August 28, 2025 • 45 mins
Could fertility struggles be your body’s way of asking for deeper healing?
For many couples, difficulties conceiving are the first signal that something more foundational in their health needs attention. In this eye-opening episode, holistic fertility expert Eli Huang shares how true preconception care goes far beyond hormones, drawing from her background in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), functional testing, and emotional healing to uncover the hidden factors behind infertility.
Eli’s journey from reluctant IT professional to passionate practitioner follows in the footsteps of her father’s 40+ year TCM career, creating a powerful lineage of integrative care. Her unique 90-day fertility program blends pulse and tongue diagnosis with modern pathology, personalised supplementation, and mindset work—helping couples address physical, emotional, and spiritual blocks to conception.
She shares why unresolved trauma, digestive dysfunction, sleep issues, and chronic stress can derail fertility, and how even negative beliefs can physiologically suppress reproductive function. Perhaps most striking is her insight into male fertility: around 80% of couples referred to IVF have male factor issues that are often overlooked, and potentially reversible with natural approaches.
Whether you’re actively trying to conceive, supporting patients through fertility challenges, or simply curious about the ripple effects of preconception health, this episode offers profound insights into how whole-person healing paves the way for healthier pregnancies—and generations.
Tune in to Eli's podcast : The Holistic Health and Hormones Podcast
Shownotes and references are available on the Designs for Health website
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DISCLAIMER: The Information provided in the Wellness by Designs podcast is for educational purposes only; the information presented is not intended to be used as medical advice; please seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional if what you have heard here today raises questions or concerns relating to your health
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is Wellness by Designs, and I'm your host, amy
Skilton, and joining us today isEllie Huang, a truly holistic
practitioner who, if we had toattempt to pigeonhole her, we
would say acupuncturist and TCM.
However, the laundry list ofskills, certifications,
(00:32):
expertise and experience Elliehas is truly such a blessing to
dive into today.
And today we're going to bespeaking about a really holistic
approach to fertility andpreconception care, looking at
it through a TCM lens and therole of acupuncture, but also
(00:53):
broadening that conversation tothings extending to NLP,
timeline therapy, taking care ofthe nervous system and really
setting someone up for a trulypowerful and empowered
experience on their fertilityjourney.
But looking at the formalities,ellie is the owner of
(01:13):
Acupuncture and Beauty Centerand she has a clinic both in the
CBD in Sydney but also inFairfield, and her passions are
almost limitless.
So, in addition to fertilitysupport, you know, anti-aging
skin, women's health,dermatology she's also a beauty
therapist and I'm going to trymy best not to nerd out on all
(01:36):
things lady business, becausethis is my area, my favorite
area too.
But ultimately, as a trulyholistic practitioner, she has
so many tools in her toolkit andin addition to that, her legacy
as far as her family lineage isalso really beautiful.
I can't wait to hear about thatdirectly from you, Ellie.
(01:58):
And thank you so much for beinghere with us today on the
podcast.
Thank you, I'm so excited tohave this chat.
Yes, me too.
Well, look, tell me, it's goingto be hard to keep this brief,
because I know just how muchyou've done over the course of
your career, just how variedeverything is, all the way from
(02:19):
natural health to IT.
But if you could summarize asbest you can like what your
journey has been like gettinginto natural medicine and
Chinese medicine in particular,and where you took that Because
I know that wasn't where youwanted to start- was it?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Definitely not.
I remember in school and year12 came around and you know
thinking, what are you going todo for the rest of your life?
And back then it was likecoming up to the year 2000,.
That's showing my age.
And it's like, oh, there's somany jobs that's going to be
around the millennium in IT.
And you know what?
It was actually my worstsubject in school and I hated
being from the computer.
I'm like I'm such a peopleperson and so you know it was
(03:00):
making money.
I had friends or older you knowsort of people I knew that were
doing it and they were earningso much money straight out of
school.
So I'm like, look, that's goingto be a set future.
So I got into IT, did a fouryears of bachelor in computer
science and when I worked forthe first two years I hated
every minute of it, like, and Iremember dad saying you know you
(03:21):
should study Chinese medicinebecause he's a Chinese medicine
practitioner.
You know we were taking herbswhen we were like two years old.
You know, as young as I canremember, we were getting
acupuncture as a child.
We probably didn't like it, butthere was no choice.
It's like nope, you're going totake natural medicine.
There was nothing you know sortof pharmaceutical in our place.
So mum was a great cook as well, so it was always herbal soups
(03:41):
and that.
And I remember when he wassaying that just seeing him grow
up in his clinic and coming inon weekends, maybe just getting
dropped off to their work, andjust seeing him treat all the
sick people, that's what Ithought medicine was.
You think of GPs and doctors,and it's like every time I saw
someone there they had a cold orflu.
I'm like no, I don't want tofollow his footsteps, I'm just
(04:02):
going to do you know IT, becauseI'm going to have money.
I don't want to be stuck to youknow his business.
So I did that and I hated everyminute of waking up each
morning and just sitting infront of the computer all day,
like I was like, oh my gosh,this is not me.
So I tried different things.
I tried real estate, I dabbledinto other things retail and
(04:22):
then I sort of took a gap yearand dad's like, look, just try
Chinese medicine.
Like you don't understand untilyou're there in China.
So that's when I actually tookthree months off and went to
China after I'd done four yearsas a bachelor of IT.
I'd worked for two years in IT.
Then I'm like, what am I goingto do?
You know, I'm in my sort ofmid-twenties, I'm lost.
(04:48):
And so I thought, look what,I'll have a holiday out of it.
Dad's like I'm going to pay.
So I'm like sure.
So I went for three months andjust being in China going to the
hospital, you know, seeinghundreds of clients, because
their hospitals are verydifferent to the ones here, they
really incorporate Chinesemedicine.
So I was remember I was in likea it was like a stroke hospital
, a lot of stroke, bell's palsy,like the whole, you know,
nervous system, and you knowthere's not much that Western
(05:09):
medicine can do for stroke andrehabilitation.
But in this hospital, becausewe were there every day, we were
seeing hundreds of clients,they were getting so much better
quickly within a couple ofweeks.
So it might have been the citywe're in, beijing, but there was
a lot of wind and they get alot of Bell's palsy and stroke,
and so in Chinese medicinediagnosis we say it's a wind
condition.
(05:29):
So being in Beijing, extremelywindy, especially in springtime,
and I just saw them like comingin without walking to, like you
know, a couple of weeks later.
I mean, they were coming dailyand they just got better and I
was like, wow, it's so amazing.
And then to see it and toreally experience it in its full
glory and really what Chinesemedicine is all about, it's sort
of like, oh, it's more thanjust treating sick people, you
(05:51):
know, and at the time I wasstudying beauty therapy as well,
I'm like, well, I want toreally incorporate this.
And so beauty therapy was onlyat the start like facial,
cosmetic acupuncture, using sortof acupuncture instead of Botox
.
And that was where I thought,if I'm going to do Chinese
medicine, I'm going to go downthat route.
So really that was like after Igraduated from Chinese medicine
(06:12):
, so after three months of beingin China, I came back and
enrolled in a Bachelor ofTraditional Chinese Medicine at
UTS.
So that was a four-year courseand after that I'm just going to
go in and do all the beautytherapy side.
I'm going to treat skin and I'mgoing to do facials and
acupuncture.
So that's where I was for thefirst couple of years until I
realized everything'sinterlinked Hormones, women's
(06:33):
health, they're coming in,they're getting acne because I
love treating skin like eczema,acne, but it's really all to do
with the hormones.
So then I sort of pivoted andfor the last 10 years that's
basically been my focus withChinese medicine is more the
whole hormonal aspect, becauseacne, we know, is the sort of
side effect of the deeper sortof hormonal imbalances at the
root cause of the body.
(06:55):
So yeah, that's kind of a bitof my journey, where it all led
to where I am today and thenjust, I guess, incorporating all
the other modalities, becauseno medicine is perfect.
So I'm like, as I was learning,I'm like what else can I do to
help these clients get better,especially with having a baby?
It's such an emotional thing.
It's like what else can I keepadding?
(07:15):
And so just one thing afteranother and just added more
tools and modalities to my toolbelt really.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That is so incredible and I really love how you just
kept following what felt goodand the things you had the
passion for and recognizing thatyou just didn't want a conveyor
belt of sick people but endedup finding the way to use those
skills that were basically inyour DNA, thanks to dad.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, dad's been a practitioner for 50
years about, and so I've been apractitioner for over 15.
So combined, 65 years is quitea lot, so he's definitely helped
me along the way.
You know, if I have a client,that's, you know it's a bit
challenging.
We can always like sort of havea little discussion about you
know what do.
So it's great having that sortof mentor, for sure at the early
(08:05):
days.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yes, what a really special relationship and what a
lovely thing to share as fatherand daughter.
And tell me, obviously youtrained in the beauty therapy
area and moved into thatcosmetic area, and I know from
personal experience orprofessional experience it's a
very rewarding area, becauseshifting how someone looks
(08:28):
really shifts how they feelabout themselves.
It's very different to dealingwith perhaps hidden conditions
or less visible conditions.
But how did you then step intothe fertility space?
Was that just because you werealready dealing with hormones or
was there anything else goingon for you there?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah.
So I think the main thing wasyou know, at the beginning it
wasn't always skin.
I saw dad when I was just in myearly days and I was doing
beauty therapy, just facials,and dad was sort of treating the
body with the hormones and I'mlike, look, just treating the
face and putting topical thingsis really not changing the
underlying condition.
It really had to be two thingstogether.
(09:09):
And I remember this case reallyclearly there was a woman who
came in and she was going to getmarried in three months and she
had really bad cystic acne.
It was like literally stagefour acne and within three
months her skin completelycleared up for her wedding.
So I was doing the facials, theexternal peels and the
treatments and dad was reallyworking really holistically with
(09:32):
her, obviously changing dietand giving her herbs and
supporting her that way.
And so I was like, wow, it'snot just one thing.
Right, you can do the topicaltreatments, but if you're not
really getting down to fixingwhat's at the cause, then it's
just going to continue.
So obviously, acne is a sign ofdifferent hormonal imbalances,
you know irregular periods, pcos, all of that.
So that really sort of led tookay, let's understand why
(09:52):
that's happening.
And so then, as we uncover it,then people have got irregular
periods, painful periods, andit's like that's not normal,
because people think that theirsymptoms are normal because
that's all they know, they'vehad it all their lives.
But when you explain, no,there's actually deeper,
underlying conditions that weneed to address.
That's where I sort of wentinto women's health and I guess,
as they sort of moved on,they're like I want to have a
(10:13):
baby and then everything'slinked.
So, yeah, I think that'sdefinitely more rewarding
because sort of the skin isgreat, you can see the before
and after.
But just really helping themwith their hormones and having
that beautiful baby when they'vebeen really struggling is just
so profound, and so that's why Ithink it's so rewarding when we
(10:33):
can help them along that.
But also having a baby that ishealthy at the end of the day is
really my passion.
It's not just being able to.
You know, as practitioners weknow that it's not just about
getting pregnant, but it's thatwhole journey.
So everything is interconnectedright down to really the
beginning of let's address thehormones, let's address what's
happening at the root cause andwe're looking at from different
(10:53):
lenses.
I guess, with all my experience, tcm is one lens, but we're
looking at their diet, theirlifestyle, their mental
emotional.
You know, their mentalemotional health is really
important because even ifthey're doing things like eating
the right things with diet andlifestyle, they still haven't
addressed the mental emotionalaspects.
So that's where my coaching andmy NLP came in.
(11:15):
I was like, well, we need toaddress everything physical,
mental, emotional, spiritual.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
But sounds like the beauty therapy or the skin
elements.
Really was that turning pointwhere you were like, okay, I'm
going to be marrying now whatI'm seeing on the outside with
what I know to be true.
You know on the inside as well,and certainly as part of Chinese
medicine, facial diagnosis is abig part.
(11:43):
It's very much a barometer ofwhat's going on internally and
so shifting gears to think aboutfertility and addressing not
only root causes that might beimpacting fertility you know
someone's ability to conceive orto hold a pregnancy but also
going beyond that to optimizingthe health of their pregnancy.
(12:07):
You know postpartum period andalso the health of the baby.
I'd love to hear from you, likehow you assess someone, how you
uncover hidden or overlookedimbalances that could be
impacting them, both through aTCM lens and nutritional
approaches, especially TCMactually, because I think you
(12:30):
know there's not so many TCMpractitioners around and looking
at you know the Chinese pulsediagnosis and tongue and facial
assessment.
I'd love to hear what it is bigred flags that you might see
that are a problem, or patternsyou look for or things you
commonly find.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so it's really like Isaid, it's a holistic thing, but
I guess it starts off with theycome in.
We do a really comprehensiveintake form.
Like my intake form is supercomprehensive.
And you know these GPs they goto, they go and they meet, they
go.
I've been trying for two years.
Haven't fallen pregnant, evensix months.
People are so impatient thesedays with having a baby.
It doesn't matter what age Icould be, like you know, 25, 26.
(13:12):
I've spoken to you know sort oflate 20 year olds and they're
trying for six months.
It's not happening.
They go to a GP.
They're like IVF right.
But when you really look at areally comprehensive case study
so for me it's being that's thefirst step is like let's look at
really comprehensive, likewhere is your digestion?
Like really getting nittygritty, what does your poop look
like?
You know, even to things likethat you know they go.
(13:34):
I'm sleeping six hours a year,but how much of that is deep
sleep?
You know I get them to tracktheir sleep.
I'm like you say you'resleeping seven hours but you
know you could be sleeping sevenhours but really only getting
half an hour of deep sleep oryou're getting two hours.
So you know, with watches andtechnology.
It's combining a lot of that aswell.
I've seen I'm adding more andmore things like that.
So, digestion, sleep, where istheir emotional stress?
(13:56):
Like you know, stress, we know,is a cause of so much.
It's like have you got stressin your life?
Where is it coming from?
And then I guess, if they'renot sure, we could do cortisol
testing.
You know and see, are theyfollowing the normal cortisol
patterns?
You know past traumas.
Like really digging in.
What was their childhood like,growing up, what was their birth
like?
Like, did their mom have themearly?
(14:17):
Like I'm like gestationalperiod is a big thing, where
they C-section, where theynatural birth.
You know where they sick a lotas a child.
Like really getting reallynitty gritty and really spending
that time to really understandthem.
You know where they were fromliterally the beginning of
gestation all the way to wherethey are now.
You know what has causedproblems.
Were major illnesses?
(14:39):
Were the family dynamics, theirfamily broken up?
Did they go through a lot ofteenage stress which caused them
not to eat properly?
Like there's all those thingsand that alone can take hours.
Right, Really digging in.
It can take a couple of sessionswith some people because they
might not open up immediately.
You know they may have traumayou don't realize till.
Okay, they're starting to openup, maybe once they trust you,
(15:00):
after one or two sessions.
So that's the first thing isreally getting comprehensive,
like picture from a physical,mental, emotional perspective,
like as much detail as you canget, and understanding that what
they're saying is notnecessarily like normally go.
I'm sleeping seven hours butthey're still waking up tired.
Well then, maybe it's notreally good quality sleep.
(15:20):
So from a TCM perspective,after that we may look at their
tongue.
Well, we always look at theirtongue and then from that we can
really see okay, is their bodycold or hot?
Is their tongue sort of whiteor red?
So from that that's anotherindication of is their body
running really stressed, reallyhot, or they're really really
cold, like they've got poorcirculation and being able to
conceive or not conceive.
(15:42):
There's a diagnosis in Chinesemedicine we call it like a cold
uterus.
That means like it's not reallyconducive environment to
actually have the baby.
They've got really cold handsand feet, so I have to give them
herbs to really warm that upand you know they could be
drinking really cold hands andfeet, so I have to give them
herbs to really warm that up.
And you know they could bedrinking really cold, icy drinks
.
You know traditional Chinesemedicine.
We want the body to be warm sothat you're able to sort of
(16:03):
carry that baby and not miscarrya lot.
So that could be like a coldsymptom.
So that could be like thetongue.
Just sort of looking at basicthings Like what does the tongue
look like?
Does it have a lot of teethmarks?
When it has a lot of teethmarks, it's indicating digestive
issues.
Does it have a thick coat?
Some people brush their tonguesevery day and it's like I don't
want you to brush your tonguebecause if they say, oh, I'm
waking up with furry tongue,that means there's a lot of damp
(16:24):
.
So there's a lot of.
I guess it's inflammation andthey're eating a lot of dairy
and inflammatory foods that arecausing that inflammation.
So that's like a tongue picture.
So we go okay, it's matchingthat they've got poor digestion,
they've got a little weightgain, their tongue showing it's
cold and it's very thick,yellowy, white.
So there's a lot ofinflammation there.
And then we can also check itwith the pulse.
(16:45):
So I usually looking with pulseis it like sort of superficial.
Is it really weak, is it rapid,Is it slow?
So all of these things are justlittle pictures to like this
puzzle.
You know, I find that I'm likea detective when it comes to
fertility, because they don'tknow why they can't fall
pregnant.
Gps don't really care, theyjust want them.
Usually they're not spendingtime like, look, let's go to IVF
(17:06):
.
That's not fixing what's at theroot cause.
So when you combine a reallycomprehensive workup of their
history, you really look at thetongue, the pulse, and the next
step is obviously as apractitioner.
We're looking at meridians.
So I could have them on the bed.
Once they're there, really feelall the organs and you know we
have a stomach, you know we havedifferent um, I guess, uh,
(17:29):
indications of what's really atimbalances.
So we can really use a wholestomach and can tell us all the
organs that are out of balance.
So I have them lying down andgo, okay, is the kidney out of
balance?
Is the liver, is the spleen, isthe heart?
So we're really looking at allthe major organs and energy
channels to see what ishappening and really from that
(17:49):
it's then assessing Once all ofthat.
You understand it from a TCMperspective because I combine a
lot of the functional medicine,I'll be like, okay, is there
further testing we need?
Do we need to test, you know,your folate, your B12?
You know, is there foods thatyou're eating that is
contributing to thatinflammation?
Maybe we need to do a foodintolerance test, dutch test?
So there's many things.
So that's where I find thecombination of things comes in
(18:12):
really beautifully, because, youknow, no medicine is perfect.
So when we can have many toolsand combinations, I'm like, yep,
chinese medicine is great fordiagnosing this aspect of a
person.
But let's look at now science,and you know really the
technology that's come reallyfar in the last sort of 20 years
and how can we get an evenbetter picture.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So I think it's great that you're able to combine
Eastern and Western medicineunder the same umbrella so
beautifully, because you'relooking at, with TCM, a dynasty
of, you know, 5,000 years plusof expert observation and
application that predates, youknow, any technology whatsoever
(18:54):
to see what's going on under theskin, so to speak.
And yet, now that we live in aday and age of exponential
growth in terms of informationand access to diagnostics and
assessments, we can alsoactually refine details in a way
that we couldn't before, which,you know, does add another
(19:16):
layer of sophistication in orderto address someone's issues.
Now I have a few other questionsfor you, but I want to pause
for a moment and talk about IVF,and this is something that I
know you and I are verypassionate about, and it's not
just and it's not just aboutgetting pregnant, having a baby,
(19:39):
but knowing that if someone'shaving trouble falling pregnant,
normally if we can use airquotes, normally, the standard,
old-fashioned way, that this isa barometer that there's an
issue with cellular health onsome level, possibly with the
partner also or instead of andthat really that IVF, whilst it
(20:02):
can leapfrog ahead to providinga pregnancy, I don't think
people understand how few ofthose actually go to full-term
babies and the consequences onthe child's health going forward
, because the underlying healthissues that were in the way of
conception and retention ofpregnancy weren't addressed.
(20:25):
So could you speak to a littlebit about that?
Because in my opinion you know,as someone who does work in the
fertility space and supportsIVF patients, doing that
groundwork can make such adifference in the outcomes but
also reducing some of the risksthat comes with engaging with
(20:45):
IVF and the medications as well.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, definitely so, I think a good three to six
months, you know, depending onwhere they're coming.
And the big thing is, mosttimes when you go to IVF the men
aren't really looked at.
You know they go well, they'renot important and most people
that go to IVF 80% that go toIVF, that's the statistics is
that they don't actually needIVF because a lot of it is male
(21:09):
factored infertility and that'sactually fairly, you know, much
more easier to address if it'spurely male factored infertility
than you know if it's a verycomplex, you know, sort of
woman's condition and we don'tknow what's happening.
So I think it's reallyimportant.
That's why now, when a clientcomes in, I'm like I need to see
the most recent sperm analysisand, done from a proper lab, we
(21:30):
need to include DNAfragmentation.
So then you, then we can reallyaddress the men, because most
of the time they're not beingaddressed.
A lot of them are on poor dietand lifestyle.
They're not looking afterthemselves.
Well, they think, oh, the woman, even these days, you'd think
they'd be more, you know, open,but some of them are still very
closed-minded, I find.
And the wife is reallystruggling, she's crying a lot.
(21:52):
She's like, you know my husband.
He's very stubborn, he won'tchange.
Most of them are smoking,vaping.
I found a lot of men are vapingand we know that that's causing
a lot of problems withinfertility, because I just look
at the results, you know a lotof the men have one or two
percent morphology, you know,whereas optimum should be around
15 percent.
And I said that's not going tohelp you get pregnant and if you
(22:13):
do, very high chances ofmiscarriage.
And if that doesn't happen,what's the health of that child
going to be like?
So people don't realize thatwhat you're doing in
preconception for they've saidup to two years prior to
conception is going to actuallyindicate the next two to three,
maybe even four generations.
So I think as parents we've gotto be really looking out for
(22:36):
the health of our child, notjust going okay, I'm just going
to jump straight into IVF withno preparation.
Most people that go to IVF,they've gone to the GP.
They haven't changed anythingwhatsoever.
They've just told the GPthey've taken this long to
conceive, supposedly trying toconceive.
Most of them aren't even in theproper windows or the periods
are irregular, and then beforethey know it, they've been
through multiple rounds of IVFwith no results, and so I think
(23:01):
that's really important to makesure that those clients, I tell
them, forget having a baby rightnow.
Just put it out of your mindfor the next three months.
Let's just get you healthy andif you fall pregnant naturally
in the next three to six months,amazing you know.
I mean that's what our bodyshould be able to do.
But if there's deeper,underlying issues, like I've
read that with men, if they'vegot poor sperm parameters, it's
(23:23):
actually taking 10 to 15 yearsoff their mortality and it's
like why isn't that a reason foryou to really fix that and
address, you know, yourunderlying issues of why the
sperm is so bad?
And also, for the women too,just a lot of their hormonal
issues.
If they've got endo or PCOS andthey've had multiple endos
(23:44):
surgeries, why does it keepcoming back?
What toxins are you ingesting?
What can you really do to keepthe toxins at bay and all of the
things that they can have morecontrol over?
So I guess with the testing, youknow with the men, they go okay
.
I want the men tested becauseif they can have more control
over.
So I guess with the testing,you know, with the men, they go
okay.
I want the men tested, becauseif they can see right in front
of them and understand therepercussions and truly
understand what they can do toget healthy, then it's a benefit
(24:07):
for them.
So, like you said, ivf is onlya tool to help them get pregnant
, but it's nothing to do withhelping them stay pregnant or
there's no heartbeat.
What's devastating is whenthey're pregnant and then you
know, eight weeks there's noheartbeat and these IVF clinics
are making them go back againthe next month or the month
after.
But it's like if you can't fallpregnant, naturally you've
failed at many cycles of IVF.
(24:28):
What is?
When?
Are they going to take a breakand go?
Let's look at what really ishappening.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let's look at what really is happening.
Quite frankly, I find itcriminal that women are
subjected to the rigmarole ofIVF drugs without any
intentionality to improve theirhealth or address male factors
and because ultimately it's abusiness and their business is
combining the sperm and the eggand transferring the embryo, and
(24:55):
that's really the beginning andthe end of what they offer.
And unfortunately, people gointo the system expecting so
much more or not understandingthat there's a much wider scope
around fertility, fertilitybeing a reflection of health and
, just side note, I actuallythink as part of health, in the
(25:16):
future, semen analysis is goingto be a way to address and
assess male wellness.
It's such an easy andaccessible thing.
Unfortunately, looking at egghealth is so much more tricky
and difficult to access forwomen, but certainly for men.
I think when we're seeing thoseissues, it is a really big
(25:36):
opportunity to change things andI think there's so many reasons
for this.
But there is an inherentlypatriarchal, misogynistic
approach across the board withmedicine and I use that term
loosely whereby women areinternalizing the responsibility
(25:57):
for, you know, conceiving andcarrying the baby and, quite
frankly, some partners are justnot fit to be dads in terms of
taking ownership of their healthand the impact on the child,
because we know, with even justminor nutritional tweaks, the
impact that that has on the IQof the child, the hand and eye
coordination of the child, theirrisk of autoimmune disease,
(26:20):
their immune system for life,their longevity, their health
span, and I think the greatestgift you can give your child is
to really deal them the besthand that you possibly can, and
certainly with your approachwithin an East meets West
approach, plus all of theenergetics around it.
(26:40):
It really, I mean I just can'tbelieve how comprehensive your
approach is.
I know for many women they'llhave a team of people.
You know they might have mentalhealth support, they might see
a Reiki master, they might bedoing energetic EFT NLP work and
then they'll see anacupuncturist, then they'll see
a nutritionist, whereas this issomething you actually have on
(27:02):
offer all under the one roof.
So will you walk me throughperhaps your, I guess, classic
approach?
You know someone's walkedthrough the door and you are
running assessments and youmentioned timeline.
Obviously is a bit of a fluidthing and meeting the clients
where they're at, based on theirgoals, can be part of the
(27:25):
challenge, also because we dolive in a day and age where
people want results yesterdayand not realizing that you know
four months to 24 months isreally you know that window, but
where do you start?
What is the roadmap or journeyyou take patients on when you're
addressing these things?
And what would you say tosomeone if you could just say in
(27:47):
an ideal world, this is what wewould do.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, so for me, I have my 90 day sort of signature
program, and so I think it's acombination of all.
That's why I've sort of broughtthis program together.
It really gives them thefoundations of basically you
know what they need to do,starting physically, you know
that's the easy stuff that wecan start addressing is diet and
lifestyle right.
(28:09):
And I remember a man that justcame up, a couple that just saw
me last week, and you know he,like I said, his morphology was
2%.
The wife has had multiplemiscarriages and he's got very
poor diet and he's smoking,vaping, and he's been doing it
since he was 14.
He's 32, now 34, I think.
And then basically I said weneed to look at addressing your
(28:29):
diet.
We need to change some of, getyou off soft drinks and not
drinking cold water andobviously think about vaping
From the day you stop vaping.
It's going to take three monthsreally for detoxing and getting
your sperm healthy, because thelife cycle of sperm is 72 days
approximately.
So we need to clear out all theold, crappy sperm and bring in
some nice, healthy, fresh sperm.
I can't, I can't, I can't, likeyou know that's their language.
(28:52):
Everything is can't, and soit's really hard because we know
having a baby it's hard enoughfor one person to really address
all of those things, let alonewhen the baby is.
Also, you know the result ofyour husband or your partner
being on board as well, and sowhen they're not playing their
part, it's extremely difficult.
So for me, bringing on clientswho are going to have success
(29:14):
and those that do and I see themhave success within three to
six months is really bothcouples doing everything that
they can.
I've had many couples thatfollow everything I say to a T.
They're doing all the homework,they're getting all the tests
that they need to get done, done, they're taking the supplements
, the herbs, all the things, andthey have amazing results.
(29:34):
And healthy babies Healthybabies is what we want.
We don't just want a baby, wewant a healthy baby at the end
of the day, because we know whenyou bring in a baby that's
constantly sick or has issueslike I've had friends or clients
who babies have had holes intheir heart they're needing
surgery as a newborn.
That's not what we want, right.
Or a child that's got ADHD, allof that.
So we can do what we can inthat preconception.
(30:02):
So for me it's a combination ofthings.
It's really understanding,looking at things that they can
really address on a dietaryperspective.
But through my program it'shelping them understand.
Okay, where are their thoughts?
Where's their mental, emotionalhealth right now?
Are they constantly so usingNLP?
Are they constantly speakingnegative terms?
I have to pull clients up.
They're like I hate my body,it's failing me.
You know, I feel like a barrenwoman, like I've heard all these
(30:25):
, anything and everything fromwomen and the way they talk
about their bodies.
You know whether they've hadendo or a lot of failed
miscarriages, or they've been,you know, trying to conceive for
two years, nothing's happening.
There's just so much negativeself-talk and that is so
important that we need to flipthat around.
So within the 12 weeks I'mreally getting them to address
(30:46):
listen to what you're saying toyourself.
Your body is really in tunedand what you're saying, what
you're thinking, will drive allthe hormones and the stress
that's happening.
So if people are hating on theirbodies, their body is not going
to respond and be, you know,helping them to have a baby
right.
They really need to startaddressing, loving their bodies,
really taking care of thingsfrom that perspective.
(31:08):
So talking nicely, loving it,you know, getting to do a lot of
gratitude work, a lot ofjournaling and then again, just
if they've gone through a lot ofemotional stress, really
clearing a lot of that negativeemotions with them and then
doing that not just for thewomen but for the men.
So I take both partners,because men have their traumas
too.
They could have been growing upin a very difficult environment
(31:30):
.
Growing up They've had alltheir traumas just as much as
women have, like both all people, we've all gone through a lot.
So once I get them basicallygiving that foundation the three
months is foundations they knowwhat to do physically, mentally
, emotionally right, and thenspiritually.
That's when I sort of address alot of the reiki energetic work
, sort of high spiritualmanifestation, visualization.
(31:53):
So if we can draw that energyto us, if we can be positive,
really call upon that beautifulspirit baby, you know, I get the
couples to hold hands, tovisualize, to call that
beautiful angel into them,whether they want a boy or girl
to hold hands and visualize.
So I do a lot of that sort ofmanifesting.
So I really believe once bothcouples are in that alignment
(32:14):
from a physical, mental,emotional, spiritual perspective
, do they then sort of have thatbeautiful baby?
So I sort of call it, you know,sort of reset, rebalance,
realign and then rebirth.
So that's my program, is reallygetting them to that stage,
because it's not going to happentill all the ducks are sort of
aligned up.
So, yeah, then they have allthose tools and go, then they
(32:36):
can continue with that work or Ican help them with longer.
Some of them may have even moretrauma that they then need more
one-on-one work with.
But yeah, it's a combination ofall of those things and I think
, different tools like testingand all of that.
But deep down they have to bewilling to do the work.
You know, in both people.
The husband has to be just ascooperative and as willing,
(32:56):
because it's half his child too.
I say what you're doing isgoing to impact the DNA.
When there's DNA testing we cando, right, so your child's got
you know certain things that'scome from one of the parents
right, so what we can do to givethem that great headstart for
so they can have you know,beautiful, healthy bodies and
then they can also conceive andgo down the chain.
You know, I've read that withwomen who go through IVF Now,
(33:18):
it's showing that if they have afemale offspring, if they have
a daughter, they're most likelyneeding to go through IVF now as
well, because I guess you knowthat's just the energy.
You're growing this baby in atest tube, then you're
re-implanting it.
Yeah, there's been showing thatnow their daughters are needing
IVF as well.
So if we can really get back tothe root cause and really look
(33:43):
at just spending three months ofreally addressing all those
things deep down, getting ashealthy as we can on all of
those levels, on both male andfemale side, the results most
likely will come.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yes, absolutely.
It really does involve.
It's like almost a process ofelimination, isn't it?
And touching on every one ofthose variables that make us who
we are, that contribute to ourhealth, not just on a physical
level, but mental, emotional andspiritual, and really fully
preparing for parenthood.
It's actually the first step inparenting.
(34:11):
You know motherhood andfatherhood and it's, I think,
one of the greatest investmentssomeone could possibly make.
But thinking now, you know,with that zoomed out view,
there's lots of differentvariables that you take into
consideration and address andhelp people heal and nurture
their way through.
If we were to zoom in now andlook more specifically at the
(34:34):
reproductive system and itsrelationship with nutrition, I'd
love to hear about.
You know what your favoritetools are to reduce inflammation
?
You know.
Increase egg quality, supportimplantation, you know.
Pregnancy retention.
Do you have any favorites you'dlike to share with us?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah, I think it's just looking at, first of all,
where are they now Like?
What have they been doing andfor how long?
You know, a lot of the women,the, you know, the internet is a
vast, you know, ray ofknowledge and they get bombarded
.
They don't even know where tostart.
They're like I've read this onTikTok, you need to take this
and you need to take that.
And so they've come in.
Some of them just overdo it.
Some of them don't, haven'teven taken a single thing.
(35:17):
You know, I've come in, they go.
I go what do you want?
They go nothing.
I said nothing.
You've been trying for twoyears and you're on zero,
nothing, you know.
And they go.
Yeah, I haven't taken anything.
Maybe the doctor suggested.
You know, not all supplementsare created equal.
We know that's like what areyou taking, how much are you
(35:39):
taking and is it necessary?
So there's lots of differenttesting we can do to see, okay,
where are their bloods, what arethe functional testing, and
then really taking core thingsthat are going to help them with
their nutrition.
So if they've got inflammation,if they've got, you know, pcos,
then that needs to be addressed.
It's all individualized, butsome of my favorite nutritionals
I guess it's a prenatal.
(36:00):
That's super important becausemost people aren't getting
enough nutrition that they need.
So prenatal, and essentially Isaid, look, you need to be on
supplements for three to sixmonths, right, you need that
sort of to really work your bodyto absorb it.
And if they've got inflammation, well, what food so do?
They need to fix the foodsfirst and their gut health so we
can do gut microbiome testing,right?
(36:24):
Because if they're taking allthese nutritionals but their
body's not absorbing anything,right, or they're taking the
wrong magnesium or you know adifferent form and they don't
know.
So the consumers, they haven'tgone to a lot of the naturopaths
and they're all you know of umspecific health practitioners.
They're like, oh no,magnesium's good, so they'll
just pick one off you know sortof the shelf or Woolworths or
they'll pick some sort of crappyfish oil.
And I said it's all aboutquality but it's also about
(36:46):
dosing and therapeutic dose.
I explained to them it's thequality but it's also
therapeutic dose.
Are you on like an optimal dose?
Are you on just a maintenancedose or nothing?
It's not even making a dent.
So I sort of love like prenatals, I love sort of omega-3s for
egg quality and sperm quality.
We know that most of the eggand the sperm is essential fatty
(37:07):
acids.
I think these days we live insuch a toxic environment.
So one of my favorite things islike NAC.
At the moment, even from beforeCOVID I think we're in such a
we want to stay healthy and it'ssuch a great sort of
antioxidant, good for liverdetoxing.
A lot of the endoclients andhormonal issues are great with
(37:27):
NAC.
It's another one of myfavorites.
Like tocretinols are really goodas well, so they're kind of
like the basic ubiquinol.
They're really common in sortof as a good place to start,
maybe a good probiotic, and thenreally for the men it's the
same.
I think it's important for themto be addressing all their
health as well.
(37:48):
So men may not want to take somuch to begin with, but maybe
just starting with good spermhealth.
You know omega-3, some zinc,some vitamin C, some NAC as well
.
So, and then I might add insome Chinese herbal formulas for
them.
So I think, understanding wheretheir individual profile and
then just starting with somecore basics and then maybe
(38:09):
adding things on as I see fit.
So they're kind of the things Ilove.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Yeah, beautiful.
Well, I'm sure at this pointyou have supported couples,
hundreds, probably thousands ofbabies to be born at the moment
and I'm sure it's probably hardto pick your favourites.
But are there any?
Is there a case that you wouldlike to share with us that you
know really touches your heart?
Has stuck with you?
I'm sure they all have, but I'dlove to hear.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Yes, I have a beautiful case and they're the
most loving couple.
So they were trying for almostfive years when they saw me four
and a half five years and theywent through a really difficult
period.
Like, the father passed awayfrom cancer a couple of years
ago, the husband went intodepression during COVID and
they're not old, I think they're36, 37 when they saw me.
(38:58):
So this was about a year agoand we said, look, let's get a
sperm analysis done first.
Like is this thing?
And his sperm results came backreally, really poor.
They were, you know, really lowmorphology count, motility,
like on the low end ofeverything.
And I said, look, we need sixmonths minimum.
You need to give me six months.
And so they didn't want to godown IVF.
(39:18):
They said I don't want to godown IVF, we're willing.
And they were both so involvedBeautiful Asian couple.
They said I'm willing to dowhatever you tell us to do.
They came in every week forChinese medicine.
They went through my fullcoaching three months program as
well as the individual couplescoaching as well.
They took everything I toldthem to take.
They took the testing that Itold them to do and they were
(39:41):
just so on board.
They just listened and theyknew that we're going to get
there.
We had to work a lot on themental, emotional aspect and
every time a period came, ofcourse it's like another month.
You know, for women when theirperiods come, it's like this hit
in the gut and I'm like let'sstay positive.
You know, the sperm takes timeand in the meantime we were
doing any sort of investigativework with her but she seemed to
(40:02):
look all clear.
So it's like what is underlyinglike the five years?
Like how come it wasn't there?
But they had so much trauma.
She felt like, you know, itreally took her out when her dad
passed away.
She was very close to him, soit's like they weren't trying,
not really in the mood, and sothe husband having depression
obviously impacts testosteroneand that's why his sperm
analysis was so bad.
But yeah, after eight months, Iremember after eight months,
(40:26):
we're like, okay, we've checkedthe sperm.
Now it's sort of been about sixmonths, let's get retested.
And it came back, I remember,perfect, like everything was
like in optimal, not just likewithin range, it was like on the
high end of everything.
I'm like it's great, you candefinitely try it, everything's
going to.
You know you've done all thework.
I think you've been taking thesupplements, everything for like
six, nine months.
(40:46):
Literally the next month theyfelt pregnant.
I remember she messaged mebefore she even told her husband
.
She's like check your phone,check your phone, so she said.
And then she sent a strip oflike this pregnancy test that
was positive and they'd neverhad a positive in five years and
it was just the most beautifulthing.
And I said, how are you goingto break the news to your
husband?
And I said I gave her someideas and I think she put it
(41:07):
under a cloche or something forlike lunch.
She was cooking him lunch andthen he opened the cloche and
then he saw this little you knowpositive pregnancy test.
But and they've just givenbirth about two months ago, so I
think the baby's around aboutsort of eight weeks, the little
girl.
And you know when they just gothrough so much, they didn't get
any answers.
So they just kept doctors justkept telling them you need IVF,
(41:29):
you need IVF, and they're justlike I don't want IVF, I'm sure
it can happen, naturally.
You know they were willing to.
They'd seen other practitioners, they'd saw a few other
acupuncturists, but they justreally resonated with sort of my
expectations.
I sort of laid it out at thebeginning and I think that's
what we have to do aspractitioners.
It's like looking at theresults of them right in front
of you.
Now be realistic with them andhelp them to understand it's not
(41:52):
going to happen overnight.
I've had clients who I hadanother client recently.
She was trying to get pregnantfor three and a half four years
and then just after a month gotpregnant, and so there are going
to be people that are going toget pregnant sooner.
But there are some that ittakes time, you know, and the
body it takes time.
So however long it takes iswhat I say.
And then, even if they do needIVF we've realized with some
(42:14):
that they've needed to go to IVFthen they're actually well
prepared.
So I really think that if theycan work on all of the aspects,
on both the man and the woman,if they're just as invested most
of the time, all the couplesthat I've seen who are both
heavily invested to get theresults and are willing to do
what it takes yeah, it's justbeautiful that they can have
(42:34):
that beautiful natural pregnancyand then without needing IVF is
just profound.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
So Gosh, that's such a beautiful case and such a
lovely example of.
I mean they sound like they'rejust the best parents in the
world Best parents now they'resending me updates like every
week.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
They look at her grow and you know you become part of
the family.
And she brought they brought meflowers and they were so
appreciative because you knowwhen you can help them on that
journey to give them, you know,a baby after five years.
It's just, it's just amazing.
So.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
What an extraordinary story and I think anyone
listening to this, whetherthey're a practitioner or not, I
think the main takeaway is youknow our bodies are designed to
heal we are designed to befertile.
Takeaway is you know our bodiesare designed to heal, we are
designed to be fertile.
Yes, there might be structuralabnormalities or injuries, which
is you know.
The purpose of IVF was toovercome structural issues, but
the fundamental physiologicalrequirements must still be
(43:29):
addressed, regardless whetheryou opt for IVF out of necessity
or desire, for whatever otherreason, and just knowing that,
if you're willing to just take abreath and invest in that time
and energy and really preparingit's going to set you up for the
most incredible experience, notjust pregnancy and postpartum.
(43:50):
But I think you know, thehealthier and more balanced a
child is and the more theythrive in their life, the more
enjoyable parenthood is going tobe also.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Yeah, definitely, If I have beautiful, healthy
children.
I mean, yeah, definitely takesthe stress off.
It's hard enough with a newborn.
I learn a newborn that'sconstantly sick.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Yes, yeah, yes, yes, we've all seen that.
Wow, ellie, look, I couldprobably talk to you for another
few hours about what we do.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I know we just skimmed on the surface.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I know, look, I'm sure we'll get you back because
you're just such a wealth ofknowledge and expertise.
And this is an area that Ithink has become increasingly
required because we live in asociety and a culture and, you
know, on an earth that is beingmore and more poisoned, becoming
more and more toxic in manydifferent ways, and you know,
(44:42):
the antidote to that is truecellular healing on physical,
mental, emotional level.
And where people, I think, arebeing forced to do the work is
when they're confronted withchallenges in actually having a
child, and perhaps that's theway forward for us all.
But certainly, if people arelooking for you on the internet,
(45:05):
you are everywhere.
We will put all of Ellie's linksin the show notes of this
episode.
She actually has her ownpodcast, the Holistic Health and
Hormones podcast, if you'd liketo tune in and learn more there
, but we'll also connect youwith her on other platforms.
So, ellie, thanks again fortaking us through your approach
(45:27):
to fertility and the health ofthe baby, through both an
Eastern and Western lens andfrom a truly holistic and
energetic lens.
It was so insightful and forour listeners.
Thank you everyone for joiningus today.
Remember you can find all ofthe show notes and other
podcasts and resources we'vereferenced on the Australian
(45:47):
Designs for Health website andI'm Amy Skilton and this is
Wellness by Designs-
This is Wellness by Designs, and I'm your host, amy
Skilton, and joining us today isEllie Huang, a truly holistic
practitioner who, if we had toattempt to pigeonhole her, we
would say acupuncturist and TCM.
However, the laundry list ofskills, certifications,
(00:32):
expertise and experience Elliehas is truly such a blessing to
dive into today.
And today we're going to bespeaking about a really holistic
approach to fertility andpreconception care, looking at
it through a TCM lens and therole of acupuncture, but also
(00:53):
broadening that conversation tothings extending to NLP,
timeline therapy, taking care ofthe nervous system and really
setting someone up for a trulypowerful and empowered
experience on their fertilityjourney.
But looking at the formalities,ellie is the owner of
(01:13):
Acupuncture and Beauty Centerand she has a clinic both in the
CBD in Sydney but also inFairfield, and her passions are
almost limitless.
So, in addition to fertilitysupport, you know, anti-aging
skin, women's health,dermatology she's also a beauty
therapist and I'm going to trymy best not to nerd out on all
(01:36):
things lady business, becausethis is my area, my favorite
area too.
But ultimately, as a trulyholistic practitioner, she has
so many tools in her toolkit andin addition to that, her legacy
as far as her family lineage isalso really beautiful.
I can't wait to hear about thatdirectly from you, Ellie.
(01:58):
And thank you so much for beinghere with us today on the
podcast.
Thank you, I'm so excited tohave this chat.
Yes, me too.
Well, look, tell me, it's goingto be hard to keep this brief,
because I know just how muchyou've done over the course of
your career, just how variedeverything is, all the way from
(02:19):
natural health to IT.
But if you could summarize asbest you can like what your
journey has been like gettinginto natural medicine and
Chinese medicine in particular,and where you took that Because
I know that wasn't where youwanted to start- was it?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Definitely not.
I remember in school and year12 came around and you know
thinking, what are you going todo for the rest of your life?
And back then it was likecoming up to the year 2000,.
That's showing my age.
And it's like, oh, there's somany jobs that's going to be
around the millennium in IT.
And you know what?
It was actually my worstsubject in school and I hated
being from the computer.
I'm like I'm such a peopleperson and so you know it was
(03:00):
making money.
I had friends or older you knowsort of people I knew that were
doing it and they were earningso much money straight out of
school.
So I'm like, look, that's goingto be a set future.
So I got into IT, did a fouryears of bachelor in computer
science and when I worked forthe first two years I hated
every minute of it, like, and Iremember dad saying you know you
(03:21):
should study Chinese medicinebecause he's a Chinese medicine
practitioner.
You know we were taking herbswhen we were like two years old.
You know, as young as I canremember, we were getting
acupuncture as a child.
We probably didn't like it, butthere was no choice.
It's like nope, you're going totake natural medicine.
There was nothing you know sortof pharmaceutical in our place.
So mum was a great cook as well, so it was always herbal soups
(03:41):
and that.
And I remember when he wassaying that just seeing him grow
up in his clinic and coming inon weekends, maybe just getting
dropped off to their work, andjust seeing him treat all the
sick people, that's what Ithought medicine was.
You think of GPs and doctors,and it's like every time I saw
someone there they had a cold orflu.
I'm like no, I don't want tofollow his footsteps, I'm just
(04:02):
going to do you know IT, becauseI'm going to have money.
I don't want to be stuck to youknow his business.
So I did that and I hated everyminute of waking up each
morning and just sitting infront of the computer all day,
like I was like, oh my gosh,this is not me.
So I tried different things.
I tried real estate, I dabbledinto other things retail and
(04:22):
then I sort of took a gap yearand dad's like, look, just try
Chinese medicine.
Like you don't understand untilyou're there in China.
So that's when I actually tookthree months off and went to
China after I'd done four yearsas a bachelor of IT.
I'd worked for two years in IT.
Then I'm like, what am I goingto do?
You know, I'm in my sort ofmid-twenties, I'm lost.
(04:48):
And so I thought, look what,I'll have a holiday out of it.
Dad's like I'm going to pay.
So I'm like sure.
So I went for three months andjust being in China going to the
hospital, you know, seeinghundreds of clients, because
their hospitals are verydifferent to the ones here, they
really incorporate Chinesemedicine.
So I was remember I was in likea it was like a stroke hospital
, a lot of stroke, bell's palsy,like the whole, you know,
nervous system, and you knowthere's not much that Western
(05:09):
medicine can do for stroke andrehabilitation.
But in this hospital, becausewe were there every day, we were
seeing hundreds of clients,they were getting so much better
quickly within a couple ofweeks.
So it might have been the citywe're in, beijing, but there was
a lot of wind and they get alot of Bell's palsy and stroke,
and so in Chinese medicinediagnosis we say it's a wind
condition.
(05:29):
So being in Beijing, extremelywindy, especially in springtime,
and I just saw them like comingin without walking to, like you
know, a couple of weeks later.
I mean, they were coming dailyand they just got better and I
was like, wow, it's so amazing.
And then to see it and toreally experience it in its full
glory and really what Chinesemedicine is all about, it's sort
of like, oh, it's more thanjust treating sick people, you
(05:51):
know, and at the time I wasstudying beauty therapy as well,
I'm like, well, I want toreally incorporate this.
And so beauty therapy was onlyat the start like facial,
cosmetic acupuncture, using sortof acupuncture instead of Botox
.
And that was where I thought,if I'm going to do Chinese
medicine, I'm going to go downthat route.
So really that was like after Igraduated from Chinese medicine
(06:12):
, so after three months of beingin China, I came back and
enrolled in a Bachelor ofTraditional Chinese Medicine at
UTS.
So that was a four-year courseand after that I'm just going to
go in and do all the beautytherapy side.
I'm going to treat skin and I'mgoing to do facials and
acupuncture.
So that's where I was for thefirst couple of years until I
realized everything'sinterlinked Hormones, women's
(06:33):
health, they're coming in,they're getting acne because I
love treating skin like eczema,acne, but it's really all to do
with the hormones.
So then I sort of pivoted andfor the last 10 years that's
basically been my focus withChinese medicine is more the
whole hormonal aspect, becauseacne, we know, is the sort of
side effect of the deeper sortof hormonal imbalances at the
root cause of the body.
(06:55):
So yeah, that's kind of a bitof my journey, where it all led
to where I am today and thenjust, I guess, incorporating all
the other modalities, becauseno medicine is perfect.
So I'm like, as I was learning,I'm like what else can I do to
help these clients get better,especially with having a baby?
It's such an emotional thing.
It's like what else can I keepadding?
(07:15):
And so just one thing afteranother and just added more
tools and modalities to my toolbelt really.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That is so incredible and I really love how you just
kept following what felt goodand the things you had the
passion for and recognizing thatyou just didn't want a conveyor
belt of sick people but endedup finding the way to use those
skills that were basically inyour DNA, thanks to dad.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, dad's been a practitioner for 50
years about, and so I've been apractitioner for over 15.
So combined, 65 years is quitea lot, so he's definitely helped
me along the way.
You know, if I have a client,that's, you know it's a bit
challenging.
We can always like sort of havea little discussion about you
know what do.
So it's great having that sortof mentor, for sure at the early
(08:05):
days.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yes, what a really special relationship and what a
lovely thing to share as fatherand daughter.
And tell me, obviously youtrained in the beauty therapy
area and moved into thatcosmetic area, and I know from
personal experience orprofessional experience it's a
very rewarding area, becauseshifting how someone looks
(08:28):
really shifts how they feelabout themselves.
It's very different to dealingwith perhaps hidden conditions
or less visible conditions.
But how did you then step intothe fertility space?
Was that just because you werealready dealing with hormones or
was there anything else goingon for you there?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah.
So I think the main thing wasyou know, at the beginning it
wasn't always skin.
I saw dad when I was just in myearly days and I was doing
beauty therapy, just facials,and dad was sort of treating the
body with the hormones and I'mlike, look, just treating the
face and putting topical thingsis really not changing the
underlying condition.
It really had to be two thingstogether.
(09:09):
And I remember this case reallyclearly there was a woman who
came in and she was going to getmarried in three months and she
had really bad cystic acne.
It was like literally stagefour acne and within three
months her skin completelycleared up for her wedding.
So I was doing the facials, theexternal peels and the
treatments and dad was reallyworking really holistically with
(09:32):
her, obviously changing dietand giving her herbs and
supporting her that way.
And so I was like, wow, it'snot just one thing.
Right, you can do the topicaltreatments, but if you're not
really getting down to fixingwhat's at the cause, then it's
just going to continue.
So obviously, acne is a sign ofdifferent hormonal imbalances,
you know irregular periods, pcos, all of that.
So that really sort of led tookay, let's understand why
(09:52):
that's happening.
And so then, as we uncover it,then people have got irregular
periods, painful periods, andit's like that's not normal,
because people think that theirsymptoms are normal because
that's all they know, they'vehad it all their lives.
But when you explain, no,there's actually deeper,
underlying conditions that weneed to address.
That's where I sort of wentinto women's health and I guess,
as they sort of moved on,they're like I want to have a
(10:13):
baby and then everything'slinked.
So, yeah, I think that'sdefinitely more rewarding
because sort of the skin isgreat, you can see the before
and after.
But just really helping themwith their hormones and having
that beautiful baby when they'vebeen really struggling is just
so profound, and so that's why Ithink it's so rewarding when we
(10:33):
can help them along that.
But also having a baby that ishealthy at the end of the day is
really my passion.
It's not just being able to.
You know, as practitioners weknow that it's not just about
getting pregnant, but it's thatwhole journey.
So everything is interconnectedright down to really the
beginning of let's address thehormones, let's address what's
happening at the root cause andwe're looking at from different
(10:53):
lenses.
I guess, with all my experience, tcm is one lens, but we're
looking at their diet, theirlifestyle, their mental
emotional.
You know, their mentalemotional health is really
important because even ifthey're doing things like eating
the right things with diet andlifestyle, they still haven't
addressed the mental emotionalaspects.
So that's where my coaching andmy NLP came in.
(11:15):
I was like, well, we need toaddress everything physical,
mental, emotional, spiritual.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
But sounds like the beauty therapy or the skin
elements.
Really was that turning pointwhere you were like, okay, I'm
going to be marrying now whatI'm seeing on the outside with
what I know to be true.
You know on the inside as well,and certainly as part of Chinese
medicine, facial diagnosis is abig part.
(11:43):
It's very much a barometer ofwhat's going on internally and
so shifting gears to think aboutfertility and addressing not
only root causes that might beimpacting fertility you know
someone's ability to conceive orto hold a pregnancy but also
going beyond that to optimizingthe health of their pregnancy.
(12:07):
You know postpartum period andalso the health of the baby.
I'd love to hear from you, likehow you assess someone, how you
uncover hidden or overlookedimbalances that could be
impacting them, both through aTCM lens and nutritional
approaches, especially TCMactually, because I think you
(12:30):
know there's not so many TCMpractitioners around and looking
at you know the Chinese pulsediagnosis and tongue and facial
assessment.
I'd love to hear what it is bigred flags that you might see
that are a problem, or patternsyou look for or things you
commonly find.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so it's really like Isaid, it's a holistic thing, but
I guess it starts off with theycome in.
We do a really comprehensiveintake form.
Like my intake form is supercomprehensive.
And you know these GPs they goto, they go and they meet, they
go.
I've been trying for two years.
Haven't fallen pregnant, evensix months.
People are so impatient thesedays with having a baby.
It doesn't matter what age Icould be, like you know, 25, 26.
(13:12):
I've spoken to you know sort oflate 20 year olds and they're
trying for six months.
It's not happening.
They go to a GP.
They're like IVF right.
But when you really look at areally comprehensive case study
so for me it's being that's thefirst step is like let's look at
really comprehensive, likewhere is your digestion?
Like really getting nittygritty, what does your poop look
like?
You know, even to things likethat you know they go.
(13:34):
I'm sleeping six hours a year,but how much of that is deep
sleep?
You know I get them to tracktheir sleep.
I'm like you say you'resleeping seven hours but you
know you could be sleeping sevenhours but really only getting
half an hour of deep sleep oryou're getting two hours.
So you know, with watches andtechnology.
It's combining a lot of that aswell.
I've seen I'm adding more andmore things like that.
So, digestion, sleep, where istheir emotional stress?
(13:56):
Like you know, stress, we know,is a cause of so much.
It's like have you got stressin your life?
Where is it coming from?
And then I guess, if they'renot sure, we could do cortisol
testing.
You know and see, are theyfollowing the normal cortisol
patterns?
You know past traumas.
Like really digging in.
What was their childhood like,growing up, what was their birth
like?
Like, did their mom have themearly?
(14:17):
Like I'm like gestationalperiod is a big thing, where
they C-section, where theynatural birth.
You know where they sick a lotas a child.
Like really getting reallynitty gritty and really spending
that time to really understandthem.
You know where they were fromliterally the beginning of
gestation all the way to wherethey are now.
You know what has causedproblems.
Were major illnesses?
(14:39):
Were the family dynamics, theirfamily broken up?
Did they go through a lot ofteenage stress which caused them
not to eat properly?
Like there's all those thingsand that alone can take hours.
Right, Really digging in.
It can take a couple of sessionswith some people because they
might not open up immediately.
You know they may have traumayou don't realize till.
Okay, they're starting to openup, maybe once they trust you,
(15:00):
after one or two sessions.
So that's the first thing isreally getting comprehensive,
like picture from a physical,mental, emotional perspective,
like as much detail as you canget, and understanding that what
they're saying is notnecessarily like normally go.
I'm sleeping seven hours butthey're still waking up tired.
Well then, maybe it's notreally good quality sleep.
(15:20):
So from a TCM perspective,after that we may look at their
tongue.
Well, we always look at theirtongue and then from that we can
really see okay, is their bodycold or hot?
Is their tongue sort of whiteor red?
So from that that's anotherindication of is their body
running really stressed, reallyhot, or they're really really
cold, like they've got poorcirculation and being able to
conceive or not conceive.
(15:42):
There's a diagnosis in Chinesemedicine we call it like a cold
uterus.
That means like it's not reallyconducive environment to
actually have the baby.
They've got really cold handsand feet, so I have to give them
herbs to really warm that upand you know they could be
drinking really cold hands andfeet, so I have to give them
herbs to really warm that up.
And you know they could bedrinking really cold, icy drinks
.
You know traditional Chinesemedicine.
We want the body to be warm sothat you're able to sort of
(16:03):
carry that baby and not miscarrya lot.
So that could be like a coldsymptom.
So that could be like thetongue.
Just sort of looking at basicthings Like what does the tongue
look like?
Does it have a lot of teethmarks?
When it has a lot of teethmarks, it's indicating digestive
issues.
Does it have a thick coat?
Some people brush their tonguesevery day and it's like I don't
want you to brush your tonguebecause if they say, oh, I'm
waking up with furry tongue,that means there's a lot of damp
(16:24):
.
So there's a lot of.
I guess it's inflammation andthey're eating a lot of dairy
and inflammatory foods that arecausing that inflammation.
So that's like a tongue picture.
So we go okay, it's matchingthat they've got poor digestion,
they've got a little weightgain, their tongue showing it's
cold and it's very thick,yellowy, white.
So there's a lot ofinflammation there.
And then we can also check itwith the pulse.
(16:45):
So I usually looking with pulseis it like sort of superficial.
Is it really weak, is it rapid,Is it slow?
So all of these things are justlittle pictures to like this
puzzle.
You know, I find that I'm likea detective when it comes to
fertility, because they don'tknow why they can't fall
pregnant.
Gps don't really care, theyjust want them.
Usually they're not spendingtime like, look, let's go to IVF
(17:06):
.
That's not fixing what's at theroot cause.
So when you combine a reallycomprehensive workup of their
history, you really look at thetongue, the pulse, and the next
step is obviously as apractitioner.
We're looking at meridians.
So I could have them on the bed.
Once they're there, really feelall the organs and you know we
have a stomach, you know we havedifferent um, I guess, uh,
(17:29):
indications of what's really atimbalances.
So we can really use a wholestomach and can tell us all the
organs that are out of balance.
So I have them lying down andgo, okay, is the kidney out of
balance?
Is the liver, is the spleen, isthe heart?
So we're really looking at allthe major organs and energy
channels to see what ishappening and really from that
(17:49):
it's then assessing Once all ofthat.
You understand it from a TCMperspective because I combine a
lot of the functional medicine,I'll be like, okay, is there
further testing we need?
Do we need to test, you know,your folate, your B12?
You know, is there foods thatyou're eating that is
contributing to thatinflammation?
Maybe we need to do a foodintolerance test, dutch test?
So there's many things.
So that's where I find thecombination of things comes in
(18:12):
really beautifully, because, youknow, no medicine is perfect.
So when we can have many toolsand combinations, I'm like, yep,
chinese medicine is great fordiagnosing this aspect of a
person.
But let's look at now science,and you know really the
technology that's come reallyfar in the last sort of 20 years
and how can we get an evenbetter picture.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So I think it's great that you're able to combine
Eastern and Western medicineunder the same umbrella so
beautifully, because you'relooking at, with TCM, a dynasty
of, you know, 5,000 years plusof expert observation and
application that predates, youknow, any technology whatsoever
(18:54):
to see what's going on under theskin, so to speak.
And yet, now that we live in aday and age of exponential
growth in terms of informationand access to diagnostics and
assessments, we can alsoactually refine details in a way
that we couldn't before, which,you know, does add another
(19:16):
layer of sophistication in orderto address someone's issues.
Now I have a few other questionsfor you, but I want to pause
for a moment and talk about IVF,and this is something that I
know you and I are verypassionate about, and it's not
just and it's not just aboutgetting pregnant, having a baby,
(19:39):
but knowing that if someone'shaving trouble falling pregnant,
normally if we can use airquotes, normally, the standard,
old-fashioned way, that this isa barometer that there's an
issue with cellular health onsome level, possibly with the
partner also or instead of andthat really that IVF, whilst it
(20:02):
can leapfrog ahead to providinga pregnancy, I don't think
people understand how few ofthose actually go to full-term
babies and the consequences onthe child's health going forward
, because the underlying healthissues that were in the way of
conception and retention ofpregnancy weren't addressed.
(20:25):
So could you speak to a littlebit about that?
Because in my opinion you know,as someone who does work in the
fertility space and supportsIVF patients, doing that
groundwork can make such adifference in the outcomes but
also reducing some of the risksthat comes with engaging with
(20:45):
IVF and the medications as well.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, definitely so, I think a good three to six
months, you know, depending onwhere they're coming.
And the big thing is, mosttimes when you go to IVF the men
aren't really looked at.
You know they go well, they'renot important and most people
that go to IVF 80% that go toIVF, that's the statistics is
that they don't actually needIVF because a lot of it is male
(21:09):
factored infertility and that'sactually fairly, you know, much
more easier to address if it'spurely male factored infertility
than you know if it's a verycomplex, you know, sort of
woman's condition and we don'tknow what's happening.
So I think it's reallyimportant.
That's why now, when a clientcomes in, I'm like I need to see
the most recent sperm analysisand, done from a proper lab, we
(21:30):
need to include DNAfragmentation.
So then you, then we can reallyaddress the men, because most
of the time they're not beingaddressed.
A lot of them are on poor dietand lifestyle.
They're not looking afterthemselves.
Well, they think, oh, the woman, even these days, you'd think
they'd be more, you know, open,but some of them are still very
closed-minded, I find.
And the wife is reallystruggling, she's crying a lot.
(21:52):
She's like, you know my husband.
He's very stubborn, he won'tchange.
Most of them are smoking,vaping.
I found a lot of men are vapingand we know that that's causing
a lot of problems withinfertility, because I just look
at the results, you know a lotof the men have one or two
percent morphology, you know,whereas optimum should be around
15 percent.
And I said that's not going tohelp you get pregnant and if you
(22:13):
do, very high chances ofmiscarriage.
And if that doesn't happen,what's the health of that child
going to be like?
So people don't realize thatwhat you're doing in
preconception for they've saidup to two years prior to
conception is going to actuallyindicate the next two to three,
maybe even four generations.
So I think as parents we've gotto be really looking out for
(22:36):
the health of our child, notjust going okay, I'm just going
to jump straight into IVF withno preparation.
Most people that go to IVF,they've gone to the GP.
They haven't changed anythingwhatsoever.
They've just told the GPthey've taken this long to
conceive, supposedly trying toconceive.
Most of them aren't even in theproper windows or the periods
are irregular, and then beforethey know it, they've been
through multiple rounds of IVFwith no results, and so I think
(23:01):
that's really important to makesure that those clients, I tell
them, forget having a baby rightnow.
Just put it out of your mindfor the next three months.
Let's just get you healthy andif you fall pregnant naturally
in the next three to six months,amazing you know.
I mean that's what our bodyshould be able to do.
But if there's deeper,underlying issues, like I've
read that with men, if they'vegot poor sperm parameters, it's
(23:23):
actually taking 10 to 15 yearsoff their mortality and it's
like why isn't that a reason foryou to really fix that and
address, you know, yourunderlying issues of why the
sperm is so bad?
And also, for the women too,just a lot of their hormonal
issues.
If they've got endo or PCOS andthey've had multiple endos
(23:44):
surgeries, why does it keepcoming back?
What toxins are you ingesting?
What can you really do to keepthe toxins at bay and all of the
things that they can have morecontrol over?
So I guess with the testing, youknow with the men, they go okay
.
I want the men tested becauseif they can have more control
over.
So I guess with the testing,you know, with the men, they go
okay.
I want the men tested, becauseif they can see right in front
of them and understand therepercussions and truly
understand what they can do toget healthy, then it's a benefit
(24:07):
for them.
So, like you said, ivf is onlya tool to help them get pregnant
, but it's nothing to do withhelping them stay pregnant or
there's no heartbeat.
What's devastating is whenthey're pregnant and then you
know, eight weeks there's noheartbeat and these IVF clinics
are making them go back againthe next month or the month
after.
But it's like if you can't fallpregnant, naturally you've
failed at many cycles of IVF.
(24:28):
What is?
When?
Are they going to take a breakand go?
Let's look at what really ishappening.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let's look at what really is happening.
Quite frankly, I find itcriminal that women are
subjected to the rigmarole ofIVF drugs without any
intentionality to improve theirhealth or address male factors
and because ultimately it's abusiness and their business is
combining the sperm and the eggand transferring the embryo, and
(24:55):
that's really the beginning andthe end of what they offer.
And unfortunately, people gointo the system expecting so
much more or not understandingthat there's a much wider scope
around fertility, fertilitybeing a reflection of health and
, just side note, I actuallythink as part of health, in the
(25:16):
future, semen analysis is goingto be a way to address and
assess male wellness.
It's such an easy andaccessible thing.
Unfortunately, looking at egghealth is so much more tricky
and difficult to access forwomen, but certainly for men.
I think when we're seeing thoseissues, it is a really big
(25:36):
opportunity to change things andI think there's so many reasons
for this.
But there is an inherentlypatriarchal, misogynistic
approach across the board withmedicine and I use that term
loosely whereby women areinternalizing the responsibility
(25:57):
for, you know, conceiving andcarrying the baby and, quite
frankly, some partners are justnot fit to be dads in terms of
taking ownership of their healthand the impact on the child,
because we know, with even justminor nutritional tweaks, the
impact that that has on the IQof the child, the hand and eye
coordination of the child, theirrisk of autoimmune disease,
(26:20):
their immune system for life,their longevity, their health
span, and I think the greatestgift you can give your child is
to really deal them the besthand that you possibly can, and
certainly with your approachwithin an East meets West
approach, plus all of theenergetics around it.
(26:40):
It really, I mean I just can'tbelieve how comprehensive your
approach is.
I know for many women they'llhave a team of people.
You know they might have mentalhealth support, they might see
a Reiki master, they might bedoing energetic EFT NLP work and
then they'll see anacupuncturist, then they'll see
a nutritionist, whereas this issomething you actually have on
(27:02):
offer all under the one roof.
So will you walk me throughperhaps your, I guess, classic
approach?
You know someone's walkedthrough the door and you are
running assessments and youmentioned timeline.
Obviously is a bit of a fluidthing and meeting the clients
where they're at, based on theirgoals, can be part of the
(27:25):
challenge, also because we dolive in a day and age where
people want results yesterdayand not realizing that you know
four months to 24 months isreally you know that window, but
where do you start?
What is the roadmap or journeyyou take patients on when you're
addressing these things?
And what would you say tosomeone if you could just say in
(27:47):
an ideal world, this is what wewould do.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, so for me, I have my 90 day sort of signature
program, and so I think it's acombination of all.
That's why I've sort of broughtthis program together.
It really gives them thefoundations of basically you
know what they need to do,starting physically, you know
that's the easy stuff that wecan start addressing is diet and
lifestyle right.
(28:09):
And I remember a man that justcame up, a couple that just saw
me last week, and you know he,like I said, his morphology was
2%.
The wife has had multiplemiscarriages and he's got very
poor diet and he's smoking,vaping, and he's been doing it
since he was 14.
He's 32, now 34, I think.
And then basically I said weneed to look at addressing your
(28:29):
diet.
We need to change some of, getyou off soft drinks and not
drinking cold water andobviously think about vaping
From the day you stop vaping.
It's going to take three monthsreally for detoxing and getting
your sperm healthy, because thelife cycle of sperm is 72 days
approximately.
So we need to clear out all theold, crappy sperm and bring in
some nice, healthy, fresh sperm.
I can't, I can't, I can't, likeyou know that's their language.
(28:52):
Everything is can't, and soit's really hard because we know
having a baby it's hard enoughfor one person to really address
all of those things, let alonewhen the baby is.
Also, you know the result ofyour husband or your partner
being on board as well, and sowhen they're not playing their
part, it's extremely difficult.
So for me, bringing on clientswho are going to have success
(29:14):
and those that do and I see themhave success within three to
six months is really bothcouples doing everything that
they can.
I've had many couples thatfollow everything I say to a T.
They're doing all the homework,they're getting all the tests
that they need to get done, done, they're taking the supplements
, the herbs, all the things, andthey have amazing results.
(29:34):
And healthy babies Healthybabies is what we want.
We don't just want a baby, wewant a healthy baby at the end
of the day, because we know whenyou bring in a baby that's
constantly sick or has issueslike I've had friends or clients
who babies have had holes intheir heart they're needing
surgery as a newborn.
That's not what we want, right.
Or a child that's got ADHD, allof that.
So we can do what we can inthat preconception.
(30:02):
So for me it's a combination ofthings.
It's really understanding,looking at things that they can
really address on a dietaryperspective.
But through my program it'shelping them understand.
Okay, where are their thoughts?
Where's their mental, emotionalhealth right now?
Are they constantly so usingNLP?
Are they constantly speakingnegative terms?
I have to pull clients up.
They're like I hate my body,it's failing me.
You know, I feel like a barrenwoman, like I've heard all these
(30:25):
, anything and everything fromwomen and the way they talk
about their bodies.
You know whether they've hadendo or a lot of failed
miscarriages, or they've been,you know, trying to conceive for
two years, nothing's happening.
There's just so much negativeself-talk and that is so
important that we need to flipthat around.
So within the 12 weeks I'mreally getting them to address
(30:46):
listen to what you're saying toyourself.
Your body is really in tunedand what you're saying, what
you're thinking, will drive allthe hormones and the stress
that's happening.
So if people are hating on theirbodies, their body is not going
to respond and be, you know,helping them to have a baby
right.
They really need to startaddressing, loving their bodies,
really taking care of thingsfrom that perspective.
(31:08):
So talking nicely, loving it,you know, getting to do a lot of
gratitude work, a lot ofjournaling and then again, just
if they've gone through a lot ofemotional stress, really
clearing a lot of that negativeemotions with them and then
doing that not just for thewomen but for the men.
So I take both partners,because men have their traumas
too.
They could have been growing upin a very difficult environment
(31:30):
.
Growing up They've had alltheir traumas just as much as
women have, like both all people, we've all gone through a lot.
So once I get them basicallygiving that foundation the three
months is foundations they knowwhat to do physically, mentally
, emotionally right, and thenspiritually.
That's when I sort of address alot of the reiki energetic work
, sort of high spiritualmanifestation, visualization.
(31:53):
So if we can draw that energyto us, if we can be positive,
really call upon that beautifulspirit baby, you know, I get the
couples to hold hands, tovisualize, to call that
beautiful angel into them,whether they want a boy or girl
to hold hands and visualize.
So I do a lot of that sort ofmanifesting.
So I really believe once bothcouples are in that alignment
(32:14):
from a physical, mental,emotional, spiritual perspective
, do they then sort of have thatbeautiful baby?
So I sort of call it, you know,sort of reset, rebalance,
realign and then rebirth.
So that's my program, is reallygetting them to that stage,
because it's not going to happentill all the ducks are sort of
aligned up.
So, yeah, then they have allthose tools and go, then they
(32:36):
can continue with that work or Ican help them with longer.
Some of them may have even moretrauma that they then need more
one-on-one work with.
But yeah, it's a combination ofall of those things and I think
, different tools like testingand all of that.
But deep down they have to bewilling to do the work.
You know, in both people.
The husband has to be just ascooperative and as willing,
(32:56):
because it's half his child too.
I say what you're doing isgoing to impact the DNA.
When there's DNA testing we cando, right, so your child's got
you know certain things that'scome from one of the parents
right, so what we can do to givethem that great headstart for
so they can have you know,beautiful, healthy bodies and
then they can also conceive andgo down the chain.
You know, I've read that withwomen who go through IVF Now,
(33:18):
it's showing that if they have afemale offspring, if they have
a daughter, they're most likelyneeding to go through IVF now as
well, because I guess you knowthat's just the energy.
You're growing this baby in atest tube, then you're
re-implanting it.
Yeah, there's been showing thatnow their daughters are needing
IVF as well.
So if we can really get back tothe root cause and really look
(33:43):
at just spending three months ofreally addressing all those
things deep down, getting ashealthy as we can on all of
those levels, on both male andfemale side, the results most
likely will come.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yes, absolutely.
It really does involve.
It's like almost a process ofelimination, isn't it?
And touching on every one ofthose variables that make us who
we are, that contribute to ourhealth, not just on a physical
level, but mental, emotional andspiritual, and really fully
preparing for parenthood.
It's actually the first step inparenting.
(34:11):
You know motherhood andfatherhood and it's, I think,
one of the greatest investmentssomeone could possibly make.
But thinking now, you know,with that zoomed out view,
there's lots of differentvariables that you take into
consideration and address andhelp people heal and nurture
their way through.
If we were to zoom in now andlook more specifically at the
(34:34):
reproductive system and itsrelationship with nutrition, I'd
love to hear about.
You know what your favoritetools are to reduce inflammation
?
You know.
Increase egg quality, supportimplantation, you know.
Pregnancy retention.
Do you have any favorites you'dlike to share with us?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah, I think it's just looking at, first of all,
where are they now Like?
What have they been doing andfor how long?
You know, a lot of the women,the, you know, the internet is a
vast, you know, ray ofknowledge and they get bombarded
.
They don't even know where tostart.
They're like I've read this onTikTok, you need to take this
and you need to take that.
And so they've come in.
Some of them just overdo it.
Some of them don't, haven'teven taken a single thing.
(35:17):
You know, I've come in, they go.
I go what do you want?
They go nothing.
I said nothing.
You've been trying for twoyears and you're on zero,
nothing, you know.
And they go.
Yeah, I haven't taken anything.
Maybe the doctor suggested.
You know, not all supplementsare created equal.
We know that's like what areyou taking, how much are you
(35:39):
taking and is it necessary?
So there's lots of differenttesting we can do to see, okay,
where are their bloods, what arethe functional testing, and
then really taking core thingsthat are going to help them with
their nutrition.
So if they've got inflammation,if they've got, you know, pcos,
then that needs to be addressed.
It's all individualized, butsome of my favorite nutritionals
I guess it's a prenatal.
(36:00):
That's super important becausemost people aren't getting
enough nutrition that they need.
So prenatal, and essentially Isaid, look, you need to be on
supplements for three to sixmonths, right, you need that
sort of to really work your bodyto absorb it.
And if they've got inflammation, well, what food so do?
They need to fix the foodsfirst and their gut health so we
can do gut microbiome testing,right?
(36:24):
Because if they're taking allthese nutritionals but their
body's not absorbing anything,right, or they're taking the
wrong magnesium or you know adifferent form and they don't
know.
So the consumers, they haven'tgone to a lot of the naturopaths
and they're all you know of umspecific health practitioners.
They're like, oh no,magnesium's good, so they'll
just pick one off you know sortof the shelf or Woolworths or
they'll pick some sort of crappyfish oil.
And I said it's all aboutquality but it's also about
(36:46):
dosing and therapeutic dose.
I explained to them it's thequality but it's also
therapeutic dose.
Are you on like an optimal dose?
Are you on just a maintenancedose or nothing?
It's not even making a dent.
So I sort of love like prenatals, I love sort of omega-3s for
egg quality and sperm quality.
We know that most of the eggand the sperm is essential fatty
(37:07):
acids.
I think these days we live insuch a toxic environment.
So one of my favorite things islike NAC.
At the moment, even from beforeCOVID I think we're in such a
we want to stay healthy and it'ssuch a great sort of
antioxidant, good for liverdetoxing.
A lot of the endoclients andhormonal issues are great with
(37:27):
NAC.
It's another one of myfavorites.
Like tocretinols are really goodas well, so they're kind of
like the basic ubiquinol.
They're really common in sortof as a good place to start,
maybe a good probiotic, and thenreally for the men it's the
same.
I think it's important for themto be addressing all their
health as well.
(37:48):
So men may not want to take somuch to begin with, but maybe
just starting with good spermhealth.
You know omega-3, some zinc,some vitamin C, some NAC as well
.
So, and then I might add insome Chinese herbal formulas for
them.
So I think, understanding wheretheir individual profile and
then just starting with somecore basics and then maybe
(38:09):
adding things on as I see fit.
So they're kind of the things Ilove.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Yeah, beautiful.
Well, I'm sure at this pointyou have supported couples,
hundreds, probably thousands ofbabies to be born at the moment
and I'm sure it's probably hardto pick your favourites.
But are there any?
Is there a case that you wouldlike to share with us that you
know really touches your heart?
Has stuck with you?
I'm sure they all have, but I'dlove to hear.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Yes, I have a beautiful case and they're the
most loving couple.
So they were trying for almostfive years when they saw me four
and a half five years and theywent through a really difficult
period.
Like, the father passed awayfrom cancer a couple of years
ago, the husband went intodepression during COVID and
they're not old, I think they're36, 37 when they saw me.
(38:58):
So this was about a year agoand we said, look, let's get a
sperm analysis done first.
Like is this thing?
And his sperm results came backreally, really poor.
They were, you know, really lowmorphology count, motility,
like on the low end ofeverything.
And I said, look, we need sixmonths minimum.
You need to give me six months.
And so they didn't want to godown IVF.
(39:18):
They said I don't want to godown IVF, we're willing.
And they were both so involvedBeautiful Asian couple.
They said I'm willing to dowhatever you tell us to do.
They came in every week forChinese medicine.
They went through my fullcoaching three months program as
well as the individual couplescoaching as well.
They took everything I toldthem to take.
They took the testing that Itold them to do and they were
(39:41):
just so on board.
They just listened and theyknew that we're going to get
there.
We had to work a lot on themental, emotional aspect and
every time a period came, ofcourse it's like another month.
You know, for women when theirperiods come, it's like this hit
in the gut and I'm like let'sstay positive.
You know, the sperm takes timeand in the meantime we were
doing any sort of investigativework with her but she seemed to
(40:02):
look all clear.
So it's like what is underlyinglike the five years?
Like how come it wasn't there?
But they had so much trauma.
She felt like, you know, itreally took her out when her dad
passed away.
She was very close to him, soit's like they weren't trying,
not really in the mood, and sothe husband having depression
obviously impacts testosteroneand that's why his sperm
analysis was so bad.
But yeah, after eight months, Iremember after eight months,
(40:26):
we're like, okay, we've checkedthe sperm.
Now it's sort of been about sixmonths, let's get retested.
And it came back, I remember,perfect, like everything was
like in optimal, not just likewithin range, it was like on the
high end of everything.
I'm like it's great, you candefinitely try it, everything's
going to.
You know you've done all thework.
I think you've been taking thesupplements, everything for like
six, nine months.
(40:46):
Literally the next month theyfelt pregnant.
I remember she messaged mebefore she even told her husband
.
She's like check your phone,check your phone, so she said.
And then she sent a strip oflike this pregnancy test that
was positive and they'd neverhad a positive in five years and
it was just the most beautifulthing.
And I said, how are you goingto break the news to your
husband?
And I said I gave her someideas and I think she put it
(41:07):
under a cloche or something forlike lunch.
She was cooking him lunch andthen he opened the cloche and
then he saw this little you knowpositive pregnancy test.
But and they've just givenbirth about two months ago, so I
think the baby's around aboutsort of eight weeks, the little
girl.
And you know when they just gothrough so much, they didn't get
any answers.
So they just kept doctors justkept telling them you need IVF,
(41:29):
you need IVF, and they're justlike I don't want IVF, I'm sure
it can happen, naturally.
You know they were willing to.
They'd seen other practitioners, they'd saw a few other
acupuncturists, but they justreally resonated with sort of my
expectations.
I sort of laid it out at thebeginning and I think that's
what we have to do aspractitioners.
It's like looking at theresults of them right in front
of you.
Now be realistic with them andhelp them to understand it's not
(41:52):
going to happen overnight.
I've had clients who I hadanother client recently.
She was trying to get pregnantfor three and a half four years
and then just after a month gotpregnant, and so there are going
to be people that are going toget pregnant sooner.
But there are some that ittakes time, you know, and the
body it takes time.
So however long it takes iswhat I say.
And then, even if they do needIVF we've realized with some
(42:14):
that they've needed to go to IVFthen they're actually well
prepared.
So I really think that if theycan work on all of the aspects,
on both the man and the woman,if they're just as invested most
of the time, all the couplesthat I've seen who are both
heavily invested to get theresults and are willing to do
what it takes yeah, it's justbeautiful that they can have
(42:34):
that beautiful natural pregnancyand then without needing IVF is
just profound.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
So Gosh, that's such a beautiful case and such a
lovely example of.
I mean they sound like they'rejust the best parents in the
world Best parents now they'resending me updates like every
week.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
They look at her grow and you know you become part of
the family.
And she brought they brought meflowers and they were so
appreciative because you knowwhen you can help them on that
journey to give them, you know,a baby after five years.
It's just, it's just amazing.
So.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
What an extraordinary story and I think anyone
listening to this, whetherthey're a practitioner or not, I
think the main takeaway is youknow our bodies are designed to
heal we are designed to befertile.
Takeaway is you know our bodiesare designed to heal, we are
designed to be fertile.
Yes, there might be structuralabnormalities or injuries, which
is you know.
The purpose of IVF was toovercome structural issues, but
the fundamental physiologicalrequirements must still be
(43:29):
addressed, regardless whetheryou opt for IVF out of necessity
or desire, for whatever otherreason, and just knowing that,
if you're willing to just take abreath and invest in that time
and energy and really preparingit's going to set you up for the
most incredible experience, notjust pregnancy and postpartum.
(43:50):
But I think you know, thehealthier and more balanced a
child is and the more theythrive in their life, the more
enjoyable parenthood is going tobe also.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Yeah, definitely, If I have beautiful, healthy
children.
I mean, yeah, definitely takesthe stress off.
It's hard enough with a newborn.
I learn a newborn that'sconstantly sick.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Yes, yeah, yes, yes, we've all seen that.
Wow, ellie, look, I couldprobably talk to you for another
few hours about what we do.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I know we just skimmed on the surface.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I know, look, I'm sure we'll get you back because
you're just such a wealth ofknowledge and expertise.
And this is an area that Ithink has become increasingly
required because we live in asociety and a culture and, you
know, on an earth that is beingmore and more poisoned, becoming
more and more toxic in manydifferent ways, and you know,
(44:42):
the antidote to that is truecellular healing on physical,
mental, emotional level.
And where people, I think, arebeing forced to do the work is
when they're confronted withchallenges in actually having a
child, and perhaps that's theway forward for us all.
But certainly, if people arelooking for you on the internet,
(45:05):
you are everywhere.
We will put all of Ellie's linksin the show notes of this
episode.
She actually has her ownpodcast, the Holistic Health and
Hormones podcast, if you'd liketo tune in and learn more there
, but we'll also connect youwith her on other platforms.
So, ellie, thanks again fortaking us through your approach
(45:27):
to fertility and the health ofthe baby, through both an
Eastern and Western lens andfrom a truly holistic and
energetic lens.
It was so insightful and forour listeners.
Thank you everyone for joiningus today.
Remember you can find all ofthe show notes and other
podcasts and resources we'vereferenced on the Australian
(45:47):
Designs for Health website andI'm Amy Skilton and this is
Wellness by Designs-
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