Carolyn Gundell, M.S., leads RMACT’s Fertility Nutrition Program, a service available to all patients. Carolyn has a great passion for nutrition and its link to fertility, which she shares with her patients to empower them with food and lifestyle behaviors that optimize their health for conception, successful fertility treatment, and healthy pregnancy.
After a nutrition assessment, patients benefit from individualized meal plans, advice on how to develop positive relationships with food, and on going motivational counseling sessions with Carolyn. She works closely with her patients and their team of fertility specialists to personalize their nutrition plans to reflect each patient’s own food preferences, concerns, and experiences – all influenced by their culture, religion, values, health, and emotions. In addition, Carolyn encourages her patients to embrace comprehensive wellness through acupuncture and relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, and tai chi to reduce stress. The goal is to support their fertility treatment while improving blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and insulin control, and weight management.
Under Carolyn’s direction, RMACT has implemented a Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Clinic, one of the few of its kind in Connecticut. With Carolyn’s help, patients address this frustrating metabolic condition that causes hormonal imbalances, preventing women from ovulating and leading to infertility. It is a common condition, affecting 5 – 10% of women of reproductive age, and is best managed through lifestyle changes such as healthy eating habits, exercise and weight management.
Beyond patient care, Carolyn co-conducts health and nutrition seminars with Monica Moore, Nurse Manager, as part of an RMACT patient’s standard of care. Topics include Pre-conception Considerations, Nutrition Tools for Fertility Success, Heart Disease Risk Factors, Diabetes Risk Factors, Health and Nutrition for Pregnancy, Exercise, Fitness & Fertility and more.
With over 20 years of nutrition experience, Carolyn has a special interest in helping women with conditions that affect fertility, including insulin resistance, diabetes Type1/Type 2, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), lipid disorders, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, underweight and overweight concerns. Carolyn earned her M.S. in Nutrition from Columbia University and completed her undergraduate studies in Biology/Nutrition at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. She is trained as a Research Associate in Clinical Skills Training, and is certified in HIPAA, CPR, First Aid and Food Safety & Sanitation. Previously, Carolyn worked at Pediatric Endocrine & Diabetes Specialists, The Center for Advanced Pediatrics, both in Norwalk and at Yale University Medical Center’s Obesity, Diabetes, PCOS Clinic and The Yale Fertility Center.
