Our Dream, Our Why and You…Making Integrative Fertility Happen

We’re Dr. Ashley Eskew and Dr. Will Haas — two fitness enthusiasts and lovers of good food working to make the world a better place for women trying to conceive. After what seems like way too many years of medical education, along with specialized training in Reproductive Endocrinology (Dr. Eskew) and Integrative Medicine (Dr. Haas), we set out to realize a dream.

We dreamt of changing the way women and physicians approach reproductive health on a global scale – an evidence-based approach to integrative fertility. More about integrative fertility in a moment…

For our first post, we wanted to talk about who we are, what we do, and why we’re so passionate about women’s reproductive health… and of course, why you are in the right place if you’re trying to conceive!

Always start with WHY!

We’re big fans of Simon Sinek’s work, and if you haven’t seen the TED talk on ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’ or read his book Start With Why, we highly encourage you to check them out.

At the center of our ‘golden circle’ lies a PASSION to help women optimize their natural fertility potential and minimize the stress of their reproductive journey.

Why are we so passionate about this?

Because our healthcare system is broken.

All too often, modern-day medicine focuses on over-medicating and over-surgerizing the most unhealthy, out-of-shape, poorly nourished, and stressed out individuals that step foot in doctor’s offices and hospitals. Oftentimes there’s a complete failure to address the fundamental parts of health and wellbeing – nutrition, movement, and the mind-body connection.

After nearly 20 years of combined medical training, and seeing the impact of chronic disease on women’s health and their offspring, we realized that a better approach to reproductive medicine and fertility care could no longer remain just a dream.

We knew we needed to act.

That’s why we’re DEDICATED to providing women with better information on how to optimize their natural fertility potential in ways that are both accessible and actionable.

We’re also here to help empower women to optimize their overall health – in both the short-term and long-term – so they can avoid the development of chronic diseases among themselves, their offspring, and their generations yet to come.

That’s our why.

Have you ever wondered if there’s anything about your lifestyle that you could change to influence your reproductive outcomes?

Have you felt anxious, stressed out, or completely overwhelmed at times trying to make sense out of everything you’ve been reading?

Have you questioned if there’s any medical evidence to back up what you read on that social media post last week?

We completely understand – the patients at our clinical jobs have the same feelings too.

Circling back to integrative fertility…

For those of you unfamiliar with the term integrative fertility, it’s simply the application of integrative medicine to the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI). It’s an approach to reproductive health that honors you as a whole person, addressing all aspects of your body, mind, and spirit.

If you’re a member of the OvulifeMD community, you already know the difficulties and challenges experienced when trying to conceive. These real and unpleasant struggles necessitate a more holistic approach, one that addresses all aspects of your life and your health.

When you tend to all the factors at play, including the lifestyle ones, fertility optimization and enhanced wellness are possible.

Unlike many ‘experts’ or social media influencers claiming to provide integrative fertility information, we believe in providing you actionable content of substance, meaning it’s evidence-based and actually makes a difference in your efforts to conceive.

Not only should good integrative fertility information be evidence-based, but it should work as part of a system. And that’s why we developed the OvuMethod.

It’s not overly complicated when it comes right down to it. The real magic is making it all happen in an easy and sustainable manner.

That’s why we’re here!

Ultimately, we want you to have the greatest chance at the best possible outcome, wherever you are in your fertility journey. And we want to help you change your life regardless of your outcome.

Okay… okay… so it’s obvious that we’re super passionate about integrative fertility.

But, we’re guessing you probably want to know a little more about us before you start showing up here on the regular. We understand. We would feel the same way.

For an in-depth look into who we are, check out our About Page. In the meantime, here’s a quick run-down of our stories…

Dr. Ashley Eskew loves yoga and mixing up dishes with tofu. She always has a smile on her face, which served her well through her many years of medical training…medical school at the University of Louisville, residency at Atrium Health in OB/GYN (chief resident her last year), and Washington University in St. Louis for REI fellowship along with a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Will Haas loves any physical activity producing endorphins along with dark chocolate. He’s known for taking the path less traveled, which sent him to business school at East Carolina University in the middle of medical school. He also attended Atrium Health for residency for family medicine training and completed his integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona.

We’re truly excited that you’ve found your way here.

Over the course of your reproductive journey, we’re going to work our way through the evidence surrounding integrative fertility strategies… information that will not only optimize your fertility potential but your overall health and well-being.

As you explore our posts, please keep in mind that the information we present here is not meant to serve as a stand-alone treatment for fertility. We always encourage you to partner with your physician and discuss if the information we present is right for you.