Want to learn more about acupuncture for fertility? Watch Liz Richards’ interview with Anna Canzano on That Expert Show! You can also read about it in the Oregonian, listen on Apple, or listen on Android. For s Tip Sheet summary, click here.
Key points from That Expert Show Episode 6, “Acupuncture for Fertility”:
- Fertility is on the decline. Richards says she’s seeing a decrease in egg quality and quantity among young women and sperm analyses that are low in count, morphology, and mortality. A lot of her patients at Blossom Clinic are undergoing IVF and IUI.
- She says as a society, we need to think about the mental health aspect of trying to conceive, especially when western medicine methods are being applied.
- Acupuncture is typically done weekly with her patients.
- The acupuncture points are on certain places of these energetic channels that run through the body with chi flowing through them.
- For example, there’s a point on the wrist that, when needled, increases blood flow to the uterine and ovaries.
- A good acupuncture practitioner is going to work collaboratively with a western doctor.
- When it comes time for injections with IVF or IUI, Richards says she usually stops the Chinese herbs but has her patients continue vitamins and supplements.
- As a baseline, she has her patients take a prenatal vitamin and fish oil.
- Richards says supplements and Chinese herbs can help with egg quality, not egg quantity.
- She offers free phone consultations to help people decide whether they want treatment at her clinic.
- Acupuncture can help with nausea and fatigue and avoiding pregnancy loss within the first trimester, said Richards. During the third trimester, she says other services can help getting breached babies into the right position before going into labor.
- Acupuncture can also help women have an easier transition to labor by helping babies descend, softening the cervix, and stimulating contractions.
- These interventions work better if a patient comes in around 34 weeks versus if they’re past their due date.
- Learn more about Blossom Clinic and its services, and Richard’s Instagram Live videos on Tuesdays during which she will interview special guests and answer questions about what she does.