Women’s Health & Fertility
Fertility and IVF
How can Acupuncture boost my Fertility?
While Trying to Concieve Naturally...
Acupuncture can help in many ways- regulating your cycles, lengthening a short luteal phase, increasing thickness and quality of uterine lining and increasing cervical fluid. I also see myself as a fertility coach- helping you to answer questions such as: "When are my peak fertile days?" and "At what point, if at all, should I seek help from a specialist?" I provide help with dietary and lifestyle suggestions to improve fertility naturally.
During IVF/IUI...
Whether you have been trying for 3 months or 3 years, acupuncture can naturally boost your fertility and increase your chances of success. I have past experience providing IVF acupuncture onsite at RMA Westside. As an acupuncturist with a background in science, I feel that an integrative approach benefits patients the most when it comes to fertility.
For IVF patients, clinical research has shown that acupuncture before and after embryo transfer increases both pregnancy rates and live birth rates, increases the thickness and quality of the endometrium, and decreases stress hormones. I am available 7 days a week for these transfer day sessions. In the months leading up to preparing for an IVF or IUI cycle, I recommend acupuncture once weekly to prepare your body for the process, which can be both emotionally and physically taxing. I have also seen that if women are able to take Chinese herbs in the months leading up to an IVF cycle, they can have more eggs retrieved, lower FSH, and thicker endometrium than in previous cycles. For both IVF and IUI, overall patients report that they experience less stress and decreased unpleasant side effects due to fertility medications than in cycles without acupuncture.
Acupuncture Research and Studies
Role of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Female Infertility
Three reproductive endocrinologists from Weil-Cornell Hospital in New York City discuss acupuncture's effects on reproduction from a biomedical perspective.
chengarticle-fertsteril.pdf
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Cornell Press Release
A summary of the above article, listing acupuncture's proposed mechanisms of action on the body.
Fertility and Sterility IVF Study- 2006
This May 2006 randomized study investigated the effects of luteal phase acupuncture on patients undergoing IVF with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). The acupuncture group had a 33.6% pregnancy rate, and the control group had a 15.6% pregnancy rate- a statistically significant difference.
fertility_and_sterility_v85_no5_dieterle.pdf
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Fertility and Sterility IVF Study- 2002
This 2002 randomized study found that patients recieving acupuncture shortly before and after embryo transfer had a much higher pregnancy rate (42.5%) vs the control group (26.3%).
fertility_and_sterility_v77_no4_paulus.pdf
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