Couples struggling with falling Pregnant often go through a silent experience. Often you're trying to conceive but no-one knows from the outside, only your private conversations with your partner bring up the issues around not falling Pregnant or the stress of the hurdles along the way. You may search online to get support or advice from specific forums & chat rooms. It's not professional advice, but you think at least someone here can sympathise with the heartache, frustration & tears. You hear from Women and men who share their experiences and disappointments of failed IVF cycles, or grief of a miscarriage or even the joy of success. One of the questions that often comes up in conversation is "Did Acupuncture help you get Pregnant?"
I've worked with many couples over the years who have conceived successfully when Acupuncture was part of their fertility plans. Whether that included IVF or not, whether they had time on their side or not, being a Practitioner exposes you to the ups and downs of all Fertility matters. I have been privileged to be a part of many happy outcomes, sometimes twins, sometimes single babies and going on that journey with couples is an amazing experience.
I'd love for this to be an interactive blog post, so if you have a story to share, whether successful or unsuccessful using Acupuncture, I'd love to hear about it. Please share your experience below in the comments section. But first, here are 8 Ways Acupuncture can help your Fertility Plans.
8 ways Acupuncture can help your Fertility Plans:
- It's natural, there are no drugs involved.
- It works with your body to promote hormone balance, good circulation and manage unwanted symptoms.
- It calms your nervous system and relaxes you
- It assists egg quality
- It tidies up your cycle and promotes good ovulation
- It promotes good implantation
- It can manage side effects of Fertility Drugs
- It assists Embryo Transfer
As a registered Acupuncturist, I can't publish any of the feedback I get from my own clients, but I can talk from my own experience. I used Acupuncture as part of my own fertility plans and I'm glad that I did. There was just one thing I wish I'd done earlier....
My partner & I had decided to make a concerted effort to conceive in March. By May we were scratching our heads, wondering why nothing had happened yet.
First steps towards Action
I booked myself in for some Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs. Being a self-confessed work-a-holic, I knew that stress was a part of my health picture and using Acupuncture was a good way to manage my stress at the least. I had no pre-existing conditions such as PCOS or Endometriosis so I continued with fortnightly sessions.
I didn't think anything was wrong per se, so I didn't go to the Doctor to get checked out. At this stage we were still only at 2 months active trying to conceive, so I figured they would only send me away with the advice to "just keep trying naturally". Often this was the advice my clients would get in the early stages of trying naturally, with no other hormonal imbalances, so I was very familiar with the Western Medical advice.
After 3 months, I stopped the acupuncture and continued with the Chinese Herbs. I was taking herbs to nourish my Kidney energy, which helps with Adrenal Exhasution or Adrenal Fatigue. I was a classic work-a-holic picture of stress combined with exhaustion.
Refreshing my routine
In November/ December I bit the bullet and went back to Acupuncture, this time weekly sessions, just to manage my PMS and keep my cycle regular. This was the thing I wish I'd done sooner - stick to a treatment regime.
After 6 sessions I ended up in that golden moment where you get a positive pregnancy test. When you're looking at that pregnancy test seeing two lines, it's a bit of a mind-blowing moment. For all the EFFORT to TRY, I came to the realisation that if I simply make the time to look after myself, my health, my stress and my hormones things fall into place.
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]It was like letting go of the stress actually got me closer to my goal. So the lesson? letting go, NOT efforting so much was the moral of my story.[/perfectpullquote]
The Moral of my story?
For me it was all about being diligent with those appointments, coming in each week for acupuncture, even if I felt there was nothing out of my usual routine going on. Little did I realise how stressed I was being a business owner and how that was affecting my health. Those weekly treatments helped address the stress issues I was facing and how my body was presenting the stress - tight neck and shoulders, mind racing with a million thoughts, we had just purchased our house the month before and were settling in. To add to that in December, I took a tumble and fractured my ankle, so my body was also dealing with some major healing & recovery as well. It was ALL happening. My body probably was saying to me "Just slow the heck down!" - wisdom is in hindsight, right?
So I'd like to ask you now, Did Acupuncture help YOU get Pregnant? It would be amazing to hear of any experiences you've had with Acupuncture along your Fertility Journey.
So from the lesson I learned, my advice to you is if you decide to use Acupuncture to help your fertility, give it some time. Acupuncture is not a magic bullet, but can help couples struggling to conceive when Western Medicine alone cannot get the positive result. To receive my FREE Fertility Guide with 33 tips on Better Fertility, click here, where you can access a free copy.
