believe this can
benefit any woman, from the time
she starts her period to whenshe may encounter menopause.
So if you are married orengaged to be married and hoping
to avoid pregnancy, naturally,as I've mentioned, your body can
show you when you're fertile ornot, giving you greater
confidence in making decisionsday to day about physical
(53:43):
intimacy.
Decisions day to day aboutphysical intimacy.
Or maybe your desire is toachieve pregnancy and you have
experienced difficulty andheartache in the waiting caused
by infertility.
There is hope that can be foundand these signs our bodies can
show us over time.
I also want to pause here andacknowledge those of you
listeners who may have struggledwith, or even are currently
(54:05):
facing the heartbreak ofinfertility.
I want you to hear that Godsees you.
He loves you far more than youcould ask or imagine.
My heart truly goes out tothose who may have felt alone or
broken on your fertilityjourney.
You're not alone In all of thehardship we may experience.
I want you to know that God hasequipped us with incredible
(54:26):
indicators to help show what'shappening inside our bodies.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
I appreciate you
pausing to make this
acknowledgement.
Dr McMahon, you've always hadthe philosophy of providing
loving, kindness and hope inmedicine, and this being the
most powerful medicine.
So our hearts go out to ourlisteners who are walking
through infertility, and we dowant to speak hope into that.
We're in agreement with you.
(54:52):
So the Creighton Method isreally beautiful to me because
it marries science with faithand spirituality, and Creighton
practitioners are out thereacknowledging this connection,
like you, elizabeth.
So tell us about women who arenot considering avoiding or
achieving pregnancy.
How can they benefit from this?
Speaker 4 (55:11):
Right.
So maybe you're listening andyou're a teenager, or you're
single in your 20s or 30s, ormaybe you're approaching
perimenopause and you're notreally interested in learning
for fertility reasons, but justwant to know more about your
body, how your hormonesfluctuate, why do they cause you
to feel certain ways atdifferent times.
(55:31):
Tracking can help you feelempowered in your health and can
benefit in a lot of ways.
Learning these symptoms withyour cycle as it's shifting can
help give your doctor beneficialinformation too for how to
manage treatment like hormonereplacement therapy etc.
Or maybe you're like me fiveyears ago.
(55:53):
I was single at the time andhad serious issues with my cycle
and searched for years and wasnot finding answers.
Once I found this method andlearned to use it, it truly
changed my life.
I feel so much healthier andI'm more myself.
I have a regular period andfeel more prepared for when the
(56:13):
time does come around to try tohave a baby.
Learning our bodies in this waytakes time, as I've said, but
truly a worthy investment.
Speaker 1 (56:23):
Also, I think about
the application of your method
for younger women who are farfrom having children.
In this case, if there areissues in the cycle, this can be
identified and worked throughwell before fertility
conversations come into place.
So then, when she's ready, theneverything is in good working
condition and this can helpavoid years of heartache in that
journey later on, help avoidyears of heartache in that
(56:44):
journey later on.
And then you have many womenwho have no issues with their
cycles and don't have anyspecific goals of trying to
avoid or achieve pregnancy atthis time.
But it would still be helpfulfor these women to learn to tune
into their cycles more closely.
Speaker 4 (56:55):
Right.
I think that 100% this canapply to those women.
Learning about your cycle canhelp you appreciate the gift of
your health and the design ofyour body and to prepare for
seasons to come, and also youmight be surprised by what you
chart.
Speaker 3 (57:12):
So we got a little
hint about your journey there a
few minutes ago.
Can you tell us why you decidedto become a fertility
practitioner?
What's your story?
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (57:21):
I'd love to.
I started my period my firsttime when I was 15 years old,
but I actually didn't haveanother one after that.
When about a year rolled around, we were feeling concerned and
my mom took me to the OBGYN andI was placed on the birth
control pill to help me have aperiod.
I was also a big runner in highschool, ran cross country and
(57:44):
in college and cared a lot aboutmy health.
I thought I was being quotehealthy with super intense
exercise and a strict diet, butI didn't realize I wasn't
fueling my body enough for theamount of energy I was using.
I was also under pretty highstress in nursing school and put
a lot of pressure on myself toperform well.
(58:04):
High stress in nursing schooland put a lot of pressure on
myself to perform well.
I would come off the birthcontrol pill and see if I could
have a period for a year or so,but without any luck, would get
back on it in order to protectmy bones, which is what the
doctor told me I needed to do,and I hoped that maybe a period
caused by these synthetichormones was better than no
period at all.
This continued on for 10 yearsand after a while I started to
(58:29):
feel pretty concerned, thinkingto myself isn't it healthy to
have a period?
Don't I need to have a periodin order to have a baby one day,
and I can't be on the birthcontrol pill for that to happen?
I realized that the birthcontrol pill was not really
treating what was actually goingon for me, but was masking it,
and I wanted more answers.
(58:49):
After being told that I didn'tneed to worry about it until the
time came for me to try toconceive, I decided to take
things into my own hands andstarted reading all sorts of
books and doing research to tryto determine how to get my
period back, but this was withno luck, on my own.
In all my attempts to be healthy, my body was actually showing
(59:11):
me that, in fact, I was far fromit.
I cried many tears and prayedmany prayers during that time,
wondering what's wrong with me.
I'm a woman and women aresupposed to have a cycle.
Isn't that how God created usto be?
Finally, through the Lord'ssovereign hand, I got connected
with a NAPRO nurse practitioner.
(59:31):
She took a more fundamentalapproach and looked at my body
as a whole.
I was diagnosed with somethingcalled hypothalamic amenorrhea
and was told to slow down torest amenorrhea and was told to
slow down to rest, to go tocounseling, to fuel my body that
I was under so much stress.
(59:51):
My body felt unsafe to carry ababy so it suppressed all the
hormones that would allow me toovulate, so therefore I wasn't
having a period.
I was also connected with afertility care practitioner who
taught me how to track my cycleeven though I wasn't having one
yet.
So I was learning to look forsigns of shifting hormones and
things and after only a month Igot my period back, which is
(01:00:14):
crazy.
Unbelievable One month, and letme tell you I cried some tears
of joy that day.
I bet you, yeah so, but I had tostop running and to slow down
and to learn to listen and carefor my body in new ways, and
this was a shift for me.
I was single at the time oflearning all of this, five years
(01:00:36):
ago, and I got married to mysweet husband just within the
past year, and I am so thankfulthat I learned this years before
even thinking about growing afamily one day.
My health and fertility journeyhas impacted me so much that I
decided to become a fertilitycare practitioner because I want
women to help hear thisinformation.
(01:00:58):
I think it's not shared enoughand I wish that I could take
back those years of heartachethat I went through and
wondering what's wrong with me.
But I think that there ispurpose in all of it to lead me
to where I am today, so I hopeto have an impact on women to
help them learn more of thesethings.
Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
Thanks for sharing
your story.
I know that we share the samefaith as Christ followers.
I know that we share the samefaith as Christ followers and
we've often talked on thispodcast that health is not just
physical, that it also very muchintersects with our
spirituality as well.
So tell us how you integratefaith with your practice.
Speaker 4 (01:01:37):
Our bodies truly are
incredibly wonderfully made, as
we talked about earlier.
I love how the Bible sharesthat in the beginning of time,
as God was creating the starsand plants and animals, he
actually waited until the veryend to create women.
He saved us for last.
So there's something specialthere.
While our bodies may becomplicated, we are truly so
intricately made.
(01:01:58):
In understanding more fully thedetails of how our bodies were
created, I think we truly can'thelp but be in awe with all of
this.
I'm grateful for theopportunity to care for women in
my practice as they walkthrough various seasons on their
fertility journey, and I hopeto be a safe place of
compassionate guidance andsupport for them.
Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
You know we talk on
every podcast about empowerment,
taking ownership for yourhealth, about being a great
captain of your ship.
So if any of our listeners outthere are interested or want to
learn more about the Creighton,Method.
Speaker 4 (01:02:31):
How can they get
started?
The best way to get startedwould be to attend an
introductory session to learnmore.
You can sign up by emailing meat elizabethflourishfertility at
gmailcom, or find me on mywebsite,
wwwflourishfertilitycarecom.
I also have a brand newInstagram still in the works,
(01:02:55):
but this could be a landing pageand that would be
flourishfertilitycare.
At flourishfertilitycare, fromthe intro session, we meet
individually for a number ofsessions to learn how your body
works uniquely, and we worktogether to meet your fertility
health goals, whatever they maybe.
Speaker 1 (01:03:14):
And so, just to
reiterate, you deal with clients
remotely as well, right, sothey don't have to live in the
Birmingham area, right Both inperson and remotely Wonderful,
wonderful.
Well, okay then.
Well, thank you so much,elizabeth.
It's just been such a joy tospend time with you and get to
know more about the CreightonMethod, and we appreciate you
bringing your expertise and yourpassion today to our podcast.
Do you have any books orresources you'd like to
(01:03:36):
recommend to our listeners onthis topic?
Speaker 4 (01:03:38):
Yeah, I would
recommend reading a book called
the Napro Technology RevolutionUnleashing the Power of a
Woman's Cycle.
This book goes so much deeperinto all that we've just
discussed.
It's really informative aboutall of this.
Also, I actually just read abook recently called it Starts
with the Egg.
It doesn't have quite the samerestorative approach as
(01:04:00):
Creighton and Napro Technology,but it gave some really helpful
and interesting informationabout ways to support egg
quality that I thought werereally good.
Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
As far as additional
resources on understanding your
cycle and further looking intonatural cycle management, I
would also like to add theexcellent book the Period Repair
Manual by Laura Bryden andanother one called Taking Charge
of your Fertility by TonyWessler.
That is also quite good, and so, for listeners, we hope you
gain something from this podcastthat will be helpful or
interesting to you, and thiswill about wrap it up for this
(01:04:31):
episode of the WellnessConnection MD podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:04:34):
Please take a moment
to rate us on iTunes.
These reviews really do make adifference.
And also, if you liked thepodcast, then take a moment
today to let a friend know aboutit.
Thanks so much for helping usspread the word about
evidence-based, holistic,functional and integrative
medicine.
Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
You know, let's face
it, over the half of our
population is female and thereare a lot, a lot, a lot of women
umpteen million womenstruggling with period issues
Again, once again, painfulperiods, heavy bleeding the list
goes on and on and they'redesperate and they're miserable
and unfortunately, they're notgetting answers.
So I think this is reallytimely and important.
(01:05:10):
So we're so grateful for you tocome on today and share your
thoughts and hopefully many ofthese women will reach out to
you and get the help they need.
But if you want to reach out tome to make a comment on the
show or to make recommendationsfor future topics, then you can
do so at drmcminn at yahoocom.
That's spelled out, dr McMinn.
And well, coach Lindsay, canyou leave us with another one of
(01:05:30):
your brilliant Coach Lindsaypearls of wisdom?
Speaker 3 (01:05:33):
Thanks, Dr Mack.
You know, I think I just wantto return to that idea of the
cycle as like a fifth vital signand encouraging our listeners
to consider tuning in to whattheir bodies are saying through
educating themselves more abouttheir bodies and also just
pausing Like Elizabeth, you'vebeen so good to point out the
pause to listen to them.
Well, you know just this idea.
(01:05:54):
It's body literacy, being ableto read your own body language,
so to speak, and it's huge and Ithink it's one that I really
hope we can teach the risingfuture generation to take the
time and to learn early.
Speaker 1 (01:06:07):
Yeah, coach, I
appreciate the passion that you
bring to this issue and towomen's health in general.
It seems to me that we in themedical community and in society
in general tend to sweepwomen's health issues under the
rug.
We've been doing this for along time.
We do it too often, so we'rereally happy to do our part,
with Wellness Connection MD, toshed some light on some of these
issues for you, and again, Ithank you both for helping us do
(01:06:28):
that today, and that will aboutdo it for today's podcast.
Thank you so much for listening.
This is Dr McNinn.
Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
And this is Coach
Lindsay.
Take care and be well, thankyou.