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  • My name is Claire Daly and I am an Accredited Practising Dietitian in private practice in Australia.I have personal and professional experience in PCOS and also fertility issues. This gives me an opportunity to help women and adolescents make changes to their own diet and weight to improve their health with PCOS. If you are a woman and trying to get pregnant, I can also provide diet plans and support to increase your chances of getting pregnant if you have PCOS. I can also help you eat well during pregnancy and beyond. I provide consultations in person and by telephone or online. I have worked with several fertility specialists, conducted patient education sessions for Monash IVF and developed resources on PCOS for other Dietitians to use. You can read more about my available PCOS services by clicking the button 'Get a personal PCOS diet plan by Claire' in the top left column.
  • I am a member of the Dietitian's Association of Australia and an Accredited Practising Dietitian. Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs) are recognized professionals who have the qualifications and expertise to provide expert nutrition and dietary advice. APDs must meet the detailed criteria developed by the Dietitians Association of Australia. Not only do APDs have sound tertiary qualifications, they must undergo ongoing training and comply with the profession’s guidelines for best professional and ethical practice. Accredited Practising Dietitians display a distinctive logo to enable you to easily identify them.
  • I can be contacted by email (link below) or by phone to 041 212 0498.

Getting pregnant with PCOS

Some women with PCOS have difficulty getting pregnant. A healthy diet for PCOS and weight loss can help!

Women with PCOS are often insulin resistant and this is much more likely if you are overweight. Insulin resistance and an excess of male hormones interrupt the normal menstrual cycle including ovulation, so it's much harder to get pregnant. Your GP or fertility specialist will probably recommend that you lose weight or follow a healthy diet / eating plan for PCOS to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

This is very important and does work. Research studies have shown that when women with PCOS lose weight (if they are overweight) and eat well for PCOS, many of them notice an improvement in their menstrual cycles (indicating they are ovulating more frequently) and some women are able to get pregnant naturally without medical assistance. This is why weight loss and diet are often recommended as the first thing to try to help you conceive.

If you are overweight, losing weight and following a PCOS friendly diet has many other benefits as well for both you and the baby you are trying to conceive. These include:

  • reducing your chance of developing Gestational Diabetes during pregnancy;
  • less chance of developing other pregnancy related complications;
  • less chance of requiring intervention during labour and delivery

Give yourself the best chance of a healthy pregnancy, and your baby the best start in life! 

Claire Daly is an Accredited Practising Dietitian / Accredited Nutritionist who works with women and families. She has particular interest in working with women who have PCOS (Claire has PCOS herself), fertility problems or who are wanting to achieve a healthy weight and good health prior to and during pregnancy. Claire has her own private practice in Melbourne. For more information visit www.eatwell.com.au/pcos.html

Like to use this blog post in your own newsletter or publication? Just email Claire to let her know which article you would like to use and how I would like you to acknowledge the source of the article, then you are on your way.