Getting pregnant in a fat body should be the same as getting pregnant in any other body, but in our culture our fat bodies have been demonised.

From a young age we are conditioned to believe that our bodies are wrong and that we must do everything in our power to make them smaller.

When you have been told over and over that getting pregnant in a fat body is hard, you start to believe it.

When you have been shamed at your doctors too many times to count, you avoid going to see healthcare professionals as much as you can.

When you have spent years of your life torturing yourself with restrictive dieting and gruelling exercise regimens, it impacts your health.

If you are in a fat body, you experience very different challenges when you want to get pregnant.

You need a very different approach.

Which is why I created the FAT+ve framework.

The Fat Positive Framework

I designed the FAT+ve framework to give you the tools to face the challenges of getting pregnant in a fat body.

  • Formulate: Create an action plan that centres your definition of what health looks like. Choose health goals that take you from where you are right now to where you want to be in a way that feels good. No weight loss or dieting required.

  • Advocate: Learn how to advocate for yourself with healthcare professioanls and arm yourself with the tools to advocate for your bodyl. Learn how to create the healthcare team that you deserve and demand better from your doctors.

  • Trust: Relearn how to trust your body in a world where we are told that our bodies are broken. We are so used to using external cues that we have forgotten how to listen to our own internal signs and how to inprete them for our own health.

  • Positive: When you have been told that your body is not capable of getting pregnant, it’s essential to retrain your brain into believing that you are capable and worthy of becoming a parent.

Meet Nicola.

If we’ve not met before, Hi! I’m Nicola Salmon. I’m the fat-positive fertility coach and author of the book Fat and Fertile.

I’m a prominent figure in the world of fat activism, using my platform and expertise to challenge the weight bias that exists within the fertility industry and support fat folks to take control of their reproductive health with confidence and self-assurance.

Through my innovative and evidence-based approach, I helps clients find their own path to wellness, free from diets and body shaming, and encourage them to trust and believe in their ability to conceive.

  • "Having Nicola is like having a personal fertility cheerleader—helping me with tiny, manageable action steps to improve my health and calm my anxiety. She always reminds me that my fat body is 100% capable of getting pregnant."

  • “I honestly don’t know how people do it alone. Nicola’s guidance and support have been instrumental in keeping me positive and hopeful about what’s ahead."

  • "Nicola’s program taught me to think outside of the mere mechanics of conception and consider my wellbeing holistically....we identified other influences in my life which may have been having a negative effect and found solutions so I could control the impact they were having on me. The exercise and diet suggestions I am sure not only helped me conceive, but have found a place in my everyday life, and I am still using the relaxation and mindfulness techniques suggested."

  • "I now feel more positive and in control of my lifestyle and more accepting of the challenges of this fertilty journey and everything it brings up. I feel more able to accept difficult emotions rather than shutting them out or beating myself up about feeling them. I have made significant changes to my diet and self-care regime (including making more time for meditation, exercise and better sleep!) and feel very good about this. Not so specific but I have a deeper sense of genuine hopefulness for the future whatever it brings."

  • "I would highly recommend Nicola – it really helps to have someone there to support you along the way, helping you make important changes to improve diet and lifestyle and stop you worrying as much! I’d never heard of a fertility coach before coming across Nicola, but more women should have one, it’s a very valuable service. It felt like talking to a really knowledgeable friend, who genuinely cared. The added touches of cards and little emails to help me stay on track were so thoughtful and much appreciated."

  • "After almost 2.5 years of trying, we are pregnant! I’m through the first trimester now, and everything seems to be going great. I’m not scared of miscarriage or post partum depression, because I feel like I have a strong foundation. My relationship is healthy, I know what makes me happy, and I am ready to bring a brand new person into my already fulfilling life. Thank you, Nicola, for helping me make my family a reality."

  • "When we started working together I was feeling overwhelmed and afraid that engaging more with fertility coaching would cause it to further dominate and consume my life – in fact the opposite happened – I feel more empowered to honour the importance of this journey and what comes up but also able to hold and focus on other parts of life. I feel the changes I have made have been positive for my overall wellbeing as well as my fertility."

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a green leafy graphic used in Nicola's business logo
a green star graphic used in Nicola's business logo