STRATEGIES FOR FERTILITY

Pre-conception preparation involves improving the health of prospective Mum AND Dad to their optimum level and helping their body to produce the best quality eggs and sperm possible. It’s important that you’re both in good health and not stressed out, battling colds or dealing with digestive problems for at least four months prior to conception, no matter whether you are conceiving naturally or with the assistance of IVF treatment.

It takes approximately four months for your body to mature one egg or make one sperm. This means it will take at least this time for the changes you make to completely take effect.

The three main factors that affect healthy conception are the state of your health, the quality of your diet, and the type lifestyle you lead. Your body is a delicate eco-system. It’s like a garden of possibility and just as you would prepare the earth before planting seeds, you must also prepare your body, mind and spirit before conception. This will ensure healthy eggs and sperm, a stress-free mind, a regular menstrual cycle and a healthy body - all important elements for conception.

Preparing well means a more trouble-free pregnancy and birth and a healthier baby. There are many lifestyle and diet issues to address that many couples may not realise the importance of. Some of these include: D.I.Y. home renovations, tight underwear, laptop computers, alcohol and coffee drinking, not enough water etc. Ask us how these may be affecting your chances of conception. A study completed in 1992 found that pre-conception care greatly decreased the incidence of miscarriage, perinatal death and malformations as well as reducing the risk of premature labour, low birth weight and pre-eclampsia.

It should be noted that if you’ve had trouble conceiving for some time, then you can expect treatment to last anywhere from nine months to eighteen months. These figures depend on your ages and your health, diet and lifestyle. This doesn’t mean it won’t happen in less than this time because it sometimes can, however in the majority of cases, it will take longer to re-balance your body, hormones, build up blood if we need to, improve egg quality, de-stress, improve sperm count and quality and make all the necessary lifestyle and diet changes. Chinese medicine is very good at improving your ability to heal yourself but it does take time. Rebecca and Tina are here to guide you through this process using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, diet and lifestyle advice and will give you whatever extra resources we can to support you during this time.

If you’d like to know more about this topic in detail, Rebecca has written some articles that may interest you. Click here to download your FREE article: Pre-conception care & You

Below are the strategies we recommend for fertility.

Initial consultation: one and a half hours, $160

We go through your health from the unique view of Chinese medicine and offer a treatment plan based on our findings. We will offer advice on changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle that will be beneficial to your situation. At the conclusion of the consultation we write up a report and email it to you with our recommendations.

Treatment session: fifty minutes, $80

These include acupuncture to improve your fertility. We offer on-going support emotionally and guide you with your diet and lifestyle as this is so important when it comes to fertility.

1) The “Do It Yourself” strategy:

This involves the initial consultation only and does not include acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine.

2) The “We Want To Get Healthy To Conceive” strategy (there are no suspected problems):

This involves an initial consultation as well as fortnightly acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbal medicine to assist your body to de-stress, improve energy levels, sleep better, improve egg and sperm quality, improve the lining of the uterus for implantation. The suggested treatment time is four months as that is the approximate length of time it takes for one egg to mature and to make one sperm. After two months your situation will be reviewed and a follow up report written. This will happen again at the four month mark. The aim of these reports is to ensure you don’t forget the crucial information and they will help keep you both on track to reach your goals. 

3) The “I Have Reproductive Health Issues That Need Addressing” strategy:

FOR WOMEN (endometriosis, poly cystic ovarian syndrome, amenorrhoea etc).

This involves an initial consultation plus appropriate Chinese herbal medicine plus weekly acupuncture sessions for three months. At the end of this time a follow-up report will be written to assess your progress and another course of treatment will likely be recommended. It’s normal for more than one course to be required. Four to six courses of treatment are required in some cases.

FOR MEN (low sperm count, poor morphology, DNA fragmentation, poor motility)

This involves strategy number one plus appropriate Chinese herbal medicine plus acupuncture twice a week for six weeks. After this time a sperm analysis is re-done and depending on the results, further courses of treatment are required. Very often more than one course of treatment is required, which is completely normal. Four to eight courses of treatment may be required in some cases.

4) The “I Live Too Far Away From Your Clinic” strategy:

This involves strategy one plus Chinese herbal medicine and where possible, one acupuncture session per month.

* * *

Find out more about CHINESE MEDICINE and how it works

Check out lifestyle and diet tips regarding your fertility on our NEWS page