ivf support acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine
if you are planning to undergo IVF, or other assisted reproduction techniques, you may want to consider including acupuncture as part of your treatment plan. there are a few good reasons for including acupuncture:
a) the health of the eggs and the sperm ultimately affect the health of the embryo. our aim is to help you get the best possible outcome from your IVF cycle. acupuncture can effectively increase the health and vitallity of both the eggs and the sperm by increasing qi and blood flow to the reproductive organs.
b) we also focus on the health of the mother and her ability to carry the newly implanted embryo to full term. following an embryo or blastocyst transfer, we use acupuncture to strengthen the mother and to consolidate the pregnancy, by increasing qi and blood flow to the uterus to assist the embryo to embed in the lining of the uterus.
c) acupuncture offers a 'non-pharmaceutical' intervention and thus is great for supporting IVF cycles and reducing the side-effects of the IVF drugs without interfering with the drug treatment. side-effects of anxiety, bloating, constipation, overheating, irritability and stress are common at different stages throughout the IVF process.
for women
acupuncture can assist the health of the mother, the health and development the follicles(eggs), and the endometrium (lining of the uterus) as well as reducing the side-effects of IVF drugs.
for men
acupuncture can improve the general health of the father, as well as improving the motility and morphology of the sperm.
this is an interesting link re sperm quality and modern issues with male fertility.
preconception
in the lead up to an ivf cycle, it's a good idea to do some work on your own health to increase you chances of a successful outcome. there are some tips on our preconception page. we also offer preconception acupuncture and herbal medicine, (for female and male patients) to help prepare you for your ivf cycle.
research
Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: systematic review and meta-analysis: click here for link.. or here for another link!
For further research on acupuncture and ivf outcomes click here.
*treatments for preconception and ivf support usually involve a course of 8 - 24 treatments (1 or 2 per week depending on the patient and the timeline). due to the number of treatments involved, and the obvious expense, we offer significantly discounted fees for upfront payment for these courses of treatment. an initial consultation is necessary to properly assess you from a tcm perspective and an appropriate treatment plan is then derived from this.
This link will take you to an excellent video on fertilization if you want to understand it in greater depth click here
for Fertility Friend click here for android
click here for iPhone