If you've been hurt by the healthcare system while trying to access fertility care, you are not alone, and you are not broken. This episode is for anyone who has experienced harm, dismissal, or humiliation from healthcare providers and is now caught in the incredibly difficult position of needing care from a system that has already hurt them.

In this episode, we cover:

What healthcare trauma actually looks like, and why so many fat folks experience it without ever naming it that way

How your nervous system responds to perceived threats (fight, flight, fawn, and freeze) and why your fear is not self-sabotage

The Prepare and Care framework: practical steps to support yourself before and after appointments

The difference between advocacy mode and survival mode, and why it matters

How to find trauma-informed providers, and what to do when that's not possible

Key takeaway: Your fear of being harmed again is a completely rational, protective response. You do not have to be in advocacy mode all the time. Sometimes just getting through the appointment is enough.

Resources & Links

📖 Fat and Fertile

🌿 Work with Nicola: Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap

📱 Instagram: @fatpositivefertility

📧 Email: nicola@nicolasalmon.co.uk

This week's episode is about something I hear constantly and it makes me genuinely angry. You can't access fertility care until you lose weight. But you can't access support to lose weight. And they won't investigate the health condition that might be causing everything in the first place. Round and round you go.

If you're stuck in this loop right now, this one is for you. And the first thing I want you to know is: it is not your fault.

In this episode we cover:

Why the NHS BMI cutoffs for fertility treatment are arbitrary, not evidence based, and not actually NICE guidelines

Why this catch 22 is intentional and how the system has been designed to exclude people in bigger bodies

How to advocate for your health conditions separately from your fertility goals, and why this matters

Practical steps to document refusals, push back, and escalate if you have the capacity to do so

How to take care of your mental and emotional health when you're fighting a system that should be fighting for you

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

This week's episode is a permission slip. If you've been drowning in fertility diet advice and quietly wondering whether you're doing enough, this one is for you.

Spoiler: you probably already are.

In this episode we cover:

Why "eat enough" is the only nutrition advice that actually matters, and why that's harder to hear than it sounds

How the fertility diet industry profits from making us feel like we're always one superfood away from getting pregnant

Why your relationship with food matters far more than any specific foods you're eating

What the social determinants of health tell us about how little individual food choices actually impact fertility

Why the "perfect diet" is rooted in diet culture, capitalism, and colonialism, and what that means for how we think about food

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

This week's episode tackles one of the most common things I hear from folks who come to work with me: "my doctor told me pregnancy in my body is dangerous." And honestly, it makes me angry. Because what you're being told is very often not the full picture.

If you've ever left a fertility appointment feeling more scared than informed, this one is for you.

In this episode we cover:

- Why the research on BMI and pregnancy risks is more divided than your doctor is letting on, and what that actually means for you

- The difference between correlation and causation, and why it matters so much in this conversation

- How statistics are routinely exaggerated and used against fat folks to deny or delay fertility care

- The real numbers behind gestational diabetes and other pregnancy risks, so you can see the full picture

- Practical questions you can ask your provider to push back on fearmongering and get genuinely informed consent

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

Today's In Your Corner question comes from an Instagram follower asking:

"How do I find a fat-friendly fertility clinic? My local clinic won't treat me at my current BMI and made me feel terrible at their open evening. How do I find a clinic that won't shame me? And what questions should I ask before booking to avoid wasting time and money?"

If you've had a similar experience of not being able to access the care you need, this episode is for you. You are not at fault. This is the fault of the clinic and the fertility industry for being so fatphobic and biased against fat people.

In this episode, we cover:

- Where to start looking for fat-friendly clinics (including my clinic recommendation list with over 100 clinics)

- How to ask other fat folks for recommendations through local and online communities

- Essential questions to ask before giving a clinic any money (and why you need answers in writing)

- How to protect yourself emotionally during the search process, including getting your partner involved

- Why you absolutely deserve care that respects you and treats your boundaries appropriately

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Session

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

Fat-Friendly Fertility Clinic List

This is episode four of Fat Fertility 101, and we're getting really practical about what you can actually do to support your fertility that doesn't involve dieting or weight loss. In the last episode, we busted the myth that you need to lose weight to get pregnant. Today I'm sharing evidence-based, weight-neutral approaches that can genuinely support your fertility and overall health.

But first, something really important: diets don't work. If this is new information for you, that's okay. Take your time with it. Wherever you are in your relationship with dieting, I see you.

In this episode, we cover:

- Why diets don't work long term and the reality of intentional weight loss (including medications like Ozempic)

- The three main health-promoting behaviors I focus on with folks: sleep and rest, movement, and food

- How to reframe movement from punishment to care, and why "are you eating enough?" is the only food rule that matters

- Supplements that actually have evidence behind them, including why the folic acid recommendation for fat folks is questionable

- Why you shouldn't have to perform health or weight loss to access fertility care

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

This is episode three of Fat Fertility 101, and today we're diving into my absolute favourite topic: myth-busting. If you're in a bigger body and want to get pregnant, you've probably heard things like "fat people can't get pregnant" or "you need to lose weight first" or "you'll definitely get gestational diabetes."

I'm here to tell you that so much of this is complete bollocks. Today we're going through the most common myths about fat fertility, and I'm sharing what the research actually says. Because you deserve to know the truth, not just what healthcare providers assume based on bias and fatphobia.

In this episode, we cover:

- Why the myth that "fat people struggle to get pregnant" is rooted in anti-fatness, not evidence, and what's actually true

- The research on how long it takes fat folks to conceive (spoiler: it's one to two months longer, and that's about healthcare access, not our bodies)

- Why weight loss research is deeply flawed and what actually matters for fertility (hint: it's behaviours, not the number on the scale)

- The truth about PCOS, weight, and hormones, and why being fat doesn't cause hormonal issues

- What the research really says about pregnancy risks in bigger bodies, including the actual statistics (not the fear-mongering versions)

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode

This is episode two of Fat Fertility 101, and we're getting practical about how to actually find your fertile window. In the last episode, we covered how the menstrual cycle works. Today we're diving into the details of figuring out when your body ovulates so you can time sex or insemination for the best chance of getting pregnant.

For folks with irregular cycles (especially those with PCOS), this can feel like stabbing in the dark. So we're going through practical tools to help you figure this out, even if your cycles are all over the place.

In this episode, we cover:

- How to calculate your fertile window if you have relatively consistent cycles, using your last three cycles to find patterns

- What to do when your cycles are completely irregular and tracking feels impossible

- Three different ovulation tracking methods (BBT, OPKs, and devices like Mira) with honest pros and cons of each

- Why ovulation predictor kits sometimes don't work for folks in bigger bodies and what's actually happening

- Why trusting your body's signals matters more than any pee stick reading

Useful Links:

Download: Fat Person's Guide to Getting Pregnant

Book a Fat Positive Fertility Roadmap Call

Follow me on Instagram

Email me a question for a future episode