Preconception Acupuncture
Acupuncture for Fertility and IVF
The World health Organization recognizes that acupuncture can aid fertility problems, both male and female. It can boost the chances of conceiving successfully (both naturally and through IVF) as it prepares the body for conception and pregnancy. How can it help couples who are trying to conceive? Successful conception depends on the couple’s overall health. Acupuncture and the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine is a holistic form of medicine, meaning it treats and balances the whole body and does not concentrate on alleviation of the symptoms of disharmony alone. Acupuncture is a painless, relaxing therapy that rectifies and harmonises the body’s energy and expels pathogenic factors. It can regulate hormones, strengthen the immune system, reduce stress and increase energy. A typical treatment lasts up to an hour.
The approach used is to optimise the fertility health of both partners.
This is achieved in the female partner by treating any irregularity in the menstrual cycle such as amenorrhea, heavy bleeding, anovulation and gynaecological problems such as PMS, endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS.
Acupuncture can optimize the fertility health of the male partner by improving sperm quality and count. Specific protocols exist for low sperm count, poor morphology and low sperm motility.
As stress, depression, endocrine hormone imbalance and the body’s primary metabolism may all impact conception all of these issues can be addressed using acupuncture and can benefit both partners.
Acupuncture and IVF
Preparation for IVF can begin several months prior to start of treatment, but even one month before commencement of treatment can make a difference to the fertilisation rate and can improve implantation success.
How does Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine help improve the IVF success rates?
- It improves the function of the ovaries to produce better quality eggs.
- It regulates the hormones to produce larger number of follicles.
- It increases the blood flow to the uterus and increases the thickness of the uterine lining.
- It relaxes the patient and decreases her stress.
- It helps prevent uterine contractions.
- It lessens the side effects of the Western drugs used during IVF.
- It improves the sperm quality and count to create better quality and quantity of embryos.
- It decreases the chance of miscarriage,
Having acupuncture pre and post IVF transfer can be particularly useful.
- Treatment prior to embryo transfer invigorates blood flow in the local area in order to make the body more receptive to the embryo.
- Treatment after embryo transfer stabilises the hormone levels and therefore keeps the embryo safe. This also calms and relaxes the uterus so that it does not reject the egg
Acupuncture and Pregnancy
Acupuncture can be especially helpful during pregnancy as well.
- To help stimulate the flow of blood to the uterus and to help lift energ levels.
- It is also good for stress – which is not good for mother or baby.
- Nausea, fatigue and back ache can also be helped significantly.
- Acupuncture / moxibustion can be use to turn breech babies.
- Acupuncture can induce labour when a baby is overdue.