1 - Planning your journey Planning your journey is an essential part of the programme.
It will give you choice and control over the type of treatment advised and help you to aim for and achieve small goals throughout the treatment. It may also give you alternatives when outcomes are not as expected.

2 - Positive thought Thinking in a positive way can mean that even adverse outcomes give you alternative pathways forward.

3 - Team work Treatment can be physically and emotionally stressful. It is important to have a good support network or team around you during this time, including friends, family, and health professionals.

The team involved at The Poundbury Clinic include:

The Poundbury Clinic ~ Fit for Fertility Programme
Consultant Gynaecologist: Mr Dooley MMs FFSRH FRCOG

and a team of highly professional and experienced practitioners providing:

4 - Exercise Fertility is affected by too little and excessive exercise. The programme will aim to help you plan a personal exercise routine that can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle.

5 - Diet A good diet is the single biggest controllable factor in improving your chances of conception. Adopting a healthy diet is about taking responsibility for your own health and wellbeing - which is a very positive thing. Changing your diet doesn't have to be complicated and being healthy is not being hungry or bored. Small changes increase your chances of maintaining a healthy regular menstrual cycle and similarly your partner will make strong healthy sperm

6 - DR AID This is a key part of the programme in helping you plan your journey:
· D - diagnosis - of your problem, if any.
· R - a review the options for treatment
· A - agreement on your treatment plan/journey, including complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as well as conventional medicine.
· I - implementation your plan
· D - demonstration that your plan is working and then a regular review of progress e.g. every 6 months

7 - Stress management Stress is the pressure that gets us up for work in the morning, it makes us alert when we drive the car to work, it tells us when to eat and when we need to rest. In short stress is necessary for survival however when stress becomes excessive it begins to impact on our physical and emotional wellbeing. Stress is often so individual that it requires individual assessment of the effects. Research has shown that stress has a negative effect on the reproductive system of both sexes and in turn having problems conceiving can add to existing stress, creating a vicious circle. The programme aims to help you identify the sources stress and to reduce them.

8 - Lifestyle issues Lifestyle can have an impact on your chances of conceiving and/or continuing with a healthy pregnancy. This includes stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake, avoiding or stopping social/recreational drug use, as well as improving diet and exercise. Those on long term medication should be aware of its affects on fertility.

9 - Education It is important for you to be able to make informed choices about
your treatment it is essential that you understand the investigations, tests
and procedures you may undergo, as well as any results. The Fit for Fertility
Programme includes a series of client information evenings that address the
issues of diet, exercise, lifestyle and stress management that will enable you
to make changes that can boost your chances of conception.

10 - Goal setting When making plans for treatment an important element is
goal setting. It is tempting to set your goals and aims extremely high such as
"I will conceive in the next six months". Achievable goals should be small, realistic,
and negotiablewithin your team and may have a time element, e.g. I want to lose
2 lbs a week on my diet. They should be added towards the overall aim of boosting
your chances of conception.