We recently sat down with Ruby Booras and Anne Judge, two of SRM’s nurse practitioners, to talk about their new podcast – The Whole Pineapple.

What made the two of you decide to start a podcast?

Ruby:

This is such a passion project for me.  It combines two of my biggest loves – caring for those going through infertility and optimizing wellness through lifestyle medicine.

I have been actively assisting in expanding our wellness services here at SRM. I saw a need, in our practice, but also in the field of Reproductive Medicine, to expand from a seemingly narrow focus of medicine, to a whole-person approach to care.

There is a big desire out there, to care for ourselves in a compassionate and holistic manner. Our well-being and happiness are influenced by so many aspects of our lives and interactions with the world. Some within our control, and others not. I wanted to provide people with a resource for reliable wellness information, with a side of fun. And, yes, The Whole Pineapple is centered around fertility, but I feel anyone who has an interest in whole-person wellness can enjoy it.

Anne:

Honestly, Ruby asked me if I was interested in doing a podcast with her and said “Would it entice you if I said I would do most the work?” And Ruby, that’s a quote, I went back and found the original email! So it’s not something I on my own had considered before, but I’ve always loved and listened to podcasts. I think they are such an accessible way of combining information and entertainment. Working in fertility for so many years I know there are so many good stories to be shared and that this is an area where many people feel alone. I hope that having us as your hosts to share advice and support can be helpful and fun for our listeners.

What do you think makes The Whole Pineapple unique from other sources out there?

Ruby:

The wellness focus!

Wellness is about more than physical health. Most models of wellness include 6 dimensions:  physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental. As many people who have gone through an infertility journey know, it is far more than just a physical experience. It is multidimensional, interconnected, and ever-changing.  If you are struggling in one dimension, it is likely that one or more of the other dimensions will be impacted as well. We know that infertility impacts emotional and mental health. We also know that optimizing wellness can help to promote fertility and improve outcomes.

There are a lot of great fertility podcasts out there. There are also a lot of great wellness and lifestyle medicine podcasts out there. I wanted to mix them together to create a resource to guide people through their fertility journeys and inspire their WHOLE lives.

Anne:

Agree! Fertility involves so much more than just sperm and eggs. I think our focus on whole health and how your fertility is really a lifespan concern sets us apart.

What are some of the topics The Whole Pineapple plans to discuss?

Ruby:

So many things! This is what’s so exciting about fertility and wellness, there really is an unending number of things to talk about and so many wonderfully knowledgeable experts out there. From one of my all-time favorite topics – nutrition, to something I really could do better – self-care, we really will be covering it all. Stress-management, exercise, sex, relationships, sleep, miscarriage, PCOS, LGBTQIA+ fertility, toxic exposures and habits, environmental and occupational impacts. These are just some of the many topics we have planned. I have more topic ideas than episode-spots right now! That’s part of the reason we’re putting out small ‘Short-Snack’ episodes – so we can provide even more content and more information!

Anne:

We also hope to demystify the steps of reproduction and common fertility tests and terms. Using Ruby’s broad knowledge, we want to talk more about lifestyle, nutrition, exercise and mental health and how it all relates to fertility. We have a great guest soon to review yoga for fertility, and plan to also cover topics like racial disparities in fertility care, and international differences in fertility treatment.

What else would you like listeners out there to know?

Ruby:

Fertility and wellness can certainly feel like  important, weighty topics. Anne and I want our podcast to be powered by knowledge and expertise. But, where it really shines is the compassion and empathy. We want our listeners to feel like they are sitting down with two people who truly ‘get it.’  And of course we do add some fun and humor along the way.

Anne:

We really want to also have listener stories, which can be about your personal fertility journey, or more focused on overall health/wellness. Each path of family building is so unique and we want to give space to different types of journeys so people don’t feel so alone. Please email us at (what is our email address again??)  if you have a story you want to share.

Ruby:

Also, prepare yourself for a lot of food and culinary-related puns. If it’s nerdy or silly, I’ll probably say it.

Where can we find The Whole Pineapple?

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (insert buttons here to link to Itunes, spotify, etc) or you can visit our website The Whole Pineapple.

Listen, subscribe, and give us a 5-star rating – it helps us reach more people!  And tell your family, friends, anyone you think will benefit from our podcast.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewholepineapplepod  and on Twitter @wholepineapple

And above all else, remember:  Be Well.  Be Kind.  Be You.