The Hormone Puzzle Podcast - Learn How to Solve Your Infertility Puzzle to Get and Stay Pregnant · Dr. Kela Smith - Fertility and Hormone Doctor

Pregnancy After Loss: When Your Hormones Are Fine but Your Nervous System Isn't with Sarah Lingle

·39 min·2 clips

Sarah links infertility and loss to a nervous system that stays in fight-or-flight mode.

1. The Hormone Puzzle Podcast Season 7 centers on pregnancy after loss and nervous-system care with Sarah Lingle. 2. Dr. Kayla Smith interviews Sarah Lingle, a birth and bereavement doula who calls herself 'the pregnancy after loss doula' on Instagram at @pal_doula. 3. The episode asks how someone can be pregnant with 'good' hormones on paper while their nervous system stays on high alert. 4. Sarah describes growing up with a twin birth story that was 'weird,' plus a mother who had three more children after traumatic pregnancies. 5. She says her path shifted in 2020 after midwife school, doula training, and the birth work she says she loved most. 6. Sarah’s first pregnancy ended in a missed miscarriage two days before Christmas, with birth happening two weeks later in January. 7. She says that loss showed her how little support exists for moms grieving pregnancy loss from a birth-centered perspective. 8. Sarah says she went through two more years of infertility and two more potential losses before a rainbow baby in 2023 and another daughter in 2025. 9. She describes reproductive trauma as something that can keep the nervous system 'on all the time,' even after a normal ultrasound. 10. Her examples include persistent anxiety, trouble sleeping, jitteriness, exaggerated startle responses, and fear that 'the baby died between now and then.' 11. Sarah says sanctuary means giving space for fear, joy, hope, grief, and guilt to 'hold hands' instead of ranking emotions. 12. She says pregnancy after loss can involve boundaries, like telling family not to keep buying baby clothes when it triggers panic. 13. Kayla connects the conversation to her own infertility experience and describes always waiting for 'that other shoe to drop.' 14. Sarah says truth statements work better than fear spirals, using lines like 'right now, this baby is healthy' and 'truth is stronger than fear.' 15. She recommends grounding through the senses, including naming five things you can see and four things you can hear. 16. Sarah tells clients to write note-card reminders such as 'you made it through another night' and your heart, lungs, and digestion kept working. 17. The second half turns practical, with Sarah offering five steps: regulate before researching, eat for stability, choose one supportive rhythm, soften tension, and avoid isolation. 18. The interview style is warm, personal, and coach-like, with Kayla reflecting her own patients while Sarah answers with specific routines and family examples. 19. People navigating infertility, miscarriage, or pregnancy after loss would likely relate to this conversation. 20. Listeners wanting embryo-transfer or miscarriage-support tactics may skip the personal story section.

As heard by us

A steady, practical reset for listeners who want grounding and a clearer sense of trust in their bodies.

Dr. Kayla Smith keeps the focus on fertility, hormone health, and the day to day support people often want when their bodies feel out of sync.

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Why you'd press play

For when your fertility journey has you craving clarity, grounding, and a little steadiness in your body.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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