Fertility Friday | Fertility Awareness Mastery for Women's Health Professionals

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, FAE, HRHP
  • 4.8 (800)
  • ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Are you ready to uplevel your women's health practice? Welcome to the Fertility Friday Podcast! A podcast designed to empower you to use fertility awareness both personally and professionally. If you are a woman's health professional — and you're not fully utilizing the menstrual cycle as a vital sign — it's time to change that right away! Through evidence-based literature reviews, engaging discussions, expert interviews, and compelling client stories, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, FAE, HRHP covers everything from complex menstrual cycle chart interpretation and balancing hormones to overcoming fertility challenges and more. With over 20 years of experience teaching fertility awareness, Lisa combines her real-world expertise with the latest research to ensure you're fully equipped to support your clients. Lisa's first book, "The Fifth Vital Sign," describes the menstrual cycle as an important vital sign we should pay attention to. Her most recent book, "Real Food for Fertility" (co-authored with Lily Nichols, RDN), explores how a healthy menstrual cycle sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy. With well over 4 million downloads, Fertility Friday is the #1 source for information about fertility awareness and menstrual cycle health. All women deserve to understand how their bodies work, and if we wait for our education systems to do it we may be waiting forever. It's up to us to be the change we wish to see in the field of women's health. In other words, It's YOUR TURN to bring this essential information to your clients sooner rather than later — they need it now!

  1. 2D AGO

    The Case for Progesterone in Perimenopause | Dr. Jerilynn Prior

    In this episode, Lisa welcomes back Dr. Jerilynn Prior, endocrinologist, UBC Professor Emerita, and founder of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), for a thought-provoking conversation that challenges mainstream narratives about perimenopause and hormone therapy. Dr. Prior shares her research-backed perspective on why perimenopause is often characterized by erratically high estrogen rather than low estrogen, and how this physiological reality reshapes the conversation around symptoms like night sweats, sleep disturbances, heavy flow, and sore breasts. She discusses her randomized controlled trial demonstrating that progesterone is effective for night sweats and sleep in perimenopausal women, and explains why approximately 30% of perimenopausal women experience symptoms severe enough to warrant treatment. Lisa and Dr. Prior also explore findings from the Women's Health Initiative, the difference between treating symptomatic women and prescribing hormones preventively, and why the cultural framing of menopause as a deficiency disease misrepresents what is, for most women, a normal life transition. Tune in as Dr. Prior shares decades of research on the menstrual cycle, ovulation, and the often-overlooked role of progesterone in women's health across the lifespan. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    59 min

  2. MAY 1

    Is Hospital Birth Really Safer? | Dr. Stuart Fischbein, MD

    In this episode, Lisa sits down with Stuart James Fischbein, MD — obstetrician, homebirth physician, and host of the Birthing Instincts Podcast — to examine one of the most consequential questions in modern maternity care: is hospital birth actually safer? Dr. Fischbein draws on more than 40 years of obstetric experience to trace how the medical model came to frame pregnancy as a high-risk condition requiring active management, and how that framing has shaped the interventions women encounter today. The conversation explores the steep rise in cesarean section rates, induction rates, and NICU admissions since the 1970s — alongside the sobering reality that maternal and neonatal outcomes have not improved commensurately. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    1h 25m

  3. APR 24

    Cycle Charting as Primary Care: A Midwife's Perspective | FAMM Practitioner Series | Harriet Thorn

    In Episode 623 of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa sits down with Harriet Thorn, a Switzerland-based midwife and recent graduate of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship (FAMM) program, for a wide-ranging conversation about cycle charting in midwifery practice. Harriet shares her personal journey from biotechnology PhD to midwife — including her own experience navigating heavy and painful periods, hormonal contraception, and eventually discovering fertility awareness charting as a tool for both personal and professional use. The conversation explores why midwives, despite being primary caregivers for women across the full reproductive lifespan, receive minimal training in fertility awareness — and how the FAMM certification has helped Harriet build the structure, confidence, and clinical protocols to support her clients more comprehensively. Lisa and Harriet also dive into a thoughtful discussion on research literacy, including the importance of reading full study texts, understanding researcher bias, and the challenges of accessing fertility awareness research in non-English-speaking countries. Harriet reflects on how her FAMM training has expanded her practice beyond prenatal and postnatal care to include menstrual health support — and why she views cycle charting as a foundational skill for any midwife committed to truly holistic, women-centred care. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    1h 2m

  4. APR 17

    Healing Your Cycle From the Inside Out with | FAMM Practitioner Series | Carol da Selva

    In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa sits down with Carol da Selva — founder of Sacred Womb Rites and a practitioner completing her Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship (FAMM) certification — for a candid conversation about spiritual approaches to menstrual cycle health and where they intersect with evidence-based practice. Carol shares her personal journey with irregular cycles, painful periods, and the role that ancestral and spiritual practices played in her early healing path, alongside the limitations she encountered when those approaches alone were not enough. Together, Lisa and Carol explore why grounding spiritual and intuitive frameworks in peer-reviewed research may lead to more consistent, predictable results for both practitioners and their clients. Carol reflects on how foundational factors — including nutrition, blood sugar stability, and addressing environmental contributors such as mold and histamine — supported meaningful improvements in her own cycle over time. This episode is part of the ongoing FAM Practitioner Series, offering insights for women's health professionals who are looking to integrate fertility awareness and menstrual cycle literacy into their existing practice with greater confidence and clinical depth. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    44 min

  5. APR 10

    30+ Years: Taking Charge of Your Fertility with Toni Weschler

    In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa welcomes back Toni Weschler, MPH, author of the landmark book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, along with Toni's niece Sabrina Nowicki, co-creator and product lead of the Cyclisity app. Toni shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Taking Charge of Your Fertility came to be — from a humbling experience at a women's health clinic in the late 1980s to a bidding war among major publishers — and reflects on what has changed in the field of fertility awareness over the past 30-plus years. Sabrina walks listeners through the vision behind Cyclisity, explaining how the app was designed as an educational companion to Taking Charge of Your Fertility, running the four FAM rules as taught in the book and directing users back to the relevant pages and chapters as they chart. The episode also covers the importance of data privacy, the limitations of ovulation predictor kits as a standalone tool, and why education remains the foundation of effective fertility awareness practice. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    1h 18m

  6. APR 3

    Is It Really Your Eggs? Rethinking Unexplained Infertility with Aimee Raupp

    In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa welcomes back Aimee Raupp, MS, LAc, to celebrate the newly updated and expanded edition of Yes, You Can Get Pregnant — and the conversation covers far more than a book launch. Lisa and Aimee explore why a diagnosis of unexplained infertility should be a starting point for deeper investigation, not a final answer, and discuss the four core factors every practitioner and client should be considering: egg quality, sperm health, the uterine environment, and immune function.  Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    57 min

  7. MAR 27

    New Research: Does Omega 3 Improve Your Chances of Getting Pregnant?

    In Episode 619, Lisa dives into a compelling meta-analysis examining the effect of omega-3 supplements and dietary intake on fertility outcomes in women. For practitioners supporting clients in the preconception window, this episode offers a clinically grounded look at where omega-3 supplements and fertility intersect in the current evidence base. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    20 min

  8. MAR 20

    Is Sperm DNA Damage the Missing Piece in Early Pregnancy Loss?

    Miscarriage affects somewhere between 10 to 15 out of every 100 pregnancies, yet the male contribution to early pregnancy loss is rarely part of the clinical conversation. In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa breaks down a 2021 study examining sperm DNA fragmentation as a biomarker for miscarriage — and what the findings may mean for practitioners supporting couples through fertility challenges.  Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

    27 min
See All (302)

Hosts & Guests

4.8
out of 5
800 Ratings

About

Are you ready to uplevel your women's health practice? Welcome to the Fertility Friday Podcast! A podcast designed to empower you to use fertility awareness both personally and professionally. If you are a woman's health professional — and you're not fully utilizing the menstrual cycle as a vital sign — it's time to change that right away! Through evidence-based literature reviews, engaging discussions, expert interviews, and compelling client stories, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, FAE, HRHP covers everything from complex menstrual cycle chart interpretation and balancing hormones to overcoming fertility challenges and more. With over 20 years of experience teaching fertility awareness, Lisa combines her real-world expertise with the latest research to ensure you're fully equipped to support your clients. Lisa's first book, "The Fifth Vital Sign," describes the menstrual cycle as an important vital sign we should pay attention to. Her most recent book, "Real Food for Fertility" (co-authored with Lily Nichols, RDN), explores how a healthy menstrual cycle sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy. With well over 4 million downloads, Fertility Friday is the #1 source for information about fertility awareness and menstrual cycle health. All women deserve to understand how their bodies work, and if we wait for our education systems to do it we may be waiting forever. It's up to us to be the change we wish to see in the field of women's health. In other words, It's YOUR TURN to bring this essential information to your clients sooner rather than later — they need it now!

Information

You Might Also Like