I am a fertility acupuncture specialist, giving extended treament courses to both assist with the IVF process and support natural fertility. I also treat recurrent miscarriage, PCOS, endometriosis and reproductive immunology. Chinese herbs for fertility are available, making treatment all the more effective.
Male fertility is always considered as a vital part of the fertility equation, and I encourage treatment for both parts of a couple where this is an issue.
It is really important to consider treatment as a long term investment. For couples considering acupuncture for IVF I always recommend a 4 cycle i.e. 16 week series of sessions.
I have taken extended specialist training in with Naava Carman's fertility acupuncture course. This training and CPD includes the skill set to interpret blood tests that include markers for reproductive immunology: TH1, TH2, NKC etc. Prior to that I took the acupuncture, IVF and natural fertility training course with the Zita West Fertility Clinic.
I have also recieved training with Ian Stones, a leading fertility expert on the specialist subject of male fertility, including interpretation of COMET sperm DNA fragmentation tests.Acupuncture provides excellent support for couples seeking to improve their fertility. It can give all important rebalancing to hormones and blood-flow in the body, ensuring the optimal development of ovaries, eggs, uterus and sperm. Emotions and stress are balanced and eased to allow a happier and healthier experience, whether following the natural pregnancy route or that of IVF.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine Is of course very well known in the treatment for female fertility. This is definately either with a view to a natural fertility support path or else as a special collaborative service of acupuncture for IVF.
To this end I know and collaborate with fertility servies in Surrey and can provide vital extra understanding and support when is comes to reading and interpreting hormone results.
For at least the last 20 years acupuncture has had a proven track record in fertility. Acupuncture for IVF is the most studied area scientifically, which gave rise to a number of standard protocols like the Paulus protocol. I don't follow protocols per se, as I always think it is best to treat women individually on a case by case basis.
This time is of immense importance to the process of conception within both eastern and western approaches, when preparation for the process of conception, whether natural or assisted take place.It allows the energy and physiology of the body to be balanced and useful dietary and lifestyle approaches to be implemented before the time of conception starts. Remembering that it takes 3 menstrual cycles for a follicle to develop into a egg in the ovary, I recommend expecting ideally this time to last 3 months.
This time uses the very latest scientific research of both western and eastern approaches to support the process of conception. Weekly treatments provide close harmonisation of the body’s energy and physiology. Depending on the patient we will be using either an assisted conception (IVF) acupuncture set of treatment principles or else a natural conception set as the basis of treatment.
If you have been given the diagnosis of PCOS you are no doubt interested in methods that can make a real difference. I have had a number of PCOS patients and had really good results from them, resulting in a number of successful pregnancies.PCOS fits a certain Chinese Medicine syndrome (called Internal Rheum or Dampness) very well... and the treatment for that syndrome is usually very effective indeed.
This is actually very well understood in Chinese medicine and treatment is quite straightforward.
Endometriosis is usually diagnosed in Chinese Medicine as Blood Stagnation, and with a good set of treatment approaches to match.
Regular acupuncture sessions are the key to sucess, which aim to imporve the flow of blood, reduce adhesions and ease pain and stress.
All fertility patients and specialists know that successful treatment for fertility do not just encompass the time up to a successful pregnancy test. It is vitally important to see the process of early pregnancy to the end of the first trimester through with weekly treatment designed to stabilise and enhance the health of the growing baby and the mother alike.
After the second trimester the pregnancy is considered stable and working well. Unless other health or pregnancy issues are coming acupuncture treatment can still be of use on a occasional basis to assist the health and wellness of the pregnancy.
Basically the more treatments you have, the better things will be. Time is a great asset when it comes to fertility treatment. BUT sometimes circumstances mean that a client become aware they want / need acupuncture right at the last minute. So in that case, it is fine to still come for treatment. In these unique cases a single standalone treatment is the right choice.
As I just said to a recent client: it is important to just look forwards in terms of planning. There are still significant steps we can make in a week of treatment to make it worthwhile.