Acupuncture for Fertility: Your Top 5 Questions Answered

 

1. How does acupuncture for fertility work?

 Acupuncture has been scientifically proven to help regulate hormones, optimise the uterus environment by improving blood flow to it and reduce the stress and anxiety that comes with fertility struggles.

2. How often should I have acupuncture for fertility?

 Acupuncture is always tailored uniquely to each person who comes to clinic. Therefore, the frequency of treatment will vary depending on the individual’s reproductive health, stress levels, general health etc. In some cases, we treat once a month, but mostly we treat fortnightly or once a week. When going through IVF weekly treatment is timed alongside IVF protocols including egg collection, transfer and the Two Week Wait.

3. When should I start having acupuncture for fertility?

 We always recommend starting 3 months before you’re ready to conceive. We need this amount of time to help make changes and for these to have an impact. We know it takes approximately 3 months for eggs to mature and develop within the ovary ready to be ovulated and it’s about 60 days for sperm to mature. Therefore, change needs to be consistent during this time to have the maximum benefit.

4. What should I expect in a session of acupuncture for fertility?

 With us, the first session will take an hour and half and we will go through all aspects of your current health, lifestyle, and health history. We want lots of information about your digestion, sleep, emotional well-being, stress levels, work life balance, exercise, menstrual cycle health, underlying health conditions, vaginal health, immune health, diet, medications, supplements………it’s a lot!  We do this because we want to look at all the areas that we know can have an influence on health and therefore fertility. With this information we develop a unique plan tailored to you, which aims to address any areas where there might be issues. As well as the talking there is obviously the acupuncture, which usually lasts about 20 to 30 minutes and is a chance to relax, switch off and take time for yourself.

5. Where do I find a fertility acupuncturist?

Anyone can call themselves a fertility acupuncturist and it’s important that you work with someone who has experience and specialist training in this area. You want a practitioner that you connect well with, but one that understands the complexities of both natural fertility support and assisted conception from a Western medicine perspective as well as a Chinese medicine perspective. There are several specialist groups out there. Myself and my team are trained or are currently training with the Fertility Support Company, and we are Advanced Level specialists. You’ll be in good hands with anyone with this qualification as 5 years’ experience is needed, and it is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive training programmes in the UK.

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