Fat-Positive Fertility and Pregnancy with Nicola Salmon | #13

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Weight stigma is pervasive in all parts of society, and it especially rears its ugly head when it comes to pregnancy and mothering. Nicola Salmon, a fat-positive fertility coach who supports people in larger bodies during their pregnancy journeys, joined me all the way from London to discuss the unique barriers her clients face when it comes to getting pregnant.

From BMI cut-offs to judgmental strangers and doctors, it's not easy trying to navigate pregnancy in a larger body. Nicola shared strategies for how to advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office, how to work on overcoming internalized weight stigma, and more.

We discussed:

• Nicola's experience going from being diagnosed with PCOS as a teen and being told she would never be able to have children to now having two kids.
• The specific obstacles that people in larger bodies face when they are trying to get pregnant.
• The importance of understanding the difference between absolute and relative risk when it comes to risks in pregnancy.
• The societal belief that people in larger bodies will be bad mothers.
• How weight stigma even affects the adoption process.
• Practical ways people in larger bodies can advocate for themselves at the doctor's office.
• The difficult situation some people end up in where the only way they can have a family is to lose weight due to the rules of different clinics.
• Unlearning people-pleasing as women and working to say “just” and “I'm sorry” less.
• How to begin to overcome your own internalized fatphobia so you can stress less when you're trying to get pregnant.
• The ways pregnancy can change your feelings about your body.
• What it's like to work with Nicola as a coach and who would benefit from it.
• How Nicola defines health and wellness for herself at this moment in her life, including keeping things simple since she is juggling so much.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Nicola's book, Fat and Fertile
• Nicola's post about being a difficult patient

Featured in This Episode

Nicola Salmon (she/her) is a fat-positive and feminist fertility coach and the author of Fat and Fertile. She advocates for change in how fat women are treated on their fertility journey. She supports fat women who are struggling to get pregnant to find peace with their bodies, find their own version of health, and finally escape the yo-yo dieting cycle. You can find Nicola on her website, Instagram, and Facebook.