Fertility and Pregnancy

We help clients wanting to conceive no matter the method: the good old-fashioned natural way, with the help of fertility medications, with Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI), and with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). We begin the process of improving fertility for men and women ideally several months prior to conception, and we can also help you if you are in the midst of several of these options. This time frame is very important for all patients, but especially for those diagnosed with low AMH or diminished ovarian and sperm quality, and chronic conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis, insufficient uterine lining, and recurrent pregnancy loss.

We recommend what is needed in terms of vitamins, supplements, and botanical medicine. We can also recommend home test kits to assess how the body is working, from adrenals and reproductive hormones, to GI function, neurotransmitters, and detoxification.  Treatments are very nourishing to the reproductive organs and the kidney adrenals, essentially improving hormone balance via the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian-adrenal pathways. Our patients find that the treatments help them with stress management as well.

We help people every day with:

Reproductive organ quality, function, and blood flow (Improving ovarian and uterine quality)

Ovulation, menstrual cycle, and immune function

Embryo implantation

Sperm quality and quantity 

Mental and emotional resilience

Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Most Fertility and OBGYN doctors refer their patients who are trying to conceive for Chinese medicine. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) advocates Chinese medicine to increase a couple's chances of conceiving. While we always work with our patients for several months prior to IVF and ART treatments, many studies have also shown higher success rates when acupuncture is performed on the day of IVF embryo transfer and on the day of IUI. We provide all of these treatments in our office. We are available Monday through Saturday by appointment each week.

A Randomized Study Evaluating Acupuncture as an Adjunct to IVF

A small study was performed at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and the Eastern Center for Complementary Medicine in 2009. The study shows a significantly lower amount of gonadotropins used when IVF is combined with standard acupuncture. A 70% pregnancy rate was also achieved with standard acupuncture and IVF, compared to 25%.

Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy

Wolfgange E. Paulus, M.D. et al, 2002 

Clinical pregnancies were documented in 34 of 80 patients (42.5%) in the acupuncture group, whereas pregnancy rate was only 26.3% (21 out of 80 patients) in the control group.

Acupuncture and IVF embryo transfer, ART and PCOS 

Acupuncture Med. 2006 Dec;24(4):157-63 Stener-Victorin, et al.

During the last five years the use of acupuncture in female infertility as an adjuvant to conventional treatment in assisted reproductive technology (ART) has increased in popularity. The present paper briefly discusses clinical and experimental data on the effect of acupuncture on uterine and ovarian blood flow, as an analgesic method during ART, and on endocrine and metabolic disturbances such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Further it gives a summary of recent studies evaluating the effect of acupuncture before and after embryo transfer on pregnancy outcome. Of the four published RCTs, three reveal significantly higher pregnancy rates in the acupuncture groups compared with the control groups. But the use of different study protocols makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. It seems, however, that acupuncture has a positive effect and no adverse effects on pregnancy.

Literature on TCM and Fertility

The Infertility Cure, Randine Lewis

Acupuncture and IVF, Lifang Liang

Making Babies, Sami S. David and Jill Blakeway

We are part of a large peer network of CM providers in California who work with Fertility and Pregnancy http://norcalfertility.com/ and we are familiar with all of the bay area and regional fertility doctors. 

Perhaps the most important time for new or experienced moms to receive extra care and nurturing is in the days, weeks, and months after birth. Chinese medicine has a long tradition of caring for women at this time. We encourage all of our moms to return to us within two to six weeks of giving birth for at least two acupuncture/moxa sessions. These treatments can speed up and enrich your recovery after labor and delivery, and can help with:

• Abdominal cramping
• Prolonged bleeding
• Wound healing
• Insufficient lactation
• Mastitis
• Pain
• Hormone balancing
• Insomnia
• Postnatal depression
• Constipation 
• Hemorrhoids
• Poor digestion
• Irregular Sweating