"I like to think of a Nutritional Therapist as being the 'Sherlock Holmes' of the health practitioners."

The Embryologist Nutritionist

Hi, I'm Sarah. I help couples and individuals who are trying to conceive.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve already tried a lot. Maybe you’ve been through treatment, or you’re about to start. Maybe you feel like you’ve tried every avenue and you’re running out of ideas. And maybe you’re tired.

I’m a nutritional therapist specialising in fertility. I work with couples and single women who want to feel confident and sure they’re doing what they can for a healthy pregnancy, wherever they’re starting from.

Before this, I spent many years as a clinical embryologist. I saw eggs and sperm up close every day, and I saw how much the lab can do. I also saw what it can’t. The lab can’t change the quality of what it’s given. That’s what led me to nutrition, and to the things that could make a difference long before anyone walks into a clinic.

My work starts with listening. I want to hear what’s happened so far, what’s worried you and what’s got in the way, before we talk about anything else. Then we work it out together.

I also look at how you’re doing, not just what you’re eating. How you’re feeling matters to me too. Trying to conceive can be relentless, and a plan that ignores how you’re feeling is a plan that’s hard to live with. I’ve trained in somatic enquiry and transpersonal coaching tools, so I may help you tune in to your body when you feel anxious, or when you feel nothing much at all. Noticing what’s going on, and why, can make it easier to find what helps. Something you can do for yourself on a hard day, even if it’s only for five minutes when you're on the loo at work. There’s nothing wrong with finding this hard. It is hard.

If you’re going through IVF or preparing for it, I know what’s happening in the lab at each stage, so I can help you make sense of it and plan around it.

The sensible bit, for anyone who likes to check: I’m a member of the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT) and registered with the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).

My books are closed for now, but you don’t need to wait to get started. My free resources page has fertility testing guides, information on vaginal health, podcasts and more, all there for you to use in your own time. If you’d like to hear when I’m taking on new clients, you can sign up to my newsletter. And whatever you decide, be kind to yourself in the meantime. Good enough is good enough.

About Nutritional Therapy

Nutritional therapy is a lot like being a detective. We look at the science and at the clues: your test results, your symptoms, what you eat and how you live. Then we work out what might be driving your situation, and what could make a difference. It’s personalised, which means it’s built around you and your data. It’s not one plan fits all.

Fertility can feel like something completely out of your control. Nutritional therapy won’t change all of that, but understanding what’s going on could help you take back some of it.

Once we know what we’re working with, the food comes in, and food always comes first. That might mean changes to what you eat and how you live. Testing or supplements are only suggested where they’re useful, never as a starting point.

Detective work takes time. One or two sessions is rarely enough to understand everything that might be contributing, let alone see change. That’s why I mostly work in programmes of at least three months, so changes have time to show.

What progress looks like is different for everyone. It might be a more regular cycle, feeling ready and prepared for fertility treatment, or working towards that BFP (big fat positive) and a healthy pregnancy.