The IVF Project

The IVF Project Improve your chance of conception with Clinical Exercise Physiology, Dietetics and Psychology- scientifically proven strategies that work! Dr Kitic

With the incredible benefits of exercise and eating well, and the desire to get your body baby ready for a healthy pregnancy, there has never been a better time to undertake the right exercise and nutrition program. With personal experience of multiple IVF cycles I understand how stressful and challenging this time can be. Improve your chance of conception (saving expensive cycles of treatment), build your resilience through the roller coaster of assisted reproductive treatments, and get yourself ready for growing a tiny human!

Your gut might just be the missing link in male fertility.Emerging research shows that gut microbes don’t just influence...
09/10/2025

Your gut might just be the missing link in male fertility.

Emerging research shows that gut microbes don’t just influence digestion. They shape hormone balance, inflammation, nutrient absorption, and even s***m quality and DNA integrity.

It’s time we talk about it.

That’s why we’re proud to join the Fertility4Men Virtual Summit (24–25 Oct), a free two-day online event created by David Ireland, founder of

After navigating his own long fertility journey - through multiple rounds of IVF, shifting diagnoses, and endless uncertainty - David set out to give men what he wished he’d had: clarity, structure, and science-backed support.

Now, he’s bringing together leading fertility experts from around the world (including us at The IVF Project) to help men take charge of their health, hormones, and microbiome, one evidence-based step at a time.

🎟️ Register free: https://www.fertility4men.com/fertility4men-live-summit

Because male fertility isn’t just about s***m count - it’s about the ecosystem that supports it. 🌱

🌸 Keeping It Simple: Protecting Your Vaginal Microbiome During IVFMany women preparing for IVF want to do everything pos...
02/10/2025

🌸 Keeping It Simple: Protecting Your Vaginal Microbiome During IVF

Many women preparing for IVF want to do everything possible to support success - from nutrition to hygiene. But one area that often flies under the radar is intimate washing.

A large Danish study of over 1,500 IVF patients (2017–2022) found that:

⚪️Around 1 in 3 women had signs of va**nal dysbiosis (an imbalance in va**nal bacteria).

⚪️Women who used intimate soaps or douches were significantly more likely to have dysbiosis.

⚪️In contrast, those who used water only had the healthiest va**nal microbiota - rich in Lactobacillus, the protective bacteria linked to better IVF outcomes.

🧼 Why this matters:
A balanced va**nal microbiome - dominated by Lactobacillus - is a natural defense system. It helps protect against inflammation and infection, supports endometrial health, and is linked to higher embryo implantation rates.

But soaps and douching can strip away these beneficial bacteria, raising va**nal pH and encouraging less-friendly microbes (like Gardnerella or Streptococcus) to grow.

💧 What to do instead:
✅ Clean the v***a gently with water only - your va**na is self-cleansing.
🚫 Skip douches, soaps (even “pH-balanced” ones), and wipes marketed as “intimate care.”
🩸 If using menstrual products, menstrual cups were associated with a lower rate of dysbiosis in this study - another gentle choice worth considering.

🌿 Bonus tip:
Supporting your gut microbiome - through a fibre-rich diet and prebiotic support - also nurtures your reproductive tract microbiome. The two are connected! A healthy gut supports balanced inflammation, immune function, and microbial cross-talk that benefits the va**nal and uterine environment.

✨ Takeaway:
If you’re preparing for IVF, sometimes less is more.
➡️ Stick to water only for intimate care - no soaps, no douching - and nourish your microbiome from the inside out.

Haahr et al. Vaginal microbiota correlations to gynecological symptoms, intimate hygiene practices, and background parameters of IVF patients: a cross-sectional study. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2025 Sep 1.

🧬 Did you know your uterus only has a short 24-hour window when it’s receptive to an embryo?This “window of implantation...
14/09/2025

🧬 Did you know your uterus only has a short 24-hour window when it’s receptive to an embryo?

This “window of implantation” happens thanks to genetic shifts in the endometrium. When receptive, genes that regulate adhesion, cell growth, and metabolism are switched on opening the door for an embryo to implant.

But even with high-quality blastocysts, the home they’re placed into matters.

✨ Insulin plays a surprisingly big role here. High insulin levels can disrupt uterine receptors and reduce the chance of implantation. Women with insulin resistance have been shown to have lower implantation and live birth rates, even in IVF cycles with good embryos.

So what can we do to support this critical window?

🔑 Three key regulators of insulin:

1. Exercise
Just one session of exercise can boost insulin sensitivity within 24 hours! But the benefits fade in a few days so consistency matters. The right exercise prescription (moderate, vigorous, or intervals) depends on you.

2. Nurture your gut microbes
Your microbiome produces short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which improve insulin control and reduce inflammation. Low diversity = higher insulin resistance. Diet is the strongest modulator: think fibre, prebiotics, and polyphenols to feed your microbes.

3. Sleep
Even one night of poor sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by 20–25%. Chronic disruption raises insulin resistance more than a high-fat diet. Quality, consistent sleep is one of the most underrated fertility tools.

🌱 Fertility isn’t just about the embryo, it’s about creating the most welcoming environment possible. Supporting insulin sensitivity through movement, gut health, and sleep helps you optimise that precious 24-hour window.

👉 How are you supporting your insulin levels? If you are preparing for pregnancy we are here to support you🌱.

☀️ Did you know 80% of our vitamin D comes from sunlight?With shorter days, more time indoors, or living further from th...
10/09/2025

☀️ Did you know 80% of our vitamin D comes from sunlight?

With shorter days, more time indoors, or living further from the equator, it’s no wonder vitamin D deficiency is so common.

And it matters because vitamin D receptors are found in nearly every tissue of the body, including the ovaries, endometrium, fallopian tubes… and even our gut.

✨ Vitamin D + Your Gut Microbiome

Here’s the fascinating part: while vitamin D supports bone, muscle, fertility, and immune health, your gut microbiome helps determine how effectively you can activate and use it.

In turn, vitamin D helps regulate microbial balance, gut barrier integrity, and the production of natural antimicrobials that keep your immune system in check.

🔬 Science highlights:

🌱Females deficient in vitamin D have 26% lower chance of live birth via IVF/ICSI.
🌱In men, vitamin D levels correlate with testosterone, s***m quality, and motility.
🌱67–85% of women with PCOS have low vitamin D.
🌱Among sub-fertile women, up to 91% present with deficiency.

🌿 It’s a two-way street: vitamin D supports your gut, and your gut microbiome supports your vitamin D. Together, they influence fertility, immunity, and whole-body health.

👉 Getting your levels checked before conception (or IVF) is one of the most science-backed steps you can take.

How’s your vitamin D status? Do you have a gut–hormone plan in place to optimise it?

We are here to help you implement the evidenced based steps to optimise your preconception health 💕

✨ Dreaming of parenthood but finding the IVF journey harder than you imagined? You’re not alone. While IVF is a powerful...
18/08/2025

✨ Dreaming of parenthood but finding the IVF journey harder than you imagined? You’re not alone. While IVF is a powerful tool, true success often comes from supporting your body beyond the clinic.

Your gut microbiome plays a surprising role in egg and s***m quality, uterine receptivity, and pregnancy outcomes—and that’s where we come in.

Our online course, Gut Health for Pregnancy and IVF Success (based on our book Create a Fertile Gut), is designed to help you take charge of your fertility from the inside out.

Here’s what you’ll learn:
🧬 Science-backed strategies to strengthen your gut microbiome and its fertility connection.
📒 Step-by-step nutrition and lifestyle guidance to create an optimal environment for conception.
🥚 Practical tools to boost egg and s***m health, support implantation, and improve IVF success rates.

Whether you’re navigating PCOS, endometriosis, diminished ovarian reserve, or unexplained infertility, this course will empower you with knowledge and strategies to build a fertile foundation.

💡 IVF is not just about hope—it’s about preparation. Let’s give your body the best chance possible.

👉 Click the link in bio to enroll in Gut Health for Pregnancy and IVF Success today and start transforming your gut health for your fertility journey.

***mhealth

The microbes in our va**na, cervix and endometrium make up about 9% of the female microbial network🤯.These microbes impa...
04/08/2025

The microbes in our va**na, cervix and endometrium make up about 9% of the female microbial network🤯.

These microbes impact our fertility, reproductive potential and gynaecological health, and your partners microbiome may just be having an impact on the composition of your reproductive microbiome.

A healthy reproductive tract microbiome is associated with an increase in species that promote the secretion of antimicrobial peptides to keep pathogenic bacteria at bay.

In conditions such as bacterial vaginosis or trouble conceiving, levels of these protective antimicrobial peptides are significantly lower.

There is also a two way street between male and female reproductive tracts with microbiome mingling that takes place!

For instance, men with leukocytos***mia (high white blood cell count in semen) may have partners with a higher prevalence of Gardnerella va**nalis. This bacteria is associated with bacterial vaginosis and reduced IVF success.

Seminal microbes entering the va**na may influence resident microbial composition by altering the va**nal pH.

Our reproductive tract community helps shape our immune system and inflammatory response so it's no surprise that alterations in this microbiome are associated with pelvic inflammatory disease, implantation failure and recurrent miscarriage, and gynaecological cancers.

Where gut dysbiosis exists, reproductive tract imbalances are present.

The gut and female reproductive tract are in constant communication 📞with each other via microbial metabolites, your immune system and your circulatory system.

How are you nurturing your gut today to support your reproductive health🌱?

Don't know where to start? Access our "Gut health for IVF & Pregnancy Success" resources now and being to nurture your microbiome for conception.
[in bio]

Valore et al, Infect Immun. 2006
Ata et al, Sci Rep 2019

Address

Suite T36, 477 Boundary St, Spring Hill
Brisbane, QLD
4000

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The IVF Project posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to The IVF Project:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category