BONUS EPISODE: Understanding Your Fertility Health
A branded mini series in partnership with Wild Nutrition, celebrating the launch of The Fertility Disconnect report.
What do over 1,000 women in the UK who have tried to conceive in the past five years actually know about their own fertility? The answer, according to Wild Nutrition's brand new Fertility Disconnect report, might surprise you.
In this first episode of our mini series, I sit down with Gail Madalena, fertility and cycle health specialist and registered nutritional therapist, to unpack the most striking findings from the report and what they mean for anyone on a conception journey right now.
Gail also shares her own story: a decade in fashion PR, a lifestyle that was not serving her body, a husband who was a personal trainer and still found himself in the dark, a PCOS misdiagnosis, a low sperm count diagnosis with no follow-up advice, and over three years of trying before finally conceiving during an IVF cycle. It is a conversation I loved having, blending clinical expertise with real, lived experience.
What we discuss in this episode:
- The Fertility Disconnect report: what it found and why it matters
- Why 41% of women did not know when their fertile window was
- Why 60% of respondents were completely unaware of fertility testing options available to them
- The gap in sex education: preparing for pregnancy vs preventing it
- How the oral contraceptive pill and years of cycle suppression leave women without the basics
- Gail's own journey: PCOS misdiagnosis, her husband's low sperm count, and three years of trying
- The single most impactful thing you can do for your egg or sperm health right now
- What a genuinely fertility-supportive diet looks like in practice
- The Mediterranean diet and the research behind it for fertility outcomes
- Why 76% of people are not meeting their Omega 3 recommendations
- Why 40% of reproductive-age people are low in folate
- The alcohol conversation: what the research says and how to be realistic about it
- Navigating fertility nutrition across different cultural food traditions
- The biggest myth in fertility: that it is mostly a female issue
- The 50% fall in average sperm count since the 1970s
- Fertility as a whole body event: hormones, gut health, liver function, microbiome and more
- What blood tests can actually tell you and why ultrasounds matter more than people think
- How to push back when your GP dismisses you and what private testing can add
- What a free consultation with Wild Nutrition actually looks like
Key stats from The Fertility Disconnect report
- 41% of respondents did not know when their fertile window was
- 16.7% did not know the length of their own cycle
- Only 1 in 5 said they know a lot about egg health
- 60% were completely unaware of fertility testing options available to them
- Up to 10% of Gen Z respondents said they know nothing about fertility
- 76% are not meeting Omega 3 recommendations
- 40% of people in reproductive age are low in folate
- 32% only reduced alcohol once they had actively started trying to conceive
- Around 1 in 5 men are estimated to have a sperm count below WHO guidelines
- Since the 1970s, average sperm count has fallen by around 50%
Links mentioned in this episode
The Fertility Disconnect report by Wild Nutrition:
- Download the report at wildnutrition.com/fertilitypodcast
Free fertility consultation with Wild Nutrition:
- Book your free one-to-one with a nutritional therapist at wildnutrition.com/fertilitypodcast
Exclusive listener offer:
- 50% off Wild Nutrition supplements for 3 months
- A free personal consultation with an expert nutritional therapist
Visit wildnutrition.com/fertilitypodcast to get started. Terms and conditions apply.
About Gail Madalena
Gail Madalena is a fertility and cycle health specialist and registered nutritional therapist with deep expertise in IVF, recurrent miscarriage and unexplained infertility. Her approach combines advanced functional medicine training with her own lived experience of a three-year conception journey. She supports women through conception, pregnancy and postpartum with tailored, evidence-based guidance and works with Wild Nutrition to offer personalised consultations for those trying to conceive.
About this mini series
This is a three-part branded mini series in partnership with Wild Nutrition. The next two episodes cover:
- Episode 2: Weight, Nutrition & the Road to Conception
- Episode 3: Secondary Infertility: The Hidden Struggle
Thank you, as always, for your ear holes. Until next time 💛
