Dr. Gabriela Rosa | Beyond IVF: How Pelvic Health Providers Can Help Optimize Fertility Before Treatment
Show Notes:
As pelvic health providers, we often see patients who are trying to conceive, recovering from pregnancy loss, or navigating the emotional weight of infertility. But how much do we really know about what happens before a patient ever walks into an IVF clinic?
In this fascinating conversation, Lynn Schulte sits down with internationally recognized fertility expert Gabriela Rosa, who has spent more than 25 years helping couples with complex infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss. Together they challenge common assumptions about fertility care and explore why so many patients may be missing critical pieces of the puzzle.
This episode isn’t about quick fixes – it’s about asking better questions, looking deeper, and understanding how pelvic health providers can become valuable members of a patient’s fertility team.
Key Takeaways from this Episode:
- Why infertility should be viewed through a whole-body health lens
- Why both partners must be included in fertility conversations
- How preconception preparation impacts fertility outcomes
- The connection between muscle health, insulin sensitivity, and fertility
- Why miscarriage and infertility often share common root contributors
- How practitioners can help clients become proactive participants in their fertility journey
Rather than focusing solely on reproductive organs, Gabriela explains why whole-body health, lifestyle, and individualized investigation deserve a much larger place in fertility care.
Clinical Application
Pelvic health providers are uniquely positioned to support patients long before assisted reproductive technologies are considered. This conversation is a reminder that fertility is influenced by far more than the uterus and ovaries. By recognizing systemic contributors – including metabolic health, inflammation, lifestyle factors, and the importance of involving both partners – we can help patients ask better questions, advocate for more comprehensive care, and become stronger members of their fertility healthcare team.
Whether you regularly treat fertility patients or simply want to better understand the bigger picture behind infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, this conversation will challenge your thinking and leave you with new perspectives to bring into clinical practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the biggest overlooked factors affecting fertility?
Many fertility challenges are influenced by factors beyond reproductive anatomy, including metabolic health, insulin resistance, inflammation, nutrition, environmental exposures, egg quality, sperm quality, and overall cellular health. Optimizing these areas before conception may improve fertility potential.
Why is male fertility an important part of infertility care?
Fertility involves both partners. Sperm contributes half of the embryo’s genetic material, and sperm quality – including DNA fragmentation – can influence fertilization, embryo development, implantation, and miscarriage risk.
Why should pelvic health practitioners understand fertility care?
Pelvic health professionals frequently work with clients before, during, and after pregnancy. Understanding fertility, preconception health, and whole-body contributors allows practitioners to better support clients navigating reproductive challenges and collaborate within a multidisciplinary care team.
About the speaker
Gabriela Rosa, DrPH (Harvard University), is a Harvard-awarded fertility specialist, founder of The Rosa Institute, and author of Fertility Breakthrough: Overcoming Infertility and Recurrent Miscarriage When Other Treatments Have Failed. A pioneer in integrative fertility care, she brings evidence-based reproductive solutions to individuals and couples worldwide.
Creator of The Fertility Challenge and the F.E.R.T.I.L.E. Method®, Gabriela has supported more than 204,000 people across 111 countries. Published research on her program demonstrates a 78.8% live birth rate among patients experiencing infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and failed treatments.
Speaker’s Website: https://fertilitybreakthrough.com/
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Love Dr. Rachael! She is such a gem in the Metro Detroit area. She was my pelvic floor PT during my first pregnancy and postpartum and inspired me to pursue pelvic health certification (coming from an Ortho PT clinic). I’m now working through Holistic Treatment of the Pregnant and Postpartum Body.
Thank you so much for this presentation…I am an osteopath and also trained in SER (love love Upledger!)…the piece about ‘freeze’ related to transgenerational trauma was very informative and a reminder to look further…I have had a client who lost a baby and when I treated her she felt she needed to give birth to this child…and then went back several lives and saw that she had also lost a baby many lives prior! This relieved her of some stress…so every piece of the puzzle counts…keep the nuggets coming, so appreciative! Best, Judith
Great interview, Lynn and Susanne, for pushing us beyond “hands on, hands in”, confirming our need as therapists, for wide, grounded personal presence for our clients to feel safe and then willing to bring forth those physical/emotional/transgenerational, traumas/beliefs that lead to more complete healing and return to function. Appreciate the shout out, and listened delightfully to two of my favorite teachers and mentors. All of this was gold!