Ep.126: Functional Fertility Treatment, with NaProTechnology OBGYN Dr. Melissa Weidert

We are big fans of NaProTechnology at Woven Well, because this unique approach investigates the root causes of reproductive health concerns like PCOS, PMS, Luteal Phase defect, and endometriosis. For many women, this restorative approach is all they need to finally get some answers and individualized care. But there are some who still have a "missing piece." This was how Dr. Melissa Weidert felt as she served a NaProTechnology OBGYN and surgeon. She loved NaPro, but knew she needed a complementary education to provide to some of her patients who still struggled. Now, she's opened her integrative health clinic and provides holistic reproductive care and fertility treatments to men and women. Utilizing hormonal panels, HTMA, bio resonance testing, mold and parasite investigation, and more, she seeks the root causes of reproductive health concerns and addresses them at their core. She joins us today to talk about this approach and how it serves men and women with reproductive health issues.

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences.

GUEST BIO:
Dr. Melissa Weidert officially launched her virtual medical practice, Fiat Fertility & Wellness, in the Fall of 2023 after many years in restorative reproductive medicine. She has a strong passion for NaProTECHNOLOGY and trained as a NaPro surgeon. Combining this knowledge with functional medicine and holistic health practices allows her to walk alongside women, men, and couples on their unique health journeys. She lives with her husband and son and is a proud Wisconsinite who enjoys the outdoors, strong coffee, and quality conversations. You can find her soaking in the sun rays, working the soil into a new garden, and taking time to be present with those she loves.     

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SHOW NOTES:
Fiat Fertility & Wellness virtually serves patients in TX and PA.
@drmelweidert

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Transcript

Caitlin: 0:06

Welcome to the Woven Well podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast. I think it's safe to say that most of our listeners are interested in medical professionals who want to look at the bigger picture and help them feel and function the best possible. But that doesn't always happen through more traditional medical practices. So they go in search of OBGYNs who have taken the time to invest in restorative reproductive medical training like NaProtechnology or functional medical training. Today we get to speak with an OBGYN trained in both. Dr. Melissa Weidert officially launched her virtual medical practice Fiat Fertility and Wellness in the fall of 2023, but she's been working in the field of restorative reproductive health for years before that. She has a strong passion for NaProtechnology and trained as a NaPro surgeon . Combining this knowledge with functional medicine and holistic health practices allows her to walk alongside women, men, and couples on their unique health journeys. Dr. Weidert, welcome to the show.

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 1:30

Thank you for having me, Caitlin. I'm very excited to be here.

Caitlin: 1:34

I'm really looking forward to our conversation because I think this combination of NaProtechnology and functional holistic medicine is going to be a winner for so many listeners. So why don't you tell us a little bit of what makes your work different at Fiat Fertility and Wellness?

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 1:54

Yes , so in my current practice, it's pretty unique in the way that it is all virtual and so I can meet with clients in different states. Right now I see people in Texas and Pennsylvania and hopefully we'll add additional states as well. My focus really is on looking at the whole person and so that will include assessment of different ways of looking at the menstrual cycle. So for instance, the Creighton model charting, I'll also look at other types of menstrual cycle charting as well and then implementing some of those NaProtechnology protocols to really evaluate what is the underlying items or things going on for that particular person. My training with functional medicine, or you could almost call it integrative or holistic health is really looking at what additional things are going on in the body and really focusing on the root cause and then addressing those based on the individual needs. So I think what's really great with this is NaProtechnology focuses on a lot of menstrual cycle issues, endometriosis, hormonal imbalance, polycystic ovaries, fertility evaluations, and when you combine that with a functional and integrative approach, you are really looking at additional pieces which can help answer some of these questions that I've always had with NaProtechnology. So for instance, we would may find someone's progesterone, right, is low in the luteal phase, I would say it's probably a common thing that we would find in someone and I've always wondered, well why is that progesterone low in that particular person? Is there something else going on in their body or maybe in the way that they're incorporating their nutrients into those building blocks that the hormones need? And combining those natural evaluations with additional evaluation and digging deeper really helps look at the overall picture. And I've really found that in patients that need some additional evaluation with their NaProtechnology, medical and surgical care, looking at that functional and integrative piece just adds a whole other layer of help in evaluation. Whether it's for, you know, the woman, even the man, and then just couples looking for help with their fertility.

Caitlin: 4:10

For a lot of women just having the progesterone supplemented or having the surgery or having the fill in the blank , whatever it is, that NaProtechnology diagnoses and then treats is sufficient. That's all they need to feel better to function better and to be living their best quality of life. But there are some ladies who still feel like they need just a little bit something extra or it's maybe not as successful as they expected it to be. And so to me what I hear you saying is adding in this complementary aspect of medicine is really potentially transformative for those ladies who need just a little something extra in addition to their NaProtechnology diagnosis and treatment. So why is an integrative approach to fertility so beneficial?

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 5:04

Yeah, so with an integrative approach, I really like to explain it to patients or couples that I'm working with sort of with a upstream and downstream model. And I think this helps to really understand how different elements of our overall health and who we are in our body, mind, and soul can really implement a lot of other areas in our life . So if we're thinking about the upstream areas, those would be things like our mental spiritual, emotional health, implementing and really influencing our central nervous system. A lot of that central nervous system is popular in, I feel like in conversations lately, looking at how our sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are balanced, how we actually can flex in and out of those states and that health of that system will then influence our gut and our immune system because our 75% of our immune system is in our gut. And when we think about that influential piece that then is going to impact our digestion, how are we going to break down food? How are we going to actually assimilate and absorb those nutrients that we need to make the hormones in our body? So generally what happens after that gut and immune area is our adrenal glands can be affected first, which definitely influence our thyroid. And then kind of at that bottom of the downstream effect would be the sex hormones, the ones that we think about progesterone, estrogen, testosterone. And so if we're always focused on that lower piece--so as I mentioned evaluating, you know, our charting for luteal phase defects, maybe when someone presents with fertility problems, PMS , abnormal bleeding--well yes we may find a progesterone and estrogen imbalance, and I think it's definitely appropriate to treat that and give them the appropriate support, whether that's a bioidentical hormone specific supplements. But I then like to further understand for that particular person what are their individual causes for that downstream effect and really kind of walking through at that first visit with someone that hierarchy as I just laid out and trying to really illustrate what areas we should focus on for that particular person. And I think it's really interesting to see this play out because if you think about it, our fertility is going to work optimally when the rest of our basic needs of our body are met. Anything that you're working out with improving fertility really comes down to improving overall wellness because if you have improved overall wellness using this hierarchy system, all of those things will filter into improved fertility. So better menstrual cycle, normal menstrual flow, good cervical mucus, normal ovulation, healthy hormones, same thing kind of on the male side. Like if we can really evaluate male lifestyle factors, what things are going on, you know, in their lives as well. Well those are all going to filter down into having healthy sperm and that's what, you know, we really have to look at both sides of those situations when we're looking at fertility for the couple.

Caitlin: 8:11

It's so tempting sometimes to think about how can we make our body do what we want it to do? It's like, wait a minute, let's take a step back. And we are our bodies--mind, body , spirit, as you mentioned earlier. You know , we're all , we're interconnected human beings designed with intention by God. So how can we really invest in that humanity overall and in that process increase and improve our fertility as a part of that, but not as the sole goal, like the only goal there. And I love that you incorporate that into your work as well. You described this downstream upstream kind of model here for us and I think that that's really helpful to think about. Can you give us an example of how this may play out in a woman's fertility journey? Like what may that look like for someone who's listening, I know it's just an example so it's not going to fit into everyone's personal story, but what's an example of what that could look like?

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 9:15

I would say probably one of the most common examples that I've run into, whether it was in my current practice or past practices, would be someone dealing with endometriosis. We know endometriosis is an inflammatory condition, its cells similar to the lining of the uterus located outside of the uterus but can really cause a lot of systemic body effects. So ultimately you do want to have a really great diagnosis. So gold standard have a surgery with a proper surgeon such as a NaPro surgeon . I think there's a lot of aspects that have to go into before surgery and after surgery. So for instance, if a lot of our body's processes are just off from this chronic inflammatory response, maybe we have really poor digestion because any of that inflammation's going to affect our gut. Maybe our immune system is off because of that, those inflammatory markers. So we may want to start working on a lot of lifestyle changes, whether that's with stress management, improvement of sleep, nutritional changes, maybe targeted supplements depending on what the person's needs are prior to the surgery and even working with some other types of providers to help that particular person. So for instance, pelvic physical therapy, chiropractic care, maybe some other nervous system type support. You know, doing that surgery is very important. Having it done in a proper manner so that you have a less chance of recurrence, less chance of needing repeat surgeries after the surgery. Then what's great kind of in this model is that you can then focus on what other areas of that hierarchy still need to be addressed. For instance, focusing on ways to improve healing. Are there certain things that can be incorporated during that healing process, you know, right before and after surgery, right in those first couple weeks. Are there specific modalities like using homeopathy or red light therapy or certain targeted supplements, nutritional changes that might be helpful for that body to really recover? Obviously, you have anesthesia that has to be processed out through the body and then thinking about maybe a month or two after the surgery, what are the next steps in that evaluation? Do we need to kind of re-look at the hormone parameters, the cervical mucus? Are there additional things that are going to change from removing that inflammatory response from the body? And then thinking about this as a process. So obviously as you start working on some of these things in the hierarchy, different elements are going to change. You may almost be peeling back an onion so you might peel the first layer back and realize there's something else going on or something else that we have to maybe adjust our treatment plan for. And I think that's important to understand that it is a really big puzzle and endometriosis surgery and treatment of that inflammatory response is probably one piece of the puzzle. And then having different elements, different types of providers to help attack that inflammation from different facets is really ultimately what, what will be helpful in the overall goal of improved wellness, improved health, improved fertility.

Caitlin: 12:18

Well that's very encouraging to hear because everything that you're describing, I feel like it's both very exciting. There's so much hope and potential there for healing and I can imagine it's also a little bit overwhelming, but it sounds like you're breaking it down and there are different steps. So how would you use this information? What would be first steps as you're looking for those root causes and helping to improve that overall health?

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 12:49

Mm-Hmm, definitely I think doing a really good history for the patient is great. So when someone comes to see me, I have a kind of a longer set of history intake forms that they fill out, but it's very helpful for me to get a sense of where they are at, not just with the basic medical history form , but a lot of these lifestyle factors, right? Nutrition, sleep, toxin exposures, what do they do in their free time? Like some of the questions will include stuff about their social histories, their hobbies, how they approach stress management. And I always like to hear when I start a visit with someone for the first time, what are their overarching goals? So thinking long-term goals, what would they like to see and then what are their specific goals for that visit? Because again, as you mentioned, it can be very complicated or seem hard to figure out where to start. I like to make sure we're spending time at the end of the visit dialoguing about what are our next steps, what are our evaluation options? And I try not to do cookie cutter approaches for people because I think it needs to be individual. I would say the one thing that is probably fairly consistent when I'm working with people is doing some basic lab work for them, blood counts, metabolic panel, looking at nutrient levels, looking at inflammatory markers, metabolic pictures , and gives me a lot of information of where we're starting out at, what areas do we need to address, and that's not too expensive to get done. At the same time we may be running some of these other testing , depending on what the patient needs, and important to have that discussion, what are these labs showing us? Do you need additional evaluation? Should we be running your hormone profile rightnow? How much menstrual cycle charting do you have with the Creighton model? Maybe they haven't charted with the Creighton model yet and they need some charting. So it's great that I can have clients work with you to learn that charting. And some of the other testing that I might chat about with the patients may include some specific functional medicine testing, maybe the GI map looking at the large intestine, maybe some specific testing looking at adrenal cortisol levels. Maybe there's something going on with the immune system and we really have to look at more specialized testing with that. I do like to look at tests that are not super expensive, but will also give us a lot of kind of bang for our money. Right. So one of the tests that I find super helpful that I've been running lately for patients is called the hair tissue mineral analysis. This is basically a picture of what your hair is actually showing over a three month period from a mineral standpoint and metal standpoint. And it's very interesting. It's not technically a diagnostic test, but it will give us an idea of what things are going on with your body based on the body systems. So there's different ratios that are important for glucose management, thyroid health, adrenal health, infection control, and I routinely find a lot of people have those very low or just not in the proper ratios. And so a lot of those things are impacting those things that we see downstream, such as your progesterone and estrogen hormones or maybe their fertility. The last type of testing I've been offering for patients is something called a bioresonance frequency scan. And essentially it's pairing different samples from your body, whether it's hair, nails, saliva, and running those frequencies against known frequencies in nature. So looking at a variety of pathogens, what systems are stressed in the body? Do you have certain sensitivities or things that are low? So do you have certain environmental sensitivities, additives, foods, foods or minerals that are really low in the body? And then it will run a whole list of pathogens that you might be resonating with, including molds, bacteria, viruses, parasites, for instance. The last part of the test will actually look at what remedies or we can think of the word of supplements or tinctures or homeopathy, et cetera , that would be best suited for that particular person. Now, I don't necessarily suggest running all of these tests all at one time. Some patients we might pick or choose, say the labs and one of the other tests, or maybe as we're working along the process peeling those layers back, we find that one of these other tests might be beneficial. And it's been pretty rewarding to kind of help people who've maybe been on a really long fertility journey, not maybe reaching answers or having the results that they wanted, say with ovulation medication or having multiple surgeries and still not maybe achieving pregnancy or reaching their ultimate health that they feel like they want to, what they want to have to have a really optimal overall wellness. I always stress to the patients lastly that, you know, it's hard to say how long the process will take for working on some of these things because we don't know exactly maybe when some of these things with minerals or pathogens happened in our life. Maybe they happened when we were teenagers or in college and it's been going on for many years and we just never uncovered it before. And so I think having that expectation that yes, things can change over time, it's kind of a marathon, not like a sprint journey, and having those proper support networks can be really key in, you know, staying on track and understanding what are the proper expectations for the healing process.

Caitlin: 18:03

Hmm . Dr . Weidert, thank you so much for being on the show and sharing just a bit of how you serve and care for your patients.

Dr. Melissa Weidert: 18:12

Thank you for having me, Caitlin. I really appreciated being here today.

Caitlin: 18:16

Listeners, we here at Woven Well hope to provide you with solid, trusted advice for caring for your body and your fertility in a restorative, holistic manner. We want to honor the body God gave you and we work to help it be as healthy as possible. If you like this episode or the podcast in general, would you take five seconds to write us a five star review? We would love to get 10 new written reviews to help other listeners know what to expect from the show, and it would really mean a lot if you would be one of them. If you'd like to begin diving deeper into your cycles and what your body may be telling you about your reproductive health and hormones, I'd love to invite you to our next introductory session about the Creighton Method. It's online and it's a great next step to take in your fertility journey. The link will be in the show notes as well as the best way to get in touch with Dr. Weidert. As always, thanks so much for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well .