Making a baby. It seems very simple. Sperm meets egg, cells divide, wait nine months and ta da… baby is born. For many couples, this is a natural process that takes place without a glitch. However, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that easily. Actually, all the steps are so complicated that it’s a bit of a miracle that it ever works out.

Whether you are planning for a pregnancy months from now, preserving your fertility as you hear your biological clock ticking, or are actively treating your infertility, we can help. Taking steps to improve your health will not only improve your chances of a successful conception, it will make for a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby.

Improve health of both partners prior to conception
Many people think of infertility as a woman’s problem, but it takes two to tango. In fact, studies indicate that the cause of infertility is equally divided between the female and the male, so both partners need to be evaluated and treated.

Chart and understand your cycle
Using natural family planning, you can learn your body’s fertility signs, identify underlying problems, and time intercourse for optimum results.

Balance your hormones
The endocrine system is very complex, and it is important to have proper functioning of thyroid, adrenal and reproductive hormones.

Optimize your digestion
This may not be the first thing you think of for fertility, but digestion plays a central role in your overall health status. Your body’s ability to absorb nutrients, balance blood sugars and eliminate wastes determines the state of your internal environment.

Enhance your nutritional status
Ensuring proper intake of nutrients helps to produce healthy eggs and sperm, as well as provide the nourishment for the developing fetus. Choosing organic, nutrient dense, whole foods will provide your body with a good foundation, and supplements can be used as needed.

Cleanse and detoxify your body
This should only be done prior to conception and can help prepare both the man and the woman. Most of us carry around accumulated toxins which can interfere with fertility and overall health. Detoxification decreases this burden and makes for a healthier environment for your baby.

Manage your stress
Infertility can be one of the most stressful experiences in a couple’s life. Expressing your feelings, taking control and seeking support from qualified professionals can be life savers for you and for your marriage. A great resource for information and support is www.resolve.org.

Treat underlying diseases
Many conditions can negatively impact a couple’s ability to conceive. We can help to identify overt diseases as well as subtle imbalances, and then work with you to optimize your chances of conception.

Increase success rates of conventional infertility treatments
By combining conventional and natural medicine, you increase your chances for assisted reproduction to be successful, and for the pregnancy to result in a healthy baby.

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Since starting my acupuncture practice in 1989, I have seen a number of women who wanted to promote fertility. Some had gone through fertility workups, others hadn’t, and some were considering it. I was impressed at how many of them successfully became pregnant with acupuncture and herbal treatment alone. The following are some real life success stories. (Names have been changed to protect privacy.)

Donna was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at 39 years old, but still wanted to start a family. At her first visit, she described her work with a fertility clinic and three previous failures of IVF with donor eggs. She sought acupuncture to help increase her chances of becoming pregnant and to ease the side effects of the hormone therapies. I treated Donna with acupuncture prior to and during her next IVF cycle to enhance fertility and manage her symptoms from the fertility drugs. Donna became pregnant at her next IVF treatment and gave birth to healthy twins nine months later.

Angela had a similar presentation, though in her case her husband was infertile due to a previous traumatic injury. Angela had tried several courses of intra-uterine insemination (IUI) which had failed and had recently been diagnosed as not being able to produce viable eggs. She and her husband decided to use donor eggs and sperm. I treated Angela with acupuncture, prenatal vitamins and herbal formulas while she was going through fertility procedures, and she successfully became pregnant after several attempts.

Norm and Stephanie are a young couple who had been trying to start a family for a year without success. Stephanie had irregular periods, and we began acupuncture and herbal therapies designed to regulate her cycles. Meanwhile, we ran tests on Norm’s semen and found low sperm count, poor motility and abnormal morphology. Norm was put on a Chinese herb formula to promote male fertility along with nutritional support and acupuncture treatment. Follow-up semen analysis at 3 months showed excellent results, with normal sperm count, good motility and normal morphology. Meanwhile, Stephanie’s cycles have improved and their chances of pregnancy have significantly increased.

Studies of acupuncture’s effects on promoting fertility have since been published that show demonstrably positive effects. For a brief review of the role of acupuncture and fertility, please visit the other articles on this infertility page.

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A recent study published in Fertility and Sterility found that 26% of women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) became pregnant following the procedure compared to 43% who received acupuncture before and after IVF. This represents a nearly 50% increase in effectiveness of IVF combined with acupuncture. Women in both groups were matched for age, number of transferred embryos and number of previous cycles among other criteria. As IVF is an expensive procedure, increasing pregnancy rates with acupuncture can save women both money as well as decrease emotional distress associated with the repeated use of this procedure.

According to another study recently published in the journal Medical Acupuncture, acupuncture may stimulate egg follicle development in women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF). In a small study of six women who all had difficulty with follicle production despite maximum hormonal therapy, three produced significantly more follicles with acupuncture treatment and all three conceived, although only one pregnancy lasted past the first trimester. Acupuncture also appeared to increase estrogen levels.

There seems to be much research going on these days looking at acupuncture’s effects on fertility and pregnancy, and the consensus is building that acupuncture is an important therapy for women trying to get pregnant or undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). A 2006 study published in the journal Fertility Sterility looked at 116 patients receiving acupuncture in the weeks following IVF compared with a group of 109 patients who received “placebo” acupuncture. Treatments were done immediately following embryo transfer and 3 days later. Clinical pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate (33.6% and 28.4%) were significantly higher  (virtually double) than in the placebo acupuncture group (15.6% and 13.8%).

Acupuncture also appears to facilitate natural birth. Scandinavian researchers studied 56 women at 39 weeks of pregnancy who were treated with 3 acupuncture treatments near their due dates to promote healthy labor. Compared with matched controls (women not receiving acupuncture treatment), women receiving acupuncture were more likely to labor spontaneously and less likely to undergo Caesarean sections. Another recent study of 100 women with spontaneous rupture of membranes at term found that those who received acupuncture had reduced length of active labor and fewer required oxytocin to induce labor. In those who needed labor induced, women who had received acupuncture completed active labor in half the time as women not receiving acupuncture.