How to Prepare for IVF Naturally: What a Fertility Naturopath Wants You to Know
If you're heading into IVF, chances are you've already been through a lot to get here. And now you're wondering: is there anything I can actually do to improve my chances?
The answer is yes - and it matters more than most people realise.
As a fertility naturopath, IVF preparation is one of my favourite things to support clients through. Not because it's a magic fix - it isn't. But because the things we focus on in the lead-up genuinely have a real impact on egg quality, embryo development, and how your body responds to stimulation overall.
Why the Months Before Your Cycle Matter
Here's something that doesn't get talked about enough: IVF doesn't improve your egg quality. It retrieves the eggs you already have.
Eggs take around three months to mature - which means what you're doing right now has the potential to influence the eggs being retrieved in your upcoming cycle. This window is precious. Using it well is something I feel really passionate about.
Getting the Basics Right First
Before anything else, I always come back to the foundations. They're not the most exciting part of IVF prep — but they're the most important.
Sleep. Consistent, quality sleep. No screens before bed, no caffeine after mid-morning. Your hormones are doing enormous work during a cycle and they need this.
Food. Colourful vegetables, quality protein at every meal, nourishing fats, and eating in a way that keeps your blood sugar stable. This matters more than most people realise for egg quality and hormonal health.
Movement. A mix of cardio and strength training, most days of the week — consistent, not exhausting.
Stress support. The emotional load of IVF is significant, and chronically elevated cortisol can directly affect how your body responds to stimulation. Whatever genuinely helps you switch off — lean into it. This isn't just self-care fluff. It's physiology.
Reducing chemical exposure. Everyday products like skincare, cleaning products, and plastics can affect hormonal health. Going lower tox during this window is worth it.
Testing Worth Doing Before You Start
Getting the right testing in place before your cycle means we can actually support your body, rather than guessing. The blood tests I consider are always tailored to your history, but as a starting point I look at:
Nutrient levels: vitamin D, B12, zinc, & iron are a baseline, but there's often more depending on your history. Worth knowing: standard ranges identify deficiency, not fertility-optimal levels. "Normal" doesn't always mean optimal for conception or early pregnancy.
Blood sugar markers: fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin at a minimum. Blood sugar balance is deeply connected to egg quality and how your body responds to stimulation. Insulin resistance (when your body isn’t responsive to the signals that support blood sugar balance) is common in women doing IVF, even in women with normal BMIs. One study found blood sugar issues in almost 40% of lean women undergoing IVF.
Methylation panel : B12, folate, homocysteine, and MTHFR variants. This tells us whether your body is effectively using folate and B12, which is critical for egg quality and embryo development, and reducing miscarriage risk.
Thyroid function : always checked in IVF prep. Thyroid hormones play a significant role in egg quality, implantation, and early pregnancy, and even subclinical issues can affect outcomes. It's one of the things most commonly missed in standard workups.
Liver function: IVF works by significantly elevating some of your hormone levels. A healthy liver is needed to clear all these excess hormones from your body, so you don’t feel sick. Any signs of liver inflammation signify the need for additional liver support.
This is always a starting point — your full picture will be tailored to your specific history.
Supporting Egg Quality
Diet and lifestyle do most of the heavy lifting here — but targeted supplements and herbs can support the process further. The right approach depends on your age, history, weight, diet, and lifestyle — it's never one-size-fits-all.
That said, a high-quality prenatal is always a foundational piece. Strong antioxidant support is something I prioritise for egg quality (e.g. ubiquinol, CoQ10, melatonin, lipoic-acid to name a few), and a high-quality fish oil supplement is another consistent inclusion in my IVF prep approach.
The right form, dose, and duration of any supplement is really individual - what works for someone else may not be right for you. This is something I work through carefully with every client.
If You Have PCOS or a High AMH
There are specific strategies we can work with to help reduce your risk of OHSS and support symptom management if it does occur. Your IVF clinic will be monitoring for this - but there's a lot we can do naturopathically alongside that, and the earlier we start, the more options we have. If this is you, please don't wait until the week before your cycle.
Don't Forget Your Partner
Sperm quality contributes to embryo development and pregnancy outcomes, and it can be actively supported in the same three-month window. If your partner hasn't had a recent semen analysis with DNA fragmentation, that's a good starting point. Diet, lifestyle, and antioxidant support can make a meaningful difference - it really is a team effort.
How Far in Advance Should You Start?
Three months minimum, ideally. If you have more time, use it. If you don't - even four to six weeks of focused preparation is genuinely worth doing. We work with the timeline we have.
Working With a Naturopath Alongside Your IVF Team
Naturopathic support for IVF is always complementary to your medical care, never instead of it. I work alongside your fertility specialist. What I bring is time, personalisation, and a focus on the areas that often don't get covered: nutrient status, blood sugar, thyroid, lifestyle foundations, and targeted supplement support.
For many of my clients, it's the missing piece they didn't know they needed.
If you're preparing for IVF and would love support getting your body in the best possible place beforehand, I'd love to chat. Book a free discovery call
References
Wang H, Zhang Y, Fang X, Kwak-Kim J, Wu L. Insulin Resistance Adversely Affect IVF Outcomes in Lean Women Without PCOS. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Sep 6;12:734638. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.734638. PMID: 34552564; PMCID: PMC8450607.