Ep. 6 - Badass Fertility: Where to start in the process of navigating infertility?

Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Kathryn Bregman, owner/founder of Badass Infertility. Kathryn is a fertility mindset coach, she shares her personal story of infertility to fertility. She shares invaluable insight into navigating this challenging process. She now helps others become empowered and confident in their fertility journey.

Follow us @pelvicorerehab and share any questions you have on pelvic health or share your experience overcoming pelvic health related issues.

Infertility Facts:

Stats:

• 1 in 8  or 12%- 15% of couples struggle with infertility
• About 7 million American women

IVF Success Rates:

• depend on many factors, such as age and the reasons for infertility. Overall, first-time IVF success rates often fall between 25-30% for most intended parents. However, this probability tends to increase after multiple IVF cycles.

 

Types of infertility:

1. Primary infertility is when a pregnancy has never been achieved by a person.
2. Secondary infertility is when at least one prior pregnancy has been achieved.
3. Mechanical Infertility - Scarring from surgery. Pelvic surgery can damage and scar the fallopian tubes, which link the ovaries to the womb. …

Some other causes of infertility?

• Hypothalamic amenorrhea -Women can experience hypothalamic amenorrhea when poor nutrition or stress interferes with the brain's regulation of the menstrual cycle.
• Fibroids
• PCOS
• Endometriosis. ...
• Pelvic inflammatory disease. ...
• Medicines and drugs/ toxins
• Premature Ovarian Insufficiency Women with POI do not ovulate (release an egg) every month. This makes it difficult to get pregnant. But studies have shown that a small percentage of women (5-10%) with idiopathic premature ovarian failure (where the cause is unknown) do sometimes ovulate and become pregnant.

Factors that commonly affect Fertility:

• Stress (Emotional Trauma) -Inflammation- scar tissue 
• Stored emotional stress - our bodies respond to stress with muscle tension

Books: 

• It All Starts with the Egg by: Rebecca Fett
• Wild Feminine by: Tami Kent

Fertility Mindset Coaching:

• Your journey should start here. Having the right mindset will help you navigate the journey and help you make the right decisions and feel good about them 
• Everyone needs different things throughout their journey
• Mindset can help open your mind to take on changes that you may not have been open to before such as dietary changes. 
• Positive Support is so important, be mindful to avoid catastrophizing chat rooms.
• A mindset coach, pelvic floor physical therapist , acupuncturist are all potential resources for building a fertility journey village
• Exercise is important during the process

What role did seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist play in your fertility experience?

1. Pelvic health was one of the most important things for me to look at when I was trying to conceive, and, unfortunately, it took me a long time to realize it because it wasn’t on my doctors’ typical list of things to investigate. So, my expertise comes from a few areas, one of them is personal experience.  I know the power of working on pelvic health because, aside from mindset, working with you was THE lynchpin in my pregnancy.  

2.    Pelvic health matters for fertility for two main reasons, one is physical. For example, women who have endometriosis, like I did, or weak pelvic floors or tight  pelvic floors, (of which I had both) can see their fertility negatively impacted.

3.    My area of expertise is less on the physical side, though, and more on the emotional side. Emotional blocks can surface in the body, and for many women who are struggling to conceive releasing those blocks in both a physical and emotional/spiritual way is critical.  While I am not a therapist, I do help women come to realize what is or may be in their way and they become inspired to seek specialists who can help them get to the root cause and become the moms they are meant to be, but before they are in the right mindset, they tend to be stuck, frozen or just confused and hopeless about moving forward.

Takeaways for listeners?

• 1. If you are struggling to conceive, what is blocking you may not be just physical.  Working to reset your mindset can create a clear path for you to make decisions, navigate the myriad competing recommendations, deal with the emotional ups and downs of the fertility journey and actually live it from a place of empowerment and joy.
• 2. When you get in the right mindset of truly believing you are meant to be a mom, the universe responds and miracles do occur.

3. If you like science, know that women who work with other women on the emotional side of the fertility journey are 65% more likely to become pregnant. That number includes women in support groups and those who seek ongoing support from other women who get it.

Visit Badass Fertility :

www.badassfertility.com

www.instagram.com/kathryn_badassfertility/

Visit me at:

My Website: https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/pelvicorerehab

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pelvicorerehab/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pelvichealthplus

YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCiEl1ZFlA5SzN44MhUwzgA?view_as=subscriber

Ebook Books links

Pregnancy Ebook: 

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/pain-free-pregnancy-guide

Bladder Leaking Ebook

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/leaking

8 steps to achieving pelvic healing 

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/

Pelvic Pain, Bladder leaking, and 8 steps to achieve pelvic healing

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/pelvicfloorguides

Pelvic Pain 

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/pelvicpain

Menopause Guide

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/menopauseguide

Postpartum ebook

https://www.pelvicorerehab.com/headtotoewellnessformommyandbaby