A Soft Start: Your Journey to Conscious Conception
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A 90-day Path to slow down, listen, and come home — in preparation for pregnancy
Supporting fertility and preparing for pregnancy
A Soft Start is an in-depth guided journey for women and couples who want to prepare consciously for pregnancy, gently, holistically, and at their own pace.
Over the course of three months, we build a warm foundation for conception. Not as a project to manage, but as a process to inhabit. We follow the body’s own rhythm through cycle awareness, hormonal balance, and deep listening.
This journey also supports women and couples going through medical treatments such as IVF or ICSI — creating space for the body and mind to settle alongside the clinical process.
A Soft Start is about more than getting pregnant. It is about coming home to yourself, in preparation for what wants to arrive.
Slow down. Tune in. Building the Foundations Before You Begin
Fertility support Netherlands
Private duo-guidance with gentle peer support
A Soft Start is first and foremost a private journey for you and your partner. After a joint introductory meeting, you will both receive individual sessions that focus on your body’s signals, nutrition and lifestyle.
When you sign up for the Soft Start Preconception Journey programme, you will receive the Preconception Home Kit with carefully selected toxin-free care and cleaning products at your home address as a welcome gift.
You will also be part of a small, carefully selected group. Many women and couples find this support group to be encouraging and reassuring. The desire to have children can be a quiet and sometimes lonely phase — recognition and shared experiences can provide a great deal of comfort.
The programme includes two Masterclasses in Utrecht (a 30-minute drive from Amsterdam), the Netherlands. These sessions offer:
- in-depth knowledge about the cycle, a holistic view of fertility and hormones, and preparation
- joint body-mind exercises, which you often don’t get around to doing on your own
- space for questions and exchange
- recognition and normalisation of experiences
Between sessions, there are check-ins so that your process can be monitored and adjusted where necessary.
The combination of personal guidance and gentle group support ensures continuity, resilience and integration — without the programme becoming impersonal.
Who this journey is for
A Soft Start is for couples who:
- are considering pregnancy, are trying to conceive and want to prepare with intention and care
- value a holistic, integrative approach alongside medical care
- are curious about your body’s own rhythm, cycle awareness and embodied wellbeing
- live full, often demanding lives and want to slow down consciously
- appreciate reflection, autonomy and informed choice
- may be part of an international or mixed-culture relationship
- are open to exploring this transition together, at their own pace
A Soft Start may not be the right fit if you:
- are not having enough time to participate fully (yes, dedication is important)
- are looking for a quick fix, protocol or guarantee of outcomes
- want to control the process of conception
- are not willing to go within or open to personal reflection
What makes A Soft Start unique?
The gentle, natural approach: A Soft Start is not essentially about getting pregnant faster. It’s about being more yourself on the way there. Gentle. Conscious. At your own pace.
Furthermore, it offers:
- Holistic approach: we work with body, mind and heart.
- Individual and joint guidance: sessions for both partners, combined with masterclasses.
- Personalised advice: nutrition, relaxation and lifestyle tailored to your needs.
- Ongoing support: for 90 days via email.
A 90-Day Journey: What is included in the A Soft Start Programme?
No general advice, but a blueprint based on your own biology.
Because the maturation of an egg and sperm takes an average of 90 days, we follow this natural rhythm. This preconception programme has a unique structure: we start together as a couple, but then dive deep into the individual needs of both the man and the woman.
💛 Joint Start (Online Intake): We start off gently as a couple. In this session, we map out the route for the next 90 days and align your personal goals for a shared vision of your path to conception.
🍀 Preconception Home Kit: After the start, you will receive this welcome gift with carefully selected toxin-free care and cleaning products at your home address.
🌸 6x Specialist Fertility Reflexology (Woman – 75 min): In-depth sessions focused on restoring hormonal balance, facilitating blood flow to the uterus and supporting your body’s own rhythm.
🌿 2x Partner Reflexology (Male – 60 min): Targeted treatments for the partner to reduce stress (cortisol) and support vitality and testosterone balance.
🥗 Personal Nutrition & Lifestyle Plan (2x): Based on a 3-day diary, both the man and woman receive their own unique advice. No standard lists, but a natural plan to optimally nourish your cells.
🌟 Community Masterclasses (2 x 3 hours): Interactive group sessions with like-minded couples in which we dive deep into the world of fertility from a medical and holistic perspective, attuning to each other, your heart’s desire and mutual connectedness.
🧘 Guided Meditations & Fertility Audios: Exclusive access to a series of guided meditations and breathing exercises, specifically designed to relax and consciously attune your body and mind to trust, openness and resilience around your desire to have children.
📩 90 Days of Online Support: Throughout the entire process, you will have a direct line via email for all your questions, doubts or a quick moment of advice between sessions.
What this journey will bring you
A Soft Start is designed for:
- More peace in your body and mind
- More confidence in your own process
- Less anxiety and inner pressure
- A deeper connection with your body
- A gentler way of dealing with waiting and longing
- Not because everything is “resolved” — but because you feel more grounded in yourself.
Preconception preparation with professional guidance
You don’t have to go through this phase alone. In this programme, I offer you an open, warm environment where everything is allowed. Without judgement. Without haste. Without pressure. I walk alongside you, not ahead of you. So that you can follow your own pace and truth.
Slow Down, Listen and Grow
Before becoming pregnant, a subtle journey begins — in your body, in your heart, in your connection. A Soft Start invites you to slow down, listen and grow together, even before the first positive test. In peace, paying attention to your rhythm and that of your partner, we build a gentle foundation from which new life can be welcomed.
Sessions are offered in English. Open to international and mixed-culture couples living in the Netherlands.
Before anything can grow, it needs fertile soil.
Why A Soft Start
A Soft Start was created from years of experience supporting women around pregnancy & birth, including through complementary fertility consultations.
In these one-to-one moments, a great deal can happen: the body relaxes, the cycle comes more into balance, and a deeper connection with the body often develops.
Taking time for deep preconception preparation
At the same time, it became clear that these individual sessions do not always offer enough space for the broader, holistic knowledge around conception to be shared and truly integrated. There is also limited room in this setting for the role of the partner, while attuning and slowing down together can make a meaningful difference during this phase.
Preparing for pregnancy together
In addition, many women and couples feel a need to share their experiences with others who are in a similar transition. To be seen and recognised, without explanation or judgement.
Building fertility awareness and partner connection
From this wish to create holistic fertility awareness, connection, and embodied flow, this group programme was created.
A place where body, mind and heart can come together.
Gentle. Conscious. And in connection with others.
Are you ready to tune in?
Before anything can grow, there needs to be ground. Not a checklist. Not a protocol. A space where your body feels heard, and something that has long wanted to move, finally can.
Indicative investment € 1500
Do you want to find out if this journey fits you?
Are you already pregnant? Read on about the pregnancy and birth journey.
FAQ – About this Preconception Journey
Preconception care focuses on the period before pregnancy. By paying attention to health, nutrition, lifestyle, stress and hormonal balance during this phase, the body can prepare itself in its own time. This can contribute to a healthy pregnancy and a good start for mother and child.
This guided journey takes a holistic, integrative approach that supports your body’s own rhythm, cycle awareness and embodied wellbeing — without focusing on optimisation, tracking or guarantees. It complements medical care rather than replaces it.
A Soft Start is a complementary programme designed to sit alongside regular medical care. It supports physical and energetic balance but does not replace medical advice, fertility treatment or medical supervision. For personalised holistic fertility support in specific situations, visit the 1:1 care page.
People who value an intentional, reflective and embodied approach to preconception preparation — including international or mixed-culture couples, and those who want to approach the transition to pregnancy with awareness and steadiness.
Yes. This guided journey is designed to complement medical fertility support. Many participants use it alongside treatments like IUI or IVF to support body awareness, stress regulation and overall wellbeing — but always in consultation with their healthcare team.
Yes — all programme communications, sessions and materials are offered in English, and the programme is welcoming to international participants living in the Netherlands.
The introductory call is a short, no-obligation conversation to explore your needs, intentions and whether A Soft Start seems like a good fit for you. There’s no commitment required — just clarity and connection.
A Soft Start itself is a complementary support programme. The 1:1 therapeutic sessions (e.g., with Marise), some of these may be partially reimbursable under supplementary insurance — depending on your coverage and provider.
The duration of the A Soft Start programme is based on the natural development cycle of egg cells and sperm cells, which is approximately three months. By focusing on lifestyle, relaxation, nutrition and body awareness during this period, there is time to integrate changes in a calm and sustainable way.