#126 | 5 Reasons You Still Can't Get Pregnant & How To Finally Get Answers

Have you been told “everything looks normal,” but month after month you’re still not pregnant? If you’ve been given the vague label of unexplained infertility or you don't feel clear on 'why' you can't get or stay pregnant, this episode is for you.

In this empowering solo episode, Dr. Katie Wood breaks down why “unexplained infertility” is not a true diagnosis—it’s a sign your body needs deeper investigation and real support. You’ll discover the 5 most common, often missed root causes of fertility struggles, from hormone imbalances and poor egg quality to male factor infertility and emotional blocks. Plus, Dr. Katie shares actionable next steps to finally get the answers (and results) you deserve—without more guessing with surface-level lab work or another failed IUI or IVF cycle.

In this episode, you'll discover...

-The 5 overlooked root causes of fertility issues doctors rarely address

-How stress, sleep, blood sugar, and past trauma can impact ovulation and implantation

-Exactly which labs and steps to take if you’ve “tried everything” but aren’t conceiving

Tune in now for a complete breakdown of what to explore before starting or repeating IVF or another IUI—and how to uncover the real reason you're not getting and staying pregnant (yet).

🌟Follow and connect with me on Instagram @the_wellness_pharmacist to fast-track your fertility so you can finally get and stay pregnant naturally!⁠

Finally Get Pregnant Naturally is your go-to TTC podcast for holistic fertility support to help you get pregnant naturally by addressing the root cause of unexplained infertility, secondary infertility, and recurrent miscarriage. Hosted by Dr. Katie Wood, a pharmacist and holistic fertility practitioner, this show offers natural fertility solutions for those on a fertility journey struggling to conceive, navigating miscarriage, or dealing with endometriosis, PCOS, low sperm count, or failed IUI or failed IVF. Whether you're trying to conceive, increase egg quality, optimizing sperm health, or healing after a miscarriage, each episode delivers practical guidance to support your fertility journey. Learn how to improve fertility, balance hormones, regulate your fertile window, and conceive naturally through root cause healing, emotional wellness, and mind-body tools—because true fertility starts from within.

DISCLAIMER: By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use it as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others. This podcast offers information to help the listener cooperate with physicians, mental health professionals or other healthcare providers in a mutual quest for optimal well-being. We advise listeners to carefully review and understand the ideas presented, and to consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having. Under no circumstances shall Pharm to Wellness LLC, any guests or contributors to the Rising into Mindful Motherhood podcast, or any employees, associates, or affiliates of Pharm to Wellness LLC be responsible for damages arising from the use of the podcast. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Episode Transcript

Katie (00:00):
In this episode, we're unpacking the most common reasons why pregnancy
just isn't happening, even when everythinglooks normal on paper, including one
particular cause that you may not expect.
Plus, you'll also learn the exactsteps I would recommend to take to
get answers and solutions so youcan finally get pregnant naturally.

(00:26):
Welcome to the finally GetPregnant Naturally Podcast.
The podcast helping women identifythe real reasons you haven't
conceived or stayed pregnant, soyou and your partner can finally
grow the family of your dreams.
I'm your host, Dr.
Katie Wood.
Let's dive in, shall we?
Welcome to the Finally Get Pregnant Naturally Podcast.

(00:48):
We are gonna talk about unexplainedinfertility, and let's just start
with the hard truth, the elephant inthe room, unexplained infertility.
Is not really a diagnosis, it is a labelof exclusion, meaning we ran some basic

(01:12):
labs and didn't find an obvious issue.
And when I mean basic labs, I mean.
basic surface level labs.
And I know this to be true because Ihave talked with countless, countless
women who are coming to me and saying,I have been trying for two years,

(01:36):
three years, five years, even more.
And when we start talking, they sharethat, yeah, they've had some labs, but
like the labs that they've actually had.
Were pretty surface level.
They were pretty basic, likemaybe your thyroid, maybe
some cycle day three hormones.

(01:58):
Yes, maybe they had a semenanalysis or maybe like an HSG, some
other tests and things like that.
But that's not actually telling us.
What's going on inside the body becausejust because they didn't find anything
doesn't mean that there's not an issue.
And in fact, the root cause can eitherbe hiding in plain sight and it's just

(02:24):
completely missed, or it's somethingthat you're not going to find on
these surface level labs or even.
Tests, right?
Because let's just say they doan HSG and you have a blocked
tube or something like that.
But why?
What is going on with that?

(02:46):
Right?
Why is that happening?
So that's where we have to go deeper.
So I would say that if we wereto summarize, there's about five
core categories where fertilityroadblocks tend to show up.
Now I'm going to just say like,this may not be all inclusive, but
there's about five main categories

(03:08):
and I wanna walk you through each and Iwanna give you examples from some real
clients that maybe you can relate to.
So number one, hormonal imbalance.
This is one of the most frequentand often mismanaged causes.
So if you think about your hormones.

(03:32):
As a symphony, estrogen, progesterone,lh, F-S-H-D-H-E-A, cortisol, thyroid,
blood sugar, like glucose, insulin.
All of these thingsneed to be in a rhythm,
but in so many women who are coming tome that are struggling and that I work

(03:53):
with are dealing with chronic stress.
Poor detoxification, gut issues, evenpost birth control issues as well.
And all of these thingsare affecting this rhythm.
And when your hormonal rhythm is affected,that can affect ovulation, right?

(04:16):
Ovulation disorders are socommon, but a lot of it comes
down to hormonal imbalance.
Then you have to take like, so let'sjust say someone has an ovulation issue.
They have irregular cycles, or they'reovulating late, and let's just say they
were diagnosed with P-C-O-S-P-C-O-Sbeing the hormonal imbalance.

(04:40):
But then you have to take it a littlebit deeper What is causing that?
Hormonal imbalance.
Are you really stressed?
Are you not getting quality sleep?
Are you not supporting a healthyblood sugar regulation with diet?
One client came to me with,

(05:00):
A luteal phase defect, so herprogesterone was tanked, but also
her estrogen was struggling as well.
She was burnt out and not eating enoughfat and protein to support hormone
production, so we rebalanced her hormonesthrough nourishment, nervous system

(05:21):
regulation, and supporting her adrenals,and she got pregnant naturally within.
It was like two or three cyclesafter implementing these things.
So number two, egg qualityand ovarian reserve.
This is often talked aboutin terms of age, right?
Once we turn 35, our fertility justdives off of a cliff, but age is

(05:46):
not the full picture here, right?
I have women messaging me who arein their twenties, who have bottomed
out a MH levels very high, F,s, H, all of these things in it.
And they're just being told that theyhave premature ovarian insufficiency,
but I call BS in most cases, and it'sbecause we're not diving deep enough

(06:10):
to see what the heck is going on.
So yes, low A MH and high FSH andcertainly point to declining egg reserve.
But I have seen women with an A MH of 0.2
conceive naturally when we address.
Stress, mitochondrial support,inflammation and mineral

(06:35):
depletion among many other things.
So please, if you're listening to thisand you've been told you have low A
MH or poor egg quality, 'cause thatis just such a common one to hear.
It's not a death sentence.
It is not as black and white as wethink, and it's often a reflection

(06:57):
of your environment, your stressload, your internal terrain.
And for the most part,these things can be shifted.
Okay.
And then we have structural issuesand reproductive health conditions.
So this could include endometriosis,PCOS, fibroids, blocked fallopian

(07:22):
tubes uterine polyps, or ovarian cysts.
Again, just highlighting many ofthe common ones, so endometriosis in
particular, it can go undiagnosed, and itcan also be very misunderstood and it's
not just painful periods and build up.

(07:42):
The body.
It's an inflammatory immune disruptingcondition that can make implantation,
hormones, and egg quality suffer.
And then you have PCOS where so manyare just lumped into one size fits
all, but there's actually four typesand many women are being misdiagnosed

(08:05):
or overlooked because they don'tfit the textbook diagnosis of PCOS.
Bottom line, if your cycles are irregularor painful, and you have been told that
you don't qualify to be diagnosed forsomething because you're not checking off
all the boxes, you want to dig deeper.

(08:28):
Okay?
I have had clients with PCOS liketendencies, but they were never
given an official PCOS diagnosis,
And I do wanna highlight thatsometimes couples are dealing with
anatomical or genetic issues, whichmake natural conception extremely
difficult, if not at all possible.

(08:51):
However, I do want you to know that ifyou decide to go down the IVF root with
or without donor sperm or donor eggs,
There are still things that can hinderyour IVF cycle from sticking, and
you do like, I would still recommenddigging deeper to make sure that

(09:14):
nothing is coming up before beginningan IVF cycle for optimal outcomes.
One very like quick example could be,let's say someone is having a transfer.
Of donor eggs, and one of the thingsthat we would look at, one of the many
things would be the vaginal microbiome.

(09:36):
If your vaginal microbiome is not in ahealthy state where it could be receptive
to healthy implantation for one reasonor another, that is something that you're
going to want to look into, reveal andaddress before you do that transfer.
So whether you are dealing with anatomicalor genetic and IVF is necessary, depending

(10:01):
on whatever other things might begoing on, there are still things that
I would recommend that you dive in to.
Basically.
Cross your T's and dot your i's andleave no stone unturned to make sure that
you're getting the best possible outcomes.
Okay, number four ismale factor infertility.

(10:22):
Here's a truth bomb malefactor contributes to 40 to
50% of fertility challenges.
Yet this piece can be.
Often overlooked or not ever considereduntil years down the road, which.
His mind blowing.
Poor sperm quality, like low motility,low count, high DNA, fragmentation.

(10:48):
These can be caused by nutrientdeficiencies, toxin exposure, medications,
excessive heat, EMFs, emotionaldistress, so many different things.
Even hormonal imbalances canaffect your sperm quality, and
that's possible in men as well.
Yet so many men have never had a propersemen analysis or an, an issue that I'm

(11:15):
seeing is a male had a, a semen analysisin the beginning of the fertility journey,
and then three years have gone by.
He hasn't had a repeat analysis.
People are just assuming thatbecause he had one decent

(11:35):
analysis that he's good to go.
Or even if he's fathered childrenbefore, sometimes people are under
the impression that he should have noissues fathering another child, but
that is not the truth because sperm.
Regenerate about every 72 days or so.
So he could have great spermhealth in January and come April,

(11:59):
he could have some issues, right?
So these are things that we wannabe addressing ahead of time.
It doesn't take that muchto have a, a semen analysis.
You can even do that at home now.
So this is a team effort if you'renot a solo parent by choice.
And this is exactly why I workwith couples and not just women.

(12:20):
Number five.
So this is the one.
That no one talks about in theconventional space, but I am
seeing it every day in my dms,in my clients every single day.
And that is energetic or emotional blocks.

(12:43):
Traumas, right?
Unprocessed grief.
Fears traumas, limitingbeliefs around motherhood.
Feeling safe to be amother to bring a child in.
Worthiness.
All of these live in our bodyand can create resistance.

(13:07):
I like to think of it as kinking theenergy hose because we are energy
beings and energy is always moving.
Okay?
So this resistance can affect us.
On an energetic level, hormonally,physically in so many different
ways, and this doesn't meanthat it's all in your head.

(13:28):
It means your mind bodyconnection is real.
Your body, your subconscious isalways listening and it's creating
patterns to help keep you safe.
And a lot of these patterns werebuilt and made when we were younger.

(13:48):
Okay.
And we don't realize that we're stillliving out these patterns, but they
don't necessarily serve us anymore.
So I have had women get pregnantafter doing womb healing sessions,
or emotional clearing, even afteryears of struggling to conceive.

(14:09):
So do not dismiss this as being apotential issue on your fertility journey.
So what do you do, right?
What do you do when you're being toldeverything looks fine, but you're being
told to do yet another IUI cycle or goingon to do IVF repeating IVF, whatever it

(14:30):
may be, and you're still not pregnant.
You dig deeper.
I've had so many women tell me that I knowsomething is, is off, but like they just
don't know how to move forward from that.
All they know is what theirdoctor is telling them.

(14:53):
And that's do another IUIdo another round of IVF.
Like I'm seeing women fail.
An IVF cycle, and then that nextcycle, they're jumping right back in.
It's like, whoa, pump thebrakes, take a step back, give
your body a minute to breathe.

(15:16):
Whew,
how are we not taking astep back and thinking?
Something is amiss.
There's something out of balance here.
What is that in changingyour IVF protocol?
Chances are that's not gonna do the trick.

(15:36):
So this is where we wanna go deeper.
Okay.
Looking at functional testing, lookingat, had comprehensive lab panels.
I don't just want your TSH, Iwant the full thyroid panel.
Okay?
I don't just want yourcycle day three hormones.

(15:58):
I want them, but that's not all I want.
I want your CRP level, yourhomocysteine, like those are just
some examples, and even, let me giveyou a really good, good example here.
Some basic labs that couldbe drawn for you is an A1C,
maybe even a fasting glucose.

(16:19):
You know what's not always drawnwith labs is a fasting insulin.
I have two clients right now whose A1C andfasting glucose looked picture perfect.
Okay.
They fit even the optimal levelsthat we look for their fasting

(16:40):
insulin, a whole different story.
Their fasting insulin is telling methat they are in the early beginning
stages of insulin resistance.
And you know what?
It's lining up with their delayedovulation and their irregular cycles.
Yet since everything was lookingnormal on these basic labs.

(17:04):
They were told that everything looksfine and that they don't have PCOS.
Even though these women arewondering, why am I ovulating late?
Why do I have irregular cycles?
Because there are some labsthat your typical conventional
doctor is not looking at.
So comprehensive labs, yourmineral status, your gut health.

(17:28):
How is your body's detox capacity?
Nervous system regulation, energeticblocks, not to mention looking at
your lifestyle, your sleep, thewater that you're drinking, the air
that you're breathing, the food thatyou are taking in, into your body.

(17:51):
All of these things will not beaddressed in a doctor's office.
Okay.
Unless you have an exceptional,one of a kind doctor who just
gets it and who has done theresearch and work and has empowered
themselves with this information.
This person is rare.
All right.
This doctor is rare.

(18:11):
I'm not gonna say that they don't exist'cause I know that there are absolutely
amazing doctors out there, but it's rare.
And this is exactly what I helpmy clients do inside my one-on-one
program because when we find theroot of why you're struggling, why

(18:31):
is there an imbalance in the body?
And then we address it and we nourishyour, your whole mind, body, spirit,
and we bring it back into balanceyour body has the blueprint in terms
of what it needs to do to conceive.
It's just we are also out of balancein this modern day and age, for one

(18:55):
reason or another that sometimeswe, we have to give our bodies more
support than maybe our parents ortheir parents and our ancestors.
So if nothing else, Iwant you to hear this.
I want you to feel this withinyour body, within your bones.

(19:15):
You are not broken, youare not out of time.
There is a reason and it can be revealed.
Okay?
With the right steps, it can be revealed.
So let's figure this out together.

(19:39):
You can reach out to me on Instagram.
I'm so happy to just listen to you, listento your story, be there for you, and
just talk about what you've been goingthrough, what you've tried, and then some
potential options that could help you.

(20:00):
Create the family of your dreamsbecause you were meant to be a
mother, and it is time that wehelped your body remember how.
So in this episode, we talkedabout five main categories that
are common reasons for hindering.

(20:22):
Pregnancy and a healthy pregnancy.
And then also some steps that you cantake to dig a little deeper so you can
find answers, but not just answers.
Also solutions so you can optimizeyour fertility so you can have
the family that you desire.

(20:44):
And I just want to thank you fromthe bottom of my heart for listening.
I do this for you, for my community.
I want to be a pillar of support.
So when you are listening,that shows me that.
I'm actually supporting someoneon the other end and that
just lights me up so much.

(21:05):
So I just wanna say thank you forbeing here and I will see you on our
Thursday episode where I'm actuallygonna be sharing how you can address any.
Energetic or emotional blocks thatyou may be having on your fertility
journey, no matter what level itmay be, no matter where you are

(21:29):
on the spectrum, in terms of that.
But yes, I will see you on Thursday'sepisode and have a good day.