Folic Acid, Folate & MTHFR Deficiency - everything you need to know
Folic Acid, Folate & MTHFR Deficiency - everything you need to know

We hear a lot about vitamin B9 (aka folic acid or folate) for fertility and pregnancy, and it’s for a good reason. It's necessary for DNA synthesis, and therefore is considered key for proper egg development and ovarian function, as well as embryo and fetal growth.

In fact, a budding embryo needs higher than usual levels of vitamin B9 before you even know you’re pregnant, and deficiencies are serious enough they can actually result in infertility, miscarriage, or birth defects. Being that B vitamins get depleted with stress and poor diets, many people tend to run deficient on this critical nutrient.

If we know how important it is, all we've got to do is take a supplement. Problem solved...right?

Well, with this vitamin in particular its not quite that simple. What form, the dosage, how our body metabolizes it, even a common genetic disorder, all play a huge role in the amount of vitamin B9 available. But not to fret! I'm going to break it all down for you here.

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FertilityJacqueline Gabardynutrition, miscarriage, folic acid, fertility, folate, vitamin deficiency
What is the Pre-birth Protocol?
What is the Pre-birth Protocol?

As an acupuncturist who specializes in women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and postpartum, I get asked often if I attend births. I just as often surprise people to let them know that actually I don't.

It's not because I don't want to, rather, it's because I've found I can be of most use to my patients during the weeks leading up to their birth. With acupuncture, herbal medicine, and moxibustion (a Chinese medical heat therapy,) I have developed a process I call the Pre-birth Protocol - through which I help women to prepare for vaginal or surgical labor, so that when the time comes they are ready and the process moves along smoothly.

The Pre-birth Protocol is a holistic method of preparing the body for labor, but that doesn't mean you have to be a totally crunchy hippie to use it. No matter if you've planned a birth at home, in birth center, or hospital, no matter what you're feelings are about pain medications or pitocin, no matter if you're delivering with a midwife or OBGYN, you can still use the Pre-birth Protocol to help prep for your experience. Here's how.

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PregnancyJacqueline Gabardypostpartum, labor prep, pre-birth, pre-birth protocol, uterine health
3 Immune Boosting Herbs
3 Immune Boosting Herbs

If you're slogging through cold and flu season with an endless cough, runny nose, or nasal congestion, if you seem to keep catching cold after cold, or even if you manage to stay well but everyone around you is constantly sick, it's important to treat the immune system with care and support it every way we know how.

Getting plenty of sleep, reducing or avoiding stress, eating a clean diet with bone broth and lots of vegetables all help to improve immunity, but what else? Well, herbal medicine offers up lots of options for boosting immunity. Let's take a look at which ones will help you to be a lot healthier this winter.

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Herbal MedicineJacqueline Gabardyimmunity, herbs, elderberry, astragalus, reishi
Are you Having a Fertility Freakout?
Are you Having a Fertility Freakout?

With more and more women postponing motherhood by choice, compounded by a society that puts very little value on reproductive health education, I see so many women who find themselves in deep distress and panic about their fertility and/or family planning. It’s super common for issues surrounding fertility to cause anxiety, depression, anger, resentment, relationship issues, panic attacks, even secondary stress and anxiety symptoms, such as hives, insomnia, digestive upset, headaches, or chronic pain.

Especially if you are in your late 30s or early 40s, or if you’ve been diagnosed with some form of infertility, then fertility panic may have set in suddenly. Even for those who previously were convinced they didn’t want kids, a crisis may seemingly come out of no where and can be a confusing and painful experience.

If you are currently feeling yourself in the depths of a freak out, please know this: you are not alone and you are not broken. This is incredibly common, just age or a diagnosis alone does not mean you can't get pregnant, and even if it does, your worthiness is not dependent on your reproductive capability alone. If your panic is centered around the not knowing if you want kids or not, know that with time and introspection - and hopefully some therapy - the answer will come to you. Your path will light up before you in time, you don't have to figure everything out right at this moment.

Having supported several women through such crises, I can tell you there's no magic trick to make it all disappear, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer as to what to do. Every journey to build a family, or the decision not to, is unique to those who experience it. But I can tell you there are several things that may support you during and help you through this difficult time.

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Mental Health, FertilityJacqueline Gabardyfertility, freak out, panic, anxiety, stress
Let's Talk About Vaginal Dryness
Let's Talk About Vaginal Dryness

There's pretty much no topic off limits in my clinic, and believe it or not, vaginal dryness is a common topic I discuss with my patients. Women of all ages complain of it, and for lots of different reasons. There's no one-size-fits-all treatment that works, but luckily, some basic understanding of your hormones and how they effect the body usually helps to get to the bottom of why you're experiencing this discomfort.

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Vaginal Health, Hormonal ImbalancesJacqueline Gabardyvaginal dryness, dryness, hormonal imbalance, hormones, estrogen, estrogen deficiency
Morning Sickness is The Worst - How to Treat it Naturally
Morning Sickness is The Worst - How to Treat it Naturally

Morning Sickness, or the more appropriate term, early pregnancy nausea, as it can strike at anytime of the day, is a common but bothersome symptom of pregnancy that can be tricky to treat. Some women don't respond to common nausea remedies, which leaves them feeling queasy - or worse - the better part of the day, often while still trying to keep the pregnancy under wraps.

Even though early pregnancy nausea can be difficult to treat, it's not impossible. There are lots of natural treatments that may lessen or completely relieve your nausea. Most of these methods work short-term, so you have to keep up with them for them to remain effective. But typically, a combination of a few of these methods makes the first trimester all the more manageable.

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PregnancyJacqueline Gabardynausea, early pregnancy, morning sickness, pregnancy, first trimester
What is Secondary Infertility?
What is Secondary Infertility?

Even if you're super familiar with fertility terms and reproductive health, secondary infertility doesn't get talked about all that much, so you may not have heard of it. Primary infertility refers to when someone has trouble getting pregnant the first time, while secondary infertility effects those who have already had a child and are having trouble conceiving again.

It may seem like a confusing scenario, if someone could conceive once, why can't they conceive again? But it's actually quite a common condition that I treat regularly.

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FertilityJacqueline Gabardyfertility, infertility, secondary infertility, energy work, trauma
Best Bone Broth Ever!
Best Bone Broth Ever!

If you read my article about Holistic Health during Cold & Flu Season, then I've already told you why adding bone broth to your diet is so important, but it's not just for the fall and wintertime. I recommend bone broth all year round, to patients, to friends, to family members, and there's one simple reason - it has so many benefits!

Joint pain? Digestive upset? Low energy? Compromised immunity? Feeling anxious? Menstrual cramps? Recovering from illness or injury? Looking for a fertility boost? Yep, bone broth can help! In fact drinking bone broth regularly has quickly become the single most common recommendation I give.

I've been making bone broth at home for years now and I'm proud to say I've gotten lots of other folks doing it too. I've refined my recipe into seriously the best bone broth ever and I want to share it with you so you can make it too, enjoy!

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Food + NutritionJacqueline Gabardybone broth, broth, nutrition, health education, immunity, fertility, infertility
How to Prepare for your Embryo Transfer
How to Prepare for your Embryo Transfer

Embryo transfer is part of the In vitro fertilization (IVF) process, it involves transferring 1 or more embryos that have been grown for 3-6 days back into the uterus in hopes of pregnancy resulting.

The day of embryo transfer is a big day, it's the day you could potentially become pregnant! Especially if you've been through a long journey of trying to conceive and going through IVF, sometimes it can be nerve racking to go into the next procedure not knowing exactly what to expect. But I'm here to tell you, it's not that bad!

Especially if you've already gone through egg retrieval(s) or IUI(s), you'll find the embryo transfer procedure itself a breeze. But being that it's such a crucial day in the IVF process, there are a few things you can do to prepare for, stay comfortable during, and increase the odds of success for your embryo transfer.

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FertilityJacqueline Gabardyivf, implantation, embryo transfer