Follow Your Flow

4. What is Fertility Awareness? with Dr Kerry Hampton

In this episode I chat with Dr Kerry Hampton, a leader in the field of the Fertility Awareness Method. Dr Hampton is a natural fertility specialist in clinical practice where she provides counselling for couples who are preparing for pregnancy, having trouble conceiving or wish to use fertility awareness as contraception. As an active researcher, Kerry publishes on fertility awareness in peer review journals. She is also an education leader in her field, being the author of several professional development courses in fertility awareness for health care practitioners.In this episode with talk about - What Fertility Awareness is?Using Cervical Mucus & Basal Body Temperature as a fertile signFertility Awareness Methods are NOT the Rhythm MethodWhy don’t all women know this?Apps are not reliable predictors of ovulationCharting your cycle provides important information regarding your healthThe 28 day medical model is not an accurate representation of women's experienceStress may affect how and when we ovulate in the cycleFULL SHOW NOTESRESOURCESDetails to contact Kerry -Dr Kerry Hampton - https://wisewomanbusiness.comEmail – Kerryhampton@iprimus.com.auEffectiveness of Fertility Awareness for contraception - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17314078/Based on this data the symptom-thermal method (CM & BBT) is 99.6% effective for contraception with perfect use and 98.2% with typical use. Note that robust typical use data needs to come from a large population base and studies on FABM have not had this kind of reach as yet in the current research.RELATED EPISODESEpisode 1 - 10 Period MythsRELATED BLOGSWhat do Stress & Stillness have to do with my menstrual cycle? Ditching hormonal contraception for an app - is this a good idea? Natural Fertility Awareness. Ovulation: who knew it could be so fascinating eBOOKOvulation. An Introduction to Fertility AwarenessPROGRAMSStillness & Cycles ProgramSOCIALSFacebookInstagramPlease note: The information in these podcasts is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, health concern, or illness and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical or health care professional. By engaging with this material and any other material distributed by Follow your Flow, you are acknowledging that you are solely responsible for any decisions you make regarding your health.

3. Demystifying Menopause with Jenny Ellis

Menopause is a stage of life that women do not generally look forward to. In fact, it is more commonly a time they dread given the experiences that many women have as they transition out of their reproductive years. On top if this, as there is with menstruation, there is a stigma around the time of menopause that paints a very grim and bleak picture of what happens to women. We are indoctrinated with a certain kind of attitude that tells you your life is over as a woman. You become invisible, you are not looked upon as desirable, there are often issues with weight gain, the ageing process is inevitable, along with hot flushes, vaginal dryness and painful sex. Women will experience these things to varying degree - some for a short time, others for many years and then some women may not experience any such symptoms.In this episode I speak with complementary health practitioner Jenny Ellis, who opens our eyes to this stage of life where, rather than being at the mercy of everything that may be happening to us, we can bring a greater understanding to the process and all that it represents.Whether you are a menopausal, peri-menopausal or menstruating woman, you will no doubt find enormous value from listening to this episode. The wisdom is far reaching and needs to be shared with all women everywhere.For more details & show notes, see the FYF website - https://www.followyourflow.com.au/podcastPlease note: The information in these podcasts is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, health concern, or illness and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical or health care professional. By engaging with this material and any other material distributed by Follow your Flow, you are acknowledging that you are solely responsible for any decisions you make regarding your health.

2. Self-care & PCOS with Jessica Hallock

In this episode, I'm interviewing Jessica Hallock, a psychotherapist, artist and mother from the Northern Rivers region in NSW. Jess shares intimately shares with us her journey with taking the pill and a PCOS diagnosis all by the time she was 18. In a remarkable series of choices, Jess manages to transform this diagnosis to now living completely PCOS free whilst enjoying the inner riches of her connection to herself as a woman.Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that is not isolated to the ovaries themselves, even though the name may have you believe this. As mentioned above, it is a complex whole body condition that is essentially a lifestyle condition and one that can be largely treated with adjustments to how one is living, eating and caring for ones self. Jess is a living breathing testament to this as she began to realise that self-care at the very least, needed to be the absolute foundation of her life.As Jess explains, the contributing factors to her PCOS diagnosis were her weight and therefore her BMI and potential tendency to insulin resistance. As a teenager, these tendencies are expected to some degree as the body is adjusting to new hormone levels but from Jess' story she was pushing the boundaries here as a consequence of the choices she was making. Adding the pill into the mix, which can worsen PCOS symptoms in some cases and she was well on track for this diagnosis at 18.What I loved about interviewing Jess, was the simplicity with which she shared her story and how she did not identify with her diagnosis. She did not allow this PCOS diagnosis to own her and took the necessary steps to start looking after herself, connecting more deeply and being empowered by this.See website for show notes: https://www.followyourflow.com.au/podcastPlease note: The information in these podcasts is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, health concern, or illness and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical or health care professional. By engaging with this material and any other material distributed by Follow your Flow, you are acknowledging that you are solely responsible for any decisions you make regarding your health.

1. 10 Period Myths

Myths around menstruation run very deep in the veins of society…throughout different cultures where women were banished to a shed whilst menstruating and forbidden to handle food or be in the kitchen for fear of poisoning or cursing their family members of even a whole herd of cows. From generation to generation, and culture to culture we have been passed down beliefs that keep the stigma of menstruation alive, that keeps generations of girls and women feeling the shame and humiliation and even fear of a natural process that is a vital part of our overall health and wellbeing. Our education around the topic of reproductive health has largely been limited to the function of having babies…where we are either wanting to achieve or avoid pregnancy.But there is so much more to menstruation than this. Hence why I have recently written a book on Ovulation – the missing piece that we do not emphasise enough. Check it out over on the FYF website. So what better way to kick off this podcast where we dispel the myths and mis-truths surrounding this all important topic. Now in this podcast, I talk a lot about the contraceptive pill. I completely understand that HBC is necessary at times. My stance on this is for us as women, to be fully informed and understanding of what the pill and other HBC do to our bodies and the mechanism in the way that they work. And from there, to simply make informed choices.See the website for full show note details: https://www.followyourflow.com.au/podcastPlease note: The information in these podcasts is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, health concern, or illness and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical or health care professional. By engaging with this material and any other material distributed by Follow your Flow, you are acknowledging that you are solely responsible for any decisions you make regarding your health.

Introduction to Follow your Flow

Meet Sara Harris, your host for Follow your Flow - your podcast on all things menstruation, women's health and fertility. Sara shares her inspiration for the show and what lays the foundation for her approach to helping women understand their health and wellbeing. This podcast will be lifting the veil on the stigma and taboo around topics such as menstrual health, period pain, pms, fertility and menopause just to name a few. Sara shares how getting to the root cause is so much more than just the physical aspects where we need to really explore the ideals and beliefs we have about being a woman as well as getting to know the quality by which we live.Please note: The information in these podcasts is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, health concern, or illness and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical or health care professional. By engaging with this material and any other material distributed by Follow your Flow, you are acknowledging that you are solely responsible for any decisions you make regarding your health.