Self-Improvement | America Out Loud News · Self-Improvement | America Out Loud News

The root causes behind America’s fertility crisis

·58 min·1 clip

Your TSH looks 'normal'—but you still can't get pregnant. That's the reference range lie.

Melissa Schreibfetter opens the show with a topic she says they have not covered before. She introduces fertility as the focus and welcomes Alyssa Finley to the microphone. Finley is a registered nurse, board-certified functional nurse specialist, fertility nurse, and founder of Balance and Bloom Holistic Wellness. Her path runs from cardiovascular ICU work into fertility nursing, and then into functional medicine after her own infertility, postpartum autoimmune illness, and her daughter's health journey pushed her to look for deeper answers. The conversation gives that personal history real weight. It frames lived experience as one way to notice what a more standard medical approach can miss. The two spend much of the hour talking about what may be driving symptoms rather than treating them in isolation. They point to inflammation as one of the downstream problems that can affect fertility. Hormonal imbalance comes up as another major piece. So do exposures and other stressors that can leave the body struggling in ways that show up later in reproduction. Melissa and Alyssa contrast that kind of digging with conventional care that has to work for large numbers of people. They describe standard protocols as broad and efficient, but not always built for one person's full story. Functional medicine, in their telling, gives more room to sit with a patient, review records, and ask what may be driving the problem. They also stress bio-individuality. The same fertility symptom can come from very different causes in different women. That means the right response is not always the same treatment plan. The discussion keeps returning to the value of time, context, and a wider lens. It suggests that when you look more closely, you may find reasons and options that conventional care did not surface. The episode also carries the show's familiar practical layer. Melissa pauses to mention Functional Nurse Academy, the 90 nursing CEs, the business mentorship, and the board-certification paths available there. She also points America Out Loud listeners to a discount on Chemical Free Body products through the America Out Loud shop. Near the close, she reminds listeners that The Nurses Report airs Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. She notes that she hosts Tuesdays and that Fridays are reserved for Q&A. The ending widens the invitation again. Melissa encourages health care professionals and certified health and wellness coaches to train through Christian Functional Medicine Academy, then signs off with the show's usual blessing.

As heard by us

A fertility discussion that treats the issue as a whole-body problem.

This piece treats fertility as a whole-body issue rather than a single diagnosis. Melissa Schreibfetter speaks with Alyssa Finley, a registered nurse, board-certified functional nurse specialist, fertility nurse, and founder of Balance and Bloom Holistic Wellness.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For a fertility conversation that starts with hormones, inflammation, and lived experience, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Self-Improvement | America Out Loud News