Ep 167. Quick Listen: The Keys to Supporting Conception Over the Age of 30

In this episode, Kelly flies solo to discuss essential tips for supporting conception over the age of 30. The episode covers foundational health tips, the importance of liver health, the value of proper supplementation, and the role of proactive testing and self-advocacy. Whether you are in your thirties and trying to conceive or looking for information on fertility, this episode is packed with practical advice and valuable insights. Tune in for a holistic overview of conception support from the perspective of a midwife.

00:00 Introduction to Quick Listen Episode

00:59 Nineties Nostalgia and Conception Relevance

02:56 Foundations for Conception Support

08:24 Importance of Liver Health

10:28 Proactive Measures and Professional Support

12:05 Medical Self-Advocacy During Pregnancy

18:36 Closing Thoughts and Next Episode Tease

Links to all the extra good stuff:

Holistic Fertility Handbook: HERE
PN Supplement Freebie: HERE
Tracking Your Cycle: HERE
Drainage and Detox Pathways Blog: HERE
Advanced Maternal Age Research: HERE
Childbirth Education Wait List: HERE
Join our email community: HERE
Submit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to At Home with Kelly and Tiffany, where naturally minded women gather together as we pursue simplicity and confidence in health alternatives, so we can show up better in our busy lives and feel more at home in our bodies. Join your favorite home birth midwife duo for conversation, candor, and community. Hey ladies, this is another quick listen of the at-home with Kelly and Tiffany podcast. I am Kelly. I am flying solo this week for this episode. That's what we do in our little quick lessons. We take our turns. And our hope in these quick episodes is for you to just kind of get a taste of some good information, set your path, right, as you move forward and sort of reaching more information, doing research on your own, that kind of good stuff for you. But. I was just laughing about like what this really should be. And it would really confuse Tiffany because she probably won't listen to this episode is that you can also vote. Which one of us should just be a solo act at some point, right? So if you've never listened to this. This podcast before there's usually two of us, my fellow midwife, Tiffany here. I am a for sure, a duo through and through with her. But just kind of thinking about like, who is the Justin Timberlake? It's going to break out of the Insync group. On that note, on that really important note, right? I was team JC when I was in high school, I was like, dude, he's. He's my dude. I'm sure he went back and forth at some point. But for sure was never team guy with the braids and goggles, Chris. Yep. Never never understood that situation. I mean, those were like such good times. You would have, maybe it's not that you would never see that now, but it was just a, those were just like very innocent times. If you do not know what I am talking about, please do yourself a favor. Go onto Google. Google, Chris. Kurt. Yeah. Kirk, Kirk, Patrick, Chris Kirkpatrick. In sync. Plus goggles. It is an entire vibe. You will not be sad looking at pictures of him from the nineties. Like the braids that he had going on. I think he had braces for awhile. It was a stellar. So, Actually, you know, what's so good is that as I was going down that memory lane real quick. That little tangent. Kind of brought up this entire point. It's that. If you understand what I'm talking about about in-sync and about these braids and these goggles. Without actually Googling it because maybe you lived it yourself watching it all unfold before your eyes. This episode is probably for you. Those of us 30 years and older, I'm actually almost in the neck next, like a decade bracket as of later this year. So I feel like I just need to say that out loud to start getting used to it, but. Anyway enough of that important information for real, we are chatting about some keys to supporting your conception over the age of 30. You will not be surprised if you've listened to us for any length of time. But the foundations for conception support will be the same at any age, in any season of life. Okay. So your health status and the way you treat your body is infinitely more important than how old you are. I want you to, you can repeat that again, go back, replay it as many times as you need to. It absolutely is infinitely more, more important. With that being said, though, there are like some nuances here, right? Particularly with a couple pieces of health in our thirties and beyond as well as pregnancy itself. In thirties and beyond that are worth like, kind of stopping to think about. And from our midwifery perspective to be proactive about right. So if you are having sex. You should always be prepared for conception. Because the only way, obviously to ensure that like you're never going to get pregnant is basically to abstain, to not have sex. And so we should always be in this space if we are menstruating in like some kind of cyclical nature of any kind, really basically just not in menopause. We should basically be prepared for that because that's what our body really wants to do every single month. The thing that happens is some things can get out of whack. Hormones can get out of whack, all of that stuff. And so we just want to make sure that we set the best foundation for you. No matter what age you are, but in particular, as we talk about the thirties today, So I don't want to get too in depth on topics that we've covered elsewhere, because this is a quick listen, right? But tracking your cycle. Understanding when you're ovulating things around your ovulation peaking up towards what happens after you ovulate, how you are feeling recognizing if things are off with your cycle. So that means you get to become an expert in what is actually really normal in periods and recognizing, Hey, is there something that's, I'm experiencing? That's really common for me. Like this is just par for the course, since I was 16. Right. But may actually not be normal becoming aware of those things. Right. Connecting with what an actual normal cycle should or could look like. Right. Supporting your body with proper supplementation, nourishing foods, all of that good stuff. This is like the first layer foundational things. Right? I would say that in your thirties, in particular, if you are giving yourself a foundation of really like gut happy, healthy foods real foods, blood sugar, stabilizing foods, all of that hydrating yourself well, and really taking your sub your supplements consistently. You're going to be pretty well set. Some supplements that we usually consider and recommend at this point would be a prenatal. If you're at any point in, you know, planning to conceive. Prenatals wonderful. Methylated folate, methylated B complex, vitamin D three. I love it with K2 because that really helps. The absorption of it. A quality probiotic of some kind, you can kind of mix and match as you finish up each bottle and kind of hop to a new one for new strains, magnesium, because that is like our little miracle mineral there. And Omega's, you can sprinkle like beef liver in there. You can take some trace minerals, all that good stuff you would be so very set. So you can find the link in our show notes to our prenatal supplement freebie for more information on that. And then there's sort of a sidebar here too. We go really in depth on some of these pieces. In a resource we have in our shop called the holistic fertility handbook. I'm going to link that in the show notes as well, because it'll probably come up again as we're chatting in this episode. But you may, so we have these like foundations of food, nourishment, hydration, right? You may also want to consider some lab testing before pregnancy. Particularly for some issues that actually do come up, technically research wise, right? As more common for women over 30. So you may not know this, but these types of things include like your risk kind of goes up for these things in pregnancy, after 30 gestational diabetes, hypertension, liver issues like coli, stasis, but honestly all of these things can kind of be traced back in some way, shape or form to liver health. So we're going to talk about that in a minute. Those kinds of things can increase in your thirties. So the earlier that you can see a pattern in your body's functioning, the better chance we have to support it and potentially right. An entirely different story with your conception and pregnancy and postpartum. All of it. I did actually another quick lesson, all about preconception testing. And that's somewhat recent. It's one of the more recent ones. And that goes in depth on what we really recommend for those types of tests. But you should have a good pulse on what your body is up to, not just for your own, like just general knowledge, but for your fertility picture as a whole. Again, we are midwives. So we are always looking for spaces to be as proactive as possible. And this is a huge place because if there are any flags with your blood sugar stabilization or your liver or kidney function, we would want to know as quickly as possible. So we can really dial down some of those pieces. And help encourage not only a healthy fertility picture, but a healthy pregnancy and healthy birth and a healthy, healthy, postpartum. Right? So we're talking about keys to conception, but at the same time, that leads to the next season that leads to the next season. That leads to the next season. Right? So I did mention liver health, right? I will always be here for just like a healthy liver lifestyle. I love talking about liver health. I have loved kind of deep diving on it for myself in particular. But I think if you were in your thirties and wanting to conceive that it is quite possibly, I, I mean, I don't think this is really like, Hot take necessarily, but I think this is the most untapped resource is supporting your liver health, getting comfortable with your drainage and detox pathways and supporting them. So I'm going to link a blog post that we did on this, in the show notes. And it goes really in-depth on some of these things and some of these rhythms that I'm gonna kind of gloss over here. But if you can start doing things like lymphatic massage, dry brushing, sweating consistently, whether that's with like a detox bath or a sauna or working out, or just. If you're somewhere. He lives somewhere. That's hot being hot. Right outside. So sweating consistently pooping daily, moving your body gently every day. Staying well hydrated. Utilizing herbal infusions, like dandelion, especially as great for liver health, dandelion and nettles is a great kind of mixture there. You will be sitting pretty. If you are supporting your liver at this point, you will be sitting pretty because those things that I spoke about. The gestational diabetes, hypertension, other kinds of liver, things that can pop up, we can point all of that back to what is going on with the liver. Of course, it's much more nuanced than that, but as we talk about some of these keys leaning into a healthy liver would be one of the main ones that I would recommend. That. So that includes some of those things that I talked about. And in that blog post, it also goes into the fact that like, Hey, where can I decrease some of this burden that I'm putting on my body? Where can I get rid of endocrine disorders? Where can I kind of clean up my makeup? Where can I. Shift what kind of products I'm using on my body or around my body and my home, things like that, that may be kind of messing up. Some of these hormones are just some of this burden that my liver is dealing with right now. Right. So huge untapped resource there. And any time you're looking at preconception or any kind of like just general conscious conception idea, you also have the ability and I want to encourage you in this to bring other providers and support people to kind of support your body. If you notice it's struggling with one thing or another, or if you're like, Hey, I want to be like the Midwest here and just be proactive about something. So if you're noticing something that's not quite right with like your pelvic floor or your spine or your pelvis or the fascia. And your body or the drainage that's happening in your lymph system. Right? All of that, you can bring people in to kind of support that. As soon as you recognize there is an issue, or as soon as you recognize, Hey, this is something that like, I really. It feel to be important. And I want to honor that. Right. So chiropractic care massage, pelvic floor therapists, even if you have never had a baby pelvic floor therapists are amazing resources, as well as acupuncturists, all different types of options that people that you can bring to your care team, whether you're having issues or not. Right. And they're great to have on your team as you are looking to conceive and trying to conceive as well as throughout pregnancy can impact your birth experience can impact your postpartum recovery. All of that. Super good. Good stuff. And then I'm going to jump over conception for a second and mentioned pregnancy here now, because we kind of talked about this. And I mentioned in the fertility handbook. A little bit earlier. I know that in there, there's a ton of medical self-advocacy as well. This is something you're going to have to get really comfortable with. If you are looking to conceive in your thirties. So understanding that you were always, I mean, no matter what, in any health situation, right. But this is always true. But incredibly important as you navigate pregnancy in your thirties, especially the second half of your thirties. And we'll kind of talk about the nuance there. But understanding that you're always going to be the final decision maker, incredibly important. Can feel kind of scary if you haven't really lived your life that way, medically speaking. But it is incredibly powerful as well. So as we discuss some of the things that pop up, because women are over 35 in particular, Which like another sidebar. I won't talk about it in St. Louis time, but sidebar. This 35 number it's honestly, in like the medical model, it seems like it's sort of this magic time bomb that like you're blowing your 35th. Birthday candles out of your cake and all of a sudden, right? You just so old in the eyes of the medical model at 35 and beyond in your pregnancy, depending on your provider. You may be treated with like little kid gloves, like, oh my little, I guess maybe old lady gloves. Like, oh, you're so breakable. Everything could just fall apart any second. Right? And so it's important for you to understand, as you're looking into conceiving, what that piece may look like and what kind of provider you would like to work with. So some are truly providers that will look at you. Like you are actually that ticking time bomb, right? These are the ones who are going to assume. And potentially force on you or at least coerce very strongly. The idea of like genetic screening or that you'll need a ton of ultrasounds because you're truly just an old, like ball of scary pregnant lady. Right. But it does not have to be like that. And as you are considering these options in your thirties we, we just always harp on how important your care providers. Philosophy is what your personal philosophy is in finding a provider who will match that with you. Right. So it does not have to actually be like that. Understanding your risks, understanding your options, understanding that you should move forward. Absolutely. With any kind of testing because you want more information, not because someone's making you feel fear like fearful, right? So I included some of the research below on this, in particular, this idea of being quote advanced maternal age at 35 and above just so you can see it, these risks, it's not like, it's not this ticking time bomb, right? It does not explode at 35. And only you get to be the one who looks at sort of the statistics and the research and. Only you get to balance like the risks and the benefits of every single thing, but it's really helpful to have a grid for why these things would be offered to you. If you're in that position or even potentially more forcefully or like coercively recommended. But to come back to the fact that only you can actually decide what you want to take on, that looks a million different ways, right? So we personally in our midwifery practice we'll have clients for sure. Over 30. I mean, honestly, we've had clients over 40. Who want more information? They're really interested in that. And they want all of the extra genetic screening. They want that potentially as much like carrier screening before they get pregnant. They want to know every little bit of information, right. They are concerned with their risk status due to their age, and they want extra surveillance on their baby in terms of like more ultrasounds and things like that. And that's all well and good when it is truly what they actually want. Right where it's not coming forcefully from us. If there's no other risk factors where they have done their research and they see the pros, the cons, the benefits, the risks, the alternatives, all of it, and say, yes, that is what I want. But we also, I would S pretty safely say we have many more who are in that age range, who don't lean towards that route. And they continue to go on with their pregnancy. Is. Healthy as they can, they go into conception as healthy as they can. Right. And feel a lot of peace in doing so. And I say that to remind you that there's no route. That is right, right. There's no one that's like more the morally correct. One. Except for the one that you choose for yourself, for you and your baby with your eyes wide open. Right. And so I can look very different for different people, right? And what's been cool to watch, kind of come to fruition over these ideas of healthy hormones and genetic screening and advanced maternal age and ultrasound options and testing options. All of that, the many little nuanced pieces that come into. Okay, I'm set to conceive. I've done it. And now, now what? Right. Has been through our childbirth education course. We just get to deep dive on so many topics. What I just mentioned and like, just a ridiculous amount more. It's coming out soon. We just don't have a, like a firm date for that yet. At the time that I recorded this, but get on the wait list. So you have access to all the updates, early access, all of that good stuff. I wanted to throw that in there because it's so interrelated, the information that we share in there and the links that we give and just. The handouts and all of that stuff is just really rich and nuanced and important for women to understand. No matter what kind of care provider they have. So if you are somebody who is 30 or over and is trying to conceive, there are a few extra Resources in our show notes for you, including links to a few other podcasts that we have done in about tracking your cycle and things like that in there for you to get a really good foundation. And I would absolutely recommend if you are struggling with these things, hopping back, remembering. Okay. Liver support. Yes. Let's get some testing done. See, what's going on? Let me nourish myself. Well, let me stabilize my blood sugar. Let me keep my gut healthy. Those pieces. That is enough work for now, right? And when we work on those things that are the foundational pieces. We absolutely start to see the fruit blossom from that. And so we can hop onto, Hey, let me throw a supplement on that or a medication on that or something. That can potentially give us the outcome that we're desiring. But when we start from that lower level, really foundational piece, we see so much more vitality and so much more healing happening, which is. Really fun to see him. So ho hopefully this gives you like a bit of food for thought, right? We will catch you here next week. For another birth story episode, our favorites, like it is. the richest time that we get to spend chatting with each other. Going over some of these births so far. This next one next week is a really powerful one that left us. Really sitting kind of in Oz, the story of this family played out not only at the birth itself, but like over the coming months after the birth, it's really intense and beautiful and hard and all of the things. So it's just going to forever hold a spot in our hearts for. A million meaningful reasons. So you will have to turn it, tune in to hear that one. You'll probably laugh. You probably cry. I know we will. For sure. So, check out the show link or the show notes for all of those extra links for you to hop off and do more research and again, gain more information. And that is that. Bye ladies.