Dr Libby: Understanding & Finding Support For Fertility

In this special series, guest writer Dr Libby Weaver shares her health insights. This week she discusses fertility.

Fertility is one of those topics that often lives quietly in the background – until it doesn’t. For some women, it becomes a loud and urgent concern. For others, it’s a gentle curiosity or a quiet longing. For others still, it’s not about reproduction but offers insight into health in general. However it shows up in your life, it’s a subject that deserves tenderness, understanding and truth. Because the experience of navigating fertility – whether now, later, or never – is deeply personal, and not always easy.

On progesterone

Something I see so often, in clinic and in conversation, is how little women are told about the way their bodies truly work. And when it comes to fertility, there’s one hormone that tends to be left out of the spotlight: progesterone. We often hear about estrogen, but progesterone is the unsung hero of the second part of your menstrual cycle. At ovulation, your body produces progesterone to help prepare your uterus for a possible pregnancy. If conception occurs, it’s progesterone — produced by the ovary that released the now fertilised egg — that helps sustain those early, delicate weeks. Around week 12 of gestation, the placenta takes over progesterone production to support the pregnancy moving forward. If there’s no conception, progesterone drops, and your period arrives.

The catch is, you only make meaningful amounts of progesterone if you ovulate. And in today’s fast-paced, high-pressure world, ovulation can be quietly missed. You might still bleed each month and think everything is “working” as it should, but without ovulation, that monthly bleed isn’t part of a full, healthy cycle – and without ovulation, there’s no progesterone, other than a small amount being made by your adrenal glands. I don’t say this to alarm you. I say this because so many women are never told how vulnerable this part of the cycle is, or how essential it is to their fertility, and more than this – their health.

Progesterone is a powerful natural calming agent. It has anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects, supports fluid balance in the body and plays a role in a healthy metabolism via its beneficial effects on thyroid function. In this way, its influence extends far beyond fertility. When progesterone is present in healthy amounts, it helps create a sense of inner steadiness – a state where a woman can feel calm, centred and emotionally resilient.

One of the biggest saboteurs of ovulation – and of progesterone production – is persistent stress. Not just the big, dramatic stressors, but the constant low-grade type that so many women live with every day. The rushing, the overthinking, the never-ending to-do lists. The unresolved emotions. The people-pleasing. The pursuit of perfection. When your body feels under threat, it’s wired to prioritise survival over reproduction. It will always choose to keep you alive over making a baby. Biochemically, this plays out as your body funnelling resources into making stress hormones like cortisol, instead of progesterone.

And the signs of low progesterone? They can show up as spotting before your period, anxiety that particularly ramps up in the lead up to menstruation, bloating or fluid retention prior to bleeding, tender breasts, sleep disturbances, or a luteal phase (the second part of your cycle after ovulation) that feels unusually short (which may look like a cycle that only lasts 21-23 days, for example). Sometimes, the only clue is a vague sense that something isn’t quite right.

Affects on a cycle

This is why your daily choices matter so much – not because perfection is required, but because they influence your hormones, your eggs, your future fertility. And speaking of eggs, let’s talk about quality. Unlike sperm, which are replenished regularly, we’re born with all the eggs we’ll ever have. And as we get older, not only does the quantity naturally decline, but so too can the quality. Egg quality matters – it influences whether fertilisation happens, whether an embryo develops well, and whether a pregnancy can be sustained.

While age does play a role, there is a lot we can do to support egg quality. Oxidative stress, inflammation, nutrient insufficiencies and deficiencies, as well as poor mitochondrial function (that’s the energy centre of the cell) can all interfere with egg health. The good news is, these are things we can impact. The foods you eat, the way you move your body, how you address stress, the sunlight and sleep you get, and the nutrients you give yourself each day can have a profound impact. Let that empower you.

Fertility-supportive nutrients – well, all of them are vital. Noteworthy of an extra mention are the B vitamins (especially those involved in methylation such as vitamins B12 and B6, and folate), magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, iodine, omega-3 fats and vitamin D. These nutrients support hormone production, egg maturation, ovulation, implantation and thyroid function. And while it’s tempting to reach straight for supplements, I encourage a focus on food first – nature packages these nutrients in forms that your body recognises and responds to with such grace. Supplements are certainly helpful and often necessary, but they’re most effective when layered onto a nourishing foundation.

Creating support

If you’re around 40 and feeling a heightened sense of awareness around fertility, please know that you’re not alone. It’s so common to feel a rising sense of pressure as the years go by. But age is not the only factor that matters. Your biological age – how well your cells are functioning – is shaped by how you live, eat, rest and care for yourself. Supporting your egg quality, your stress response and your ovulation can still make a meaningful difference.

If this is something you’re currently navigating, I gently encourage you to seek the guidance of a qualified natural health practitioner, such as an experienced naturopath or Chinese medicine practitioner — or both. With the right support, it becomes easier to uncover and address the underlying factors that may be impacting your fertility.

The truth is, many women do conceive naturally during this time of life — especially when they’re able to get to the root of what’s driving their fertility challenges or those of a partner. In my clinical experience, there is far too much fear-mongering aimed at women in their 30s and beyond, which can mean that stress then also contributes to the delay in conception. Thoughtful, targeted changes can create powerful ripple effects throughout your whole body and mindset. And if conception does become more difficult, or if you feel it’s the right step for you to start exploring conventional fertility treatments and/or testing, you might find this to be an empowering part of your path.

I want you to know this: your body is not broken. It might just be tired. It might need some loving attention, some replenishment, some space, a rest. Whether or not motherhood is part of your path, supporting your fertility is ultimately about supporting your vitality. Healthy hormones don’t just affect reproduction – they affect your mood, your energy, your clarity and your ability to show up in the world with fullness and joy. You are worthy of that. You deserve to feel at home in your body. And the beautiful thing is, there’s always something you can do today – a small act of nourishment, a moment of stillness, a longer, slower breath – that supports your body’s wisdom.

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