A Holistic Approach To Conception

Introduction and Hope for Fertility 0:00

Welcome back to The Super Fertility Summit. I'm so excited to be here with you for the interview that we are about to have with Dr. Ann Shippy She is an internationally respected physician, researcher, author, and educator, and she creates extraordinary wellness for her patients by using cutting edge science to find and treat root causes, not just symptoms of illness. Board certified in internal medicine and a certified functional Medicine. Dr. Ann Shippy You have worked for a decade as an IBM engineer, and since then you have become known as the “doctor’s doctor who solves medical problems with brilliance and compassion.” Welcome, Dr. Shippy.

It's so incredible to have you here today. Oh, I'm so excited to be here with you. We are going to have an incredible discussion utilizing your expertise in mold and so many other aspects of root cause illness and getting at the root causes so that we can have more vibrant health, including more vibrant fertility cell mamas, dadas, humans of all genders. You're in for a treat getting to learn from Dr. Ann Shippy Dr. Shippy. One of the things that I love to do is to start from the end. So in thinking about at the end of this conversation, what's the one thing that you hope that the people listening to our voices today will be able to take away from the conversation?

I love that question. I think it's all about hope. And, I think especially in this topic, people really start to feel hopeless and that, you know, it just might not happen for them that either they, they might not get pregnant, they might not have this incredible gift of having a child or, or a healthy child. You know, there's, you know, we're seeing so much childhood illness now. So, I think a lot of people are, you know, their their family and their friends are having children with pretty significant health issues.

you know, starting very early in their life. So there's a there's a lot of fear around. There's a lot of hopelessness. And I really want to I want to leave, the, the listeners with the hope that it is possible for them to have a healthy pregnancy and have healthy babies. That's right. I think that I think that that is so important because without hope, it's hard to keep going after what it is that we want for ourselves. And it's hard to be the fullest expression of of who who we are and who were meant to be in this life.

And I always say that hope and belief are maybe not sufficient conditions for success when it comes to having your super baby, but they are necessary conditions because without them, we can have all of the best scientific and evidence based tools. But we're kind of just going through the motions because we it's so hard to believe that it's possible. And nobody would blame anyone

Dr. Shippy's Fertility Journey 3:43

for having lost hope or having a hard time believing after what many of the people listening to have been through. I mean, we we have seen people come to the Primemester Protocol and FPI with having experienced 17 miscarriages, having been considered infertile for up to two decades. I mean, diminished ovarian reserve at 30. These are really, really, really hard circumstances. Many rounds of failed IVF turned away from many places and being told the only option is an egg donor, right? So nobody, nobody would blame you under those circumstance.

Lenses for for starting to lose hope. And yet we have to hold on to our hope so that we can keep going. And it's like, yeah, you know, like candle light or like, yeah, holding that laid out, you know. From what you and I both have experienced, we know that. Yeah. Especially when you know that really strong desire is there. You can just push through it when your body gets to the point where it's not gonna know, like no, I'm not, I can't. I think about infertility now is just and looking back to my own situation, it was just my body saying, no, it's not.

Your body's not ready. There's there's some missing pieces of what you need to figure out so that you can be healthy during the pregnancy and so that the baby can be healthy and so I think what you and I really love doing is. It's figuring out what is it, yeah, that that person really needs or it's been overlooked. Like what is it. From the standpoint of then getting that green. Light. Yeah. Everybody gets sent. In. And you know, I see people in their 40s that have you know, had horrible issues with, infertility, being able to have their, you know, healthy babies.

And at a time when you're, you're, you're told like, basically, if you haven't been able to get pregnant before, then you shouldn't really expect much of anything from your body, because at this point it's not going to work. Right. And, Dr. Shippy, you've had your own experiences with fertility challenges. Would you would you mind sharing a little bit about your experience and what really made a big difference for you? So I was really at a crossroads in my life because I was already, in my 30s and, and had tried a whole bunch of things to get pregnant and I had done, you know, the Clomid and the IUD and nothing was working, but I, I had woken up one morning and I had this drive like, I just it wasn't a, decision.

It was a compulsion. It's like, I need to go to medical school. And I need to do help people in a different way than what I've been. Health. And so I was going into medical school at 32. And, you know, that's a seven year commitment. so I said it, right. and I so I, I didn't know if I was going to get to have a child because I was my I was already had explored it quite a bit. And then suddenly, it's second. Year of medical school, you know, stress is pretty high. I got pregnant. That's pretty. Incredible. Yeah.

I think. What had. Happened is I, because of medical school being so demanding, I had just gotten lasered in on, you know, super clean diet and taking my supplements and getting exercise and meditating. And all the things. So somehow, like, just instinctively, to do what I needed to do to be able to keep up with the 22 year old, I, I got my body ready to be pregnant. little did I know, like what third year was going to be like. Having a new baby. Where you're up every third or fourth? My hospital?

Yeah. But I was able to do that, too, and I. And breastfeed the whole time. That's incredible. Yeah. So. But then during residency, you know, four years later, I. I wanted to get pregnant again, and, and, you know, went to an infertility specialist because I wasn't getting pregnant. He looked at all my labs, and he was like, And you just better go to IVF. There's no shot of you getting pregnant at 38. And, so I went through all the IVF training. I was it's in the middle of a an ICU rotation on call every third night kind of thing.

But I my drive to have the second, like I still wanted my son to have a sibling like he was asking for one and I just couldn't imagine. Him going through. Life without a sibling because my my. Sisters are just so important to me, right? Yeah, yeah. So, Somehow I got like, against all odds. So this taught me that the labs that we have to, to really check for this missed some things. Right. So I just took had these lads I'm waiting to for my period to start. So I can go on the pill to, you know, settle the eggs down like you do with IVF. And.

I wasn't. Getting my period. So I'm just thinking, oh, it's the stress, all of that. But I, I did a. Pregnancy test, I went out and told my husband. Like, I, you know, this is part of things that I don't believe you. I test and yeah, sure enough. So, again, I can't explain that because it doesn't make sense

Root-Cause Fertility Testing and Male Factor Health 9:39

with the labs and and the stress, because what I see with patients is that it really makes a. Difference to. To meditate, that maybe there is something in my being that just having a plan like that, I was taking action, settled my subconscious down, settled my emotions down, and maybe clicked on my HPA. Just better so that. I had a healthy egg and, you know, I'm and healthy pregnancy once again, like very healthy pregnancy, healthy baby and thank goodness. Yeah. And what I love with my patients is, a lot of times, that we just look at the patient, we look at them, you know, are your nutrient stores there?

I love I mean. You know, my background in engineering is. Yeah. I love data. but then also really love to follow my intuition on what the patient needs. But I love looking at the data and seeing where the nutrient levels are. What's going on with environmental toxin load? What's, going on with the microbiome? The details of the hormones, like there's so many clues that we can get about, what, what the body really needs. And then also working with men, asana, creating the role that men can play. So the same things that I do with the women, I do with the men and help them to get a better sperm count to their hormones to be better, their blood sugars to be better.

There's so many epigenetic changes that get passed down, and so the better we can get all of those things, more fertile both patients get. And in fact, sometimes when patients are in in their 30s and 40s, and we're working on other things and they've had a history of infertility, I have to tell them, you know, you're in. The birth control that you're using, but things like the pull out method or the method, you might get so fertile that. Those things don't work because I've had a number of. People, that's right.

Expecting them. Yeah. Exactly. You know, Doctor Terry Walsh said the same. Thing. in their in their clinic, one of their clinical trials that as they were resolving symptoms of M.S multiple sclerosis and they there were people getting pregnant who in the past hadn't been able to get pregnant. And thankfully for them, it was welcome. But they had to start including in their consent form, that you may become more fertile. As a result, your partner may become more fertile as a result of these changes.

So beware, I did not think about putting that on a consent form. I'm asking that today. Yeah, yeah, it's so cool, so incredible. Well, and in that sense too. Right. Because the a lot of these illnesses or when the immune system is out of balance. So with the community being confused and you know, their immune system attacking yourself with other kinds of things, it's like just too much inflammation in the body. So it makes sense with these dysregulation that the immune system, when you find the the right diet, the right supplements, the detox programs, all those things that get those into better balance, then the body's like, oh, okay.

It's a safe. Place. When there's so much inflammation or immune confusion, the body's like, I don't know how this is going to be for babies, that we're not going to make one. I love that. And I like the way you put that immune confusion, which is basically what's happening with a hyper vigilant immune system and autoimmunity. I love that so much. Doctor Sippy what do you say to the women, men, humans of all genders who are listening to us right now and they feel like they know about eating clean and taking supplements and reducing toxic load and cleaning up their home care and skincare products and and all the things.

And they feel like they're doing all the meditating and trying their best to manage stress. Although in some ways that's like this kind of mystery black box for people. I mean, that's something that we dive into in such tremendous detail in the Prime Minister protocol, because it's one of those really overlooked places in the fertility world. And then even when there's, for lack of a better term, almost like lip service given to stress reduction, it's like, okay, great. But how this is the life I live.

These are my circumstances. This is my professional world that I operate in. Many of our mamas are really high, high driving, high achieving overachievers in really intense professional environment. So what do you what do you. Yeah, I wish I was right. Yes. Yeah. I mean, yeah, having babies in my 30s in med school and residency like you and me. Oh, neither one. I've got any any formula. I like. I get rid of them everywhere. Yes, exactly. There's a little drive going on there. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think the thing is that drive is good, right?

We don't want that drive to change because it, it also, you know, really helps us to do what's needed for our children when we have them. We're it's those of us who can make. Yeah night with the sick child or, you know, try to get. To the soccer games like you do when even when you're exhausted. Right. And just you just do it. so. I, I want to honor. That. And then the thing that's really been life changing for me is to do. I've been a long term meditator. It just always resonated with me knowing that I'm never going to feel like I've done a meditation.

Perfectly doing it, just just doing it makes a huge difference. And then I love, I left neurofeedback and now it's so available because of, products like the muse. it's a little handheld device that's 3 or $400. that actually helps to get you into a more relaxed brain state. It's amazing. Like what I when I used it, it took me to, like, totally high data, no relaxation to the alpha brain state. Where about the theta? Where things are are, you know, the world feels safe again like. Cuz I'm. I also love a, a newer device that's come out called sensei AC and.

I feel so. Good. my. God I, I agree what it do and do you have you tried the Apollo as well. Yeah. That's awesome. So we have. All these tools and our tools. and I think it's definitely worthwhile.

Mold Exposure, Mycotoxins, and Home Testing 16:48

trying. Them until you find one that you really. Love. the other thing, You know, sometimes we really just need data like, we need even if you think you've done everything that you can possibly do. I just love to test. So I had a patient yesterday who, when we did her toxin load, she had super, super high glyphosate, very high, BPA levels. Yeah. And she, she already had a pretty clean diet. She already took glute iron and binders and liver support and all the things. Right. So we're just baffled, like, where did this come from?

And then click. She realized that almost every day for lunch she was picking up it's organic soup. But hot soup in the container. Yes, I think of that all the time. I can and I love the data. I'm like. Okay, we gotta figure this out. It's here. Yeah. Even though you think that you've got it all. Yeah. It just hadn't dawn on her that that could be enough. So she stopped doing that and we just got the test back yesterday. And her glyphosate and her BPA even know that soup was supposed to be organic were almost negligible.

Wow. Just that one tweak. That's really incredible. And you do. And you don't know these things without testing. I mean, we see people when you when we we look at tests and it's shocking how much mold people have in their systems. And they're like, where, how? And there are so many foods that we're eating every day that have a high mold content and including foods that are really healthy. You know, certain types of fruits, especially frozen fruit. Would you talk a little bit about mold doctor shipping?

So I see the big. So the problem with mold are the toxins that it makes for people that aren't familiar with, mold toxicity. They're called mycotoxins. And we know we have a huge problem in the food supply with and with mycotoxins. so often nuts and grains are highly affected. I went spoke with the, person who does the quality control for Mars, food company, which they're actually a very they are pretty high quality. company. They have very strict standards for, the products that they bring in. And she said it's, you know, that year it's been pretty much impossible to get corn that didn't, that they didn't have to reject because of the high contested metals in it.

So, so I think that's why a lot of people really do better on a grain free diet when they're. Yes, I. See. Yes. so. Just get all the wheat, barley, rice, rye, spelt commute. yeah. And and corn. Also, I think it, it's really important because a lot of gluten free, products will have corn in them. But the other thing is that a lot of grain free products are based on nuts. So if nuts also have a high, you tend toward a high, mold load. And or people have, like the anti nut gene or genetic sensitivity to nuts, then that can be an issue as well.

So you have to I know it can feel a little bit hard to look at it in such a nuanced way, but but you kind of want to and need to. So what I find for patients is that a lot of times, doing the grain free with just small amounts of nuts, and then just get them as fresh as you can and then keep them in the freezer, they're less likely to if they have a trace amounts mold on them, they're less likely to rancid fine. Get more mold growth on them. The bigger issue that I see is a lot of people don't realize that they actually have a mold, mycotoxins exposure in their environment.

So that these mycotoxins are so small that you can actually breathe them in the lungs. Don't stop. They just go right in. So and this is kind of something that I actually had a conversation with this with the couple that's working, they're doing. They're planning ahead thankfully like their company I love. That that says. Before they just got married, but they're you know, one 4135 and they're yeah, they're, they're. Taking their time. They're working with me and, and really getting their bodies ready.

so we had that conversation about should we check for mycotoxins levels because, you know, when we went through the history of their home, they did have a little water leak that may or may not have been, fixed properly. A lot of people don't realize that you got to get the drywall out when it's wet. It if it's not dried within 24 hours, there's probably going to be some degree of mold behind the wall that you can't see. So, I think, you know, for people that have the resources to test for them, I confirm, and they're thinking about having a baby there.

a couple companies that I really like, real time laboratory. And there's, there's we have a mold hab. On site that has all kinds of information. So I know we just have a snippet here. So, yes. Pmdd, forward slash mold, I think, that people can go and get a bunch of information on what tests they like to test outside of the body, what symptoms could be causing it. I tell you, some of the most heartbreaking intakes that I've ever done were with, I'm a little emotional this morning. Sorry. Yeah. So now we don't be sorry.

are with moms that, had had children die of cancer or, At birth defects that when we went back through the history on what was going on around the time that they got pregnant, there were water leaks and, know. So, you know, unfortunately, a lot of times the water leaks aren't visible. It's just, you know. Some drips, like what happened to me. a number of years ago, you know, there was a flashing on the chimney where when it would rain a certain direction, water would come in, but not enough to get the paint wet like through the paint.

So it took a, it basically the whole family getting sick so that. and unfortunately my, my youngest son had the brunt of it because it was down the wall behind his bed and underneath the carpet. you know. When he was eight. Oh, that's so I just. Like it's mold. It's hard because it's expensive. It disrupts everything with him getting it fixed. But if you have the resources to exploring ahead and again the there are two testing companies for the house that I really like. And by omics and the, the dust test.

The duck. two really good ones. You can do it yourself. Just get as much dust as you can. The air testing for mold doesn't work. It misses most problems because it's looking for mold spores and a lot of the really bad molds or there, spores are big, so they're not floating around in the air. So you get. An air test and you think, oh. I'm fine. There's rarely that they show up in the dust because they settle in the lower the floorboards. The, ceiling fans, the door jambs just get as much dust as you can and send it in.

And then if you have a problem, that's another thing. Don't fix it yourself. Right? Like these toxins are used for biological warfare. So don't handle them yourself. And if you find a company to come help you and they're not wearing hazmat suit. Kinds of things and. Really protecting themselves, they don't get it. They're not going to be careful enough for you. And especially if you're thinking about getting pregnant, you're going to have a baby in the in the house. You don't want the impacts for that child because they have such a high respiratory rate.

Their detox systems aren't developed yet. So it's one of the greatest gifts that you can give your child I think to bring them into a healthy environment. A healthy body in their. I was just going to say a healthy environment inside and out. And, you know, I think it does take it does take some work and it is effortful. It's not like, oh, can't we just have sex and get pregnant? But I, I think about how much time we spend in general as a society and planning for our wedding day or even putting the nursery together.

But you why wouldn't you put at least that amount of time and more into preparing yourself so that you give yourself the best odds of your best fertility, and you give your super baby the best odds of having a beautiful, healthy life. So, Doctor Sippy, if there was just one thing that you could advise somebody to do or, guide someone toward in service of having their healthiest fertility

Mindset, Self-Talk, and Building Resilient Super Babies 26:38

and their healthiest future super baby, what would that one thing be if they. I know it's hard to pick one thing, but if they could only do one thing, what would that one thing be? Okay, I'm going to sound so woo. Here that because today, in spite of my side of me, that's like, you know, get the data, check the check the microbiome, check your mitochondria, check your inflammation. Like there's that hardcore side. but when it. Really. Boils down to it. You know, it's now I got a 22 year old and a 20.

Six year old. nothing quite prepared me for the mirror that they showed me. all the teachings that I learned from them, So precious. So I think I think it would be start to notice your inner conversations. if you have any negativity with yourself, negativity with your partner, that that's the ethos, that's the environment that this child is going to be brought into. And this baby deserves the most loving. They're, you know, they're just a bright light soul. There's they're just needs love and nurturing.

Right. Yeah. And I think, you know, we we we pick up those conversations from our parents. Like my, my mom and I were having. Some of these conversations. She's 93 now. And in the last few days we've been spending a lot of time together. And, you know, she has she's a critic, a cynic, and in so many ways. Right. And so I think part of that rubs off on me. There's like a deep listening for what might be wrong here. which is really help me with medicine. Right. Like I can look at a bunch of data and be like, oh, okay, that's not right.

That's where we really need to focus. But when it comes to love. And yeah. Loving ourselves and loving our partner and our families, those inner conversations and the conversations that end up coming through despite our, our best to, to. To try to always be loving the kid. You know they're, they're going to find our buttons. They've just do. So I would just sort of on that being aware of your inner conversation and making it a like if you catch yourself being hard on yourself, like looking in the mirror and being like, oh, you know.

It's bags on your sweater. It's terrible. Or whatever you do with. Those in your conversations are being really hard on you, on yourself because you procrastinated something or whatever the things are that where those negative thoughts come out, be aware of them and then shift them to how you would want to talk to your child. Yes, I love that. So much. So beautiful. Dr. Shippy, tell us as we wrap up, what does Super Baby mean to you? What? What do you feel? What do you see? Well, there's multiple facets to it.

Like it's building their resilience. So as life happens, they bounce. Like. Things that happen, right? We get Covid or. We. Get it. It's sports injury. Or. We get told that we can't play with our best friend anymore. Or, you know, whatever it is. And, so it's really building that resilience so that, that they have the inner resources to bounce back and enjoy their lives and be strong and, and, Feel loved and loving. And love that sunlight. yeah. I love what you said. Is that another part of it, too?

That really you and your children? are such great examples of. And that is, that resourcefulness to pursue your dreams. Yeah. And you know, and we're, we're both so. Emotional talking about these things today and. And, you know, like, you have what going after your dreams requires so much courage, especially when they're very big dreams and you you need as much as possible to have that steady ground of being as strong as possible in mind, body and spirit to really have a chance at going after your dreams.

Because it's never it's never a straight line. Right. And so I think that it just all comes back to starting with that foundation of hope, starting with that foundation, noticing the inner critic who will become their inner critic, at least to some degree, and maybe to a large degree, and also of having that foundation, of creating that steady, clear, healthy home inside of us and around us. This has been such a glorious conversation. Thank you so much, Dr. Shippy. Talking to you. I love how aligned we are and.

I feel the same. Like it's really like, how do we bring more love? Yeah. It's real. Like, yeah, yeah, it's true. We're on the same mission. Yeah. It's so true, it's so true. Thank you so much for being here, Dr. Shippy Thank you. Thank you for doing this. I think it's going to help so many people. That's my goal. It's 100% my goal. I'm so excited for that. I'm so excited for this to be out in the world for all of you and all of you listening. Thank you so much for being here for this magnificent conversation today, and I am so excited to see you in the next conversation.

Me too. Thank you, thank you. Thank you Dr. Shippy.