
- Duration2 weeks
- Weekly study5 hours
Food as Medicine: Fertility and Pregnancy
Understand the role of food and nutrition in fertility and pregnancy
On this course for healthcare professionals, you will explore the latest evidence surrounding the role of nutrition on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. You will focus on two main topics: foods and fertility, and foods and pregnancy.
Foods and fertility will focus on optimising nutrition for fertility and pre-conception, including topics like the effect of food on reproductive health and dietary recommendations to improve fertility. Foods and Pregnancy will explore topics including requirements during pregnancy, and optimising gestational weight gain.
Syllabus
Week 1
Food, fertility and preconception
Introduction to the course
Learn more about the course, and what you're going to do this week.
Preconception
Explore the link between food and fertility and learn more about the types of topics you'll need to discuss with your clients when talking to them about food, fertility and preconception.
Effect of preconception food and diet
Learn about the impact of food and diet on preconception, fertility and disease.
Conditions that impact fertility
Explore a number of health conditions that can impact fertility.
Weight and fertility
Explore the scenarios to learn more about consulting your patients, particularly when approaching sensitive topics such as weight management and its impact on fertility.
A summary of key nutrients and foods for fertility
Find out more about the types of recommendations you should make when consulting patients on diet and how it can improve ovulation and fertility.
End of week
Reflect on your learnings from this week of the course, and more.
Week 2
Food and pregnancy
Introduction to the week
Explore nutrition for pregnancy and learn more about how you can become more confident in providing advice to your patient.
Physiology of pregnancy and nutrient metabolism
Learn about the role of maternal nutrition, nutrition partitioning, optimal gestational weight gain and more.
Weight management in pregnancy
Explore the scenarios to learn more about consulting your patients, particularly when approaching sensitive topics such as weight management during pregnancy.
Nutrient requirements during pregnancy
Learn more about nutrients requirements during pregnancy and find out if women really need to eat for two when pregnant.
Food recommendations during pregnancy
Learn about the types of recommendations you may need to make to your patients, including advice on alcohol and caffeine consumption, and food safety.
Responding to information online
Find out how health professionals respond to pregnancy information that's been made available online, and more.
End of course
Share your thoughts on your experience of participating in this course.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Generate a holistic multi-disciplinary approach to managing women peri-conception and during pregnancy
- Describe the role of pre-conception nutrition in terms of fertility, foetal development and adult health
- Provide evidence based food recommendations to improve ovulation and fertility
- Define dietary recommendations for pregnancy and define strategies for achieving
- Promote optimal nutrition pre-conception and during pregnancy by developing/providing handouts to women interested in having a family/considering conception. (Systems based patient safety learning outcome)
Who is the course for?
Places in this course are limited to 100, so please register early to avoid disappointment.
This course has been designed for healthcare professionals, specifically medical specialists, general practitioners and nurses.
However, the course may be of benefit to healthcare professionals such as dietitians and nutritionists with a background in nutrition, who may like a ‘refresher’ in this area of study.
You should have a good knowledge of science, medicine and healthcare practice.
Accrediting bodies and professional associations who have recognised this course
This course is recognised by:
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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners: Accredited by Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Accreditation Program for CPD
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Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF): this online educational activity is endorsed by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Federal Office. Completion attracts 8 CPD hours.
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Association for Nutrition (AfN): endorsed for CPD.
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This activity has been endorsed by the Association for Nutrition for the continual professional development of nutrition professionals. This AfN quality assurance mark identifies this activity as a reputable, evidence-based training in nutrition science.
- British Dietetic Association (BDA): endorsement applies only to the educational content of the learning activity.
If you have any questions on the course, its accreditation/endorsement or how it may relate to your professional healthcare practice we encourage you to email your questions to base.nutrition@monash.edu
Who will you learn with?
Gary is Professor and Head of Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food at Monash University. He is interested in dietary phytochemicals and health.
Nicole is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with experience in clinical dietetics and research. She has a PhD in Nutrition Science and has research interests in diabetes and fertility
Melissa is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist involved in research and teaching at Monash, along with working in private practice. She specialises in nutritional genomics.
Who developed the course?
Monash University
Monash University is one of Australia’s leading universities, ranked in the world’s top 1% by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It was established in Melbourne in 1958.
- Established1958
- LocationMelbourne, Australia
- World rankingTop 60Source: QS World University Rankings 2021
What's included?
This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.
Get a taste of this course
Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join: