Women’s Fertility & IVF Support
At Dunsborough Acupuncture we love Women & we’re super passionate about supporting each Woman through her unique fertility journey.
Clinically, infertility is defined as the inability to achieve conception after 12 or more months of actively trying.
Infertility is currently affecting approximately 1 in 6 Australian couples.
Fertility & Preconception Care
Traditional Chinese Medicine Fertility protocols are deeply focused on realigning a woman’s health and inner vitality to remove any blockages, nourish any deficiencies or reducing any excessive pathological factors within the body to allow pregnancy to manifest with ease. Particular emphasis is placed on a woman’s mental and emotional state and current levels of stress. As not only do these factors have the potential to disrupt the movement and nourishing qualities of her Qi and Blood they also have the ability to throw her internal environment into a state of metabolic chaos which is counter productive to conception.
Regular Acupuncture treatment has long been traditionally used to enhance a women’s fertility in the following ways:
Regulating and maintaining a healthy Menstrual Cycle.
Regulating the endocrine system to assist in optimal hormonal expression.
Promoting a healthy menstrual bleed and complete emptying of the uterus to promote endometrial thickening (uterine lining).
Regulating and promoting healthy ovulation.
Supporting healthy egg maturation.
Improving the quality of a women’s fertile mucus.
Preconception Treatment Protocols with Acupuncture
Acupuncture, just like any method of treatment you choose to increase your likelihood of conceiving is not a quick fix. Ongoing treatment is required to continually support your reproductive and endocrine systems to align with falling pregnant. As your cycle is in a constant state of change, weekly treatments on specific days of your cycle is recommended to support each hormonal phase and physiological change your body moves through throughout the month.
TCM fertility protocols state that ideally a woman should undergo 3 months (12 weekly sessions) of Acupuncture. This gives the practitioner and patient 3 full months to address her hormones and menstrual cycle whilst paying attention to any underlying health concerns and lifestyle factors which require treatment. However, this is a general recommendation, treatment frequency during this phase will be discussed with you by your Acupuncturist as it dependant on a variety of factors and recommendations may change in response to your needs.
Once conception is achieved your Acupuncturist will be happy to discuss with you about your needs moving forward and develop a treatment protocol specifically for you. Traditionally Acupuncture has long been used with the intention of strengthening pregnancy and preventing miscarriage via maintaining adequate blood flow to the embryo, uterus and placenta.
IVF Treatment & Acupuncture Support
If you and your partner are thinking about IVF, just starting out on your IVF journey or are deep in the IVF trenches adding Acupuncture to your fertility treatment protocol may be highly beneficial to your overall comfort, experience and IVF outcomes. Here’s a quick step-by-step of the IVF treatment protocol and how regular Acupuncture throughout the IVF process may be beneficial.
Step 1 – IVF Preconception Care (with Acupuncture)
If you have yet to commence your IVF journey consider utilising Acupuncture during a dedicated preconception care phase to enhance your health, ready your body and potentially increase your likelihood of a successful IVF experience.
Step 2 - Ovary Stimulation
Stimulation of your ovaries begins on Day 1 of your cycle. Self-injected medication commonly containing FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinising Hormone) is prescribed for 8-14 days to stimulate the follicles in the ovary to produce more eggs. Follicle development is observed throughout the cycle with blood tests and transvaginal ultrasounds. Toward the end of the stimulation phase a “trigger injection” is administered which readies the eggs for ovulation. The egg retrieval procedure is performed before you ovulate.
Step 2 (with Acupuncture):
Weekly treatments (on specific days of your cycle) for at least one month prior to the menstrual cycle before you begin your stimulation / medicated phase is recommended. This is to prep the body for the month-long pharmaceutical stimulation and egg retrieval. Women often report to us that Acupuncture during this time helps them to feel less “toxic”, bloated and emotional whilst easing abdominal discomfort and reducing stress. Your Acupuncturist will also endeavour to address any other side effects of the medication that arise if possible.
Step 3 - Egg Retrieval (EPU)
The egg retrieval aka the ‘egg pick-up’ (EPU) is a medical procedure where your fertility doctor retrieves the eggs that have been produced by your ovaries. The procedure is performed under sensitive ultrasound technology and usually takes between 20-30mins.
Step 3 (with Acupuncture):
Acupuncture soon after your EPU is highly recommended to help reduce abdominal and pelvic tissue inflammation. This is especially important if you have decided to go ahead with a fresh embryo transfer. In these cases treatment is focused on supporting, healing and easing the tissue irritation and inflammation within the pelvic cavity to promote the most ideal environment for your embryo transfer. 1-3 treatments is recommended between your EPU and transfer.
If you have decided to put your embryos on ice 1-2 Acupuncture treatments soon after your EPU is still recommended before returning to weekly sessions where focus is on tissue repair and detoxification from your harvesting cycle and promoting a healthy menstruation before moving into transfer preparation.
Step 4 – Sperm Selection
The fresh or frozen sperm sample is prepared in the lab before being graded for quality. The most ideal sperm for fertilisation is selected for its healthy morphological appearance (structure/shape).
Step 5 – Fertilisation
The retrieved eggs are then carefully extracted from the follicular fluid they are contained in before being cultured in the ideal environment prior to insemination. The eggs are then introduced to the sperm via Standard IVF insemination or Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or a combination of both. Standard IVF insemination allows the egg and sperm to meet in the culture dish and fertilise naturally whereas ICSI takes a single ideal sperm and carefully injects it directly into each individual egg.
Step 6 – Embryo Development
In the 17hrs post insemination your fertility doctors will look for signs of normal fertilisation and the early signs of embryo development. Growing embryos are cultured in an incubator where the growing environment mimic’s the bodies as closely as possible. Embryo development is closely monitored over the next 5-6 days. Most fertility clinics like to see your embryo make it to their Blastocyst stage as transferring a more robust embryo increases live birth outcomes. Unfortunately, it is common to lose some eggs at this stage as they fail to develop into embryos.
Step 7 – Embryo Transfer
Fresh or frozen embryos are prepared in the lab ready for your embryo transfer. The transfer is a quick and simple procedure (not dissimilar to a pap smear) where your fertility doctor uses a catheter containing your embryo and places it through your cervix and into your uterus. The whole procedure takes 5 minutes.
Step 7 (with Acupuncture):
Acupuncture a few days following your embryo transfer focuses on assisting the implantation process. Traditionally this is known as a “holding” treatment whereby we support and nourish the upright Qi of the body whilst increasing blood flow to the uterus. Women find this treatment to be a very gentle, nourishing and beautiful opportunity to breathe into this process and connect with their embryo.
Step 8 – The Pregnancy Blood Test
Approximately two weeks post embryo transfer you’ll undergo a blood test to measure the levels of hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in your bloodstream. This is how a positive pregnancy test will be confirmed in the early stages.
Step 8 (with Acupuncture):
Women often report that Acupuncture during the two week wait between transfer and their blood test to be highly beneficial. Acupuncture can promote feelings of relaxation and thereby reducing anxiety and feeling of stress. Treatment focuses around calming the system and supporting implantation. 1-2 treatments are recommended during this time. Your Acupuncturist will advise the next steps to take regarding your treatment depending on your blood test results.
Who is Fertility support most suitable for?
Women and/or couples who have been diagnosed with Primary or Secondary Infertility.
Women and/or couples who have been diagnosed with Unexplained Fertility.
Women and/or couples who wish to optimise their health before conceiving.
Women and/or couples who are about to start IVF treatment protocols.
Women and/or couples who are already undergoing IVF treatment protocols.
Women and/or couples who have experienced recent or recurrent miscarriage.
Women who have had C-sections or have undergone one or more D&C’s in the past.
Male Infertility
It takes two to tango baby!
Male infertility accounts for approximately 40% of infertility cases. Thats huge! So why isn’t more emphasis placed on men’s fertility and more measures put into place to educate men on how to improve sperm quality? Unfortunately the fertility industry has been quick to overlook male factor infertility and the significant role it plays in couples failure to conceive. The most common reasons for male infertility include factors pertaining to sperm dysfunction:
Low sperm number and/or poor sperm production
Morphology dysfunction (abnormally shaped sperm).
Motility dysfunction (abnormally moving sperm).
Anti-sperm antibodies
Here at Dunsborough Acupuncture we recommend men also participate in the preconception care process. This is to assess and address any lifestyle factors or underlying health concerns which may be contributing to sperm dysfunction and reducing the couples chances of conception. Even if no significant dysfunction is present, preconception care will assist the father in achieving increased vitality and better health to then produce the best quality genetic material for your future child.
We understand the value & importance of Integrative Healthcare
Here at Dunsborough Acupuncture we’re a big fan integrative healthcare and we often collaborate with other local superstar practitioners in the medical and allied health fields. The professional relationships between Dunsborough Acupuncture and external practitioners has been nurtured over many years and we can vouch for their work as we strive to provide you with the most comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to your care.
If you are wishing to undergo Acupuncture treatment for either Women’s Health or Fertility / IVF Support please advise the Receptionist at the time of making your booking.
This is to assist us to make sure you have the correct appointment type and intake forms.
We look forward to working with you.