How Tamsin achieved a successful Pregnancy after 5 Miscarriages

After 5 miscarriages and 7 years of trying, Tamsin worked with Melanie for just three months — and fell pregnant with a healthy baby boy

Can you tell us about yourself and your symptoms?

Hi, I'm Tamsin Gilbert. I'm 43 years old and I work in learning and development in a law firm. I'm generally a really active person. I enjoy running. I have a dog, so do lots of walks. I tend to be somebody who's, like, always on the go.

When I started working with Melanie, I was having a really difficult time. I'd experienced about five miscarriages and they were really starting to take their toll on my body. I was feeling tired, emotional, my hormones were all over the place, my periods were irregular, I was bloated, I just generally didn't feel like myself.

How were your symptoms affecting your daily life?

My symptoms were really starting to affect my daily life in terms of my mood. I was quite snappy with my husband and my family. My motivation — I didn't have a great deal of motivation to get up and work and to walk my dog. My energy levels were really low, so I didn't feel like doing my normal activities like running. I just generally felt quite low in myself really. My confidence had dipped. It was really starting to take a toll on me, both emotionally and physically.

What had you tried before working with Melanie?

Having been through so much, when I met Melanie I had tried pretty much everything to get pregnant. We'd been through rounds of IVF using my own eggs and also using donor eggs. I'd had numerous tests done to find out if there was any reason why I couldn't sustain a pregnancy. I'd been told that I had a thin womb lining so it was unlikely I'd be able to maintain a pregnancy. I was also told I had a small uterus. I'd also been told that I had a blood clotting disorder. I was told that I didn't synthesize folic acid. I pretty much had everything wrong with me. It was starting to feel that I would never get pregnant and I would never have a baby.

What were your hesitations about working with a nutritionist?

I was a little bit hesitant about going down the pathway of using a nutritionist. When I met Melanie, I was concerned that I'd already taken loads of supplements and hadn't really seen any benefits. I consider myself to have a really healthy diet already, so I didn't see how that could really change things. And again, the financial implications — I'd already spent a lot of money going down the IVF route. So I felt quite sceptical about whether this was really something that was going to work.

What was it like working with Melanie?

I really enjoyed working with Melanie. She wasn't pushy in terms of her approach. She was really down to earth. She was really empathetic. She genuinely cared and wanted to help me to have a baby. And she was really knowledgeable. She had a lot of skills and guidance and I really appreciated that.

What did working with Melanie involve?

I worked one-to-one with Melanie. We had a number of sessions together over a three-month period — meeting up every six weeks or so. I had a number of tests done with her: a metabolic food test, a genetic test, and zinc tests. She also recommended some changes to my diet and some supplements.

What changes did you see?

Well, I had a successful pregnancy. After seven years of trying, I fell pregnant that July — just three months after starting to work with Melanie. I maintained my pregnancy and had a healthy boy at the end of it. I now have a two-year-old son.

What specific changes do you attribute to working with Melanie?

I think some of the changes Melanie made to my diet and some of the supplements she recommended really helped in terms of having a healthy baby. I always remember her mantra: eggs make eggs. I started eating a lot more eggs and I really think that helped in terms of my egg quality. The supplements she recommended — particularly the high-strength folic acid and the omega-3 — I think really helped in terms of maintaining my pregnancy.

Some of the providers she recommended — Wild Nutrition in particular — I have found really, really beneficial. I now use their perimenopause complex as well as their collagen.

What changes have you maintained long-term?

I still continue with the supplements she recommended. I take a really good omega-3 supplement every day as well as a really good multi-vitamin. And I've continued with a lot of the dietary changes too — eating a lot more protein, being a lot more mindful about what I'm eating and when I'm eating. Making sure I eat regularly, that I have enough oily fish in my diet, that I stay well hydrated.

I thought I had a healthy diet until I really went into a lot more detail with Melanie. And it really made me see that actually there were a lot of changes I could make.

She suggested some really good recipes which I've continued with as well. Chia seeds, I eat tons of those — and nuts, pumpkin seeds, oats. Some of the things I hadn't really considered before. But eggs have always remained in my diet after working with Melanie.

Would you recommend Melanie?

Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't met Melanie and started working with her prior to falling pregnant? I'd literally exhausted everything. I was really beginning to think I was never going to have a baby. But I worked with Melanie for those three months, and it's got to be more than coincidence that I then fell pregnant with my son and had a healthy baby at the end of it. I feel really, really fortunate to have worked with her and I'm forever grateful for all the help she gave me.

I can't recommend Melanie enough. I'm so grateful that I met her. I was quite sceptical about going down the nutritionist route and looking more holistically at fertility — but for me, it's been a game changer. She has so much knowledge. She's so empathetic and she wants to share and help you. I think if you're the type of person who genuinely wants to help yourself and make those changes and you're dedicated and determined to stick at it — she can definitely help you. So I'm just really, really pleased to have met her and I can't recommend her enough.