The evidence
Check out our reproductive acupuncture evidence and research project.
Miscarriage prevention
“acupuncture demonstrates beneficial hormonal responses with decreased miscarriage rates“
There are two ways to prevent miscarriage: preconception care and early pregnancy support. Fertility acupuncture plays a role in both.
Why it takes months to prepare for pregnancy
Healthy eggs and sperm are essential elements for a viable embryo.
Your eggs are housed in follicles in your ovaries. For you to ovulate, follicles need grow from microscopic to just above 2 centimetres. This maturation takes anywhere from three months up to a year. Your lifestyle (diet, stress, exercise), your health, your ovarian heath during the time of follicle maturation are essential for a healthy egg and for a healthy baby.
It also takes time to produce sperm. Spermatocytes maturate in about three months.
That’s why when you start acupuncture or lifestyle changes it takes at least three months for the changes to happen.
Moreover, your uterine lining, hormones, immunity, stress all play a role in keeping pregnancy going. Some of these factors can take months to balance. Especially if you have health conditions affecting fertility, you may need to start early to get your body baby-friendly.
In most situations, you don’t have to stop trying to actuate a comprehensive preconception plan. It may, however, take time for the desired improvement in your health. We recommend that you don’t delay and get in touch early.
Why preconception care matters
We recommend preconception care to every woman willing to prevent a miscarriage and have a healthy baby.
Depending on your situation, you may need to start anywhere from three to 12 months leading to conception. This is the best time to address the numerous underlying causes of pregnancy loss.
Integrative holistic approach is the best for preventing pregnancy loss. To optimise your chances of a healthy pregnancy, we recommend a combination of specialised fertility acupuncture, lifestyle and sometimes Chinese herbs. Before we develop a treatment plan, we comprehensively assess your situation.
Additionally, we consider acupuncture and lifestyle support for the male partner or donour. It takes two to make a baby, and sperm quality matters. High levels of sperm DNA fragmentation have been shown to increase the risk of miscarriage.
The best way to prevent future pregnancy loss is by taking an integrative and holistic approach.
Early pregnancy support
Women who had acupuncture in early pregnancy had fewer miscarriages.
Fertility acupuncture is a useful tool to reduce the risk of miscarriage leading to conception. But do you need to continue once pregnant?
Both our clinical experience and research show, that it is a good idea to keep going.
A good example is this Australian study for first-trimester nausea. Participants received on average five acupuncture sessions. This brief course of treatment had a very beneficial side effect, it seemed to half their risk of miscarriage: only 5% of women in the study miscarried, compared to the average of 11% miscarriages in Australia.
Acupuncture for early pregnancy bleeding
Acupuncture may be helpful for early pregnancy bleeding, otherwise known as a threatened miscarriage.
To start with, not all early pregnancy bleeding equals loss of the baby. We do know, how scary it can be. Early pregnancy bleeding is quite common and one or two out of 10 women will have a miscarriage.
For the majority of the miscarriages, the cause is unknown. There is no evidence that allopathic medications or bed rest will reduce the risk of threatened miscarriage. The only tool your doctor has, is “watchful waiting”. Unfortunately, there is nothing else they can do.
But we can. We can support your pregnancy with acupuncture. In this small study, women with early pregnancy bleeding who received this time-proven therapy had less threatened miscarriage symptoms like bleeding, cramping and back pain.
Reduce stress, increase chances of live birth
Furthermore, acupuncture is known to reduce stress and anxiety. Stress in early pregnancy may overstimulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Consequently, your progesterone levels can plummet. And you need a healthy level of progesterone to maintain pregnancy.
As a consequence of stress, your immune responses can become pregnancy-unfriendly. A group of researchers have shown that stress in early pregnancy decreases thyroxine levels. The mother is the sole source of thyroxine for the baby during the first trimester of pregnancy and thyroxine is absolutely vital for healthy baby brain development.
When a pregnant woman is stressed, the stress hormones will cross the placenta, which affects the health of the baby.
Acupuncture has a huge potential to reduce the risk. Supportive care and stress-relief reduce the rates of unexplained recurrent miscarriage.
Book an appointment today
We specialise in Fertility acupuncture since 1999. Don’t delay. Book an appointment now to discover how our expertise can help your situation.
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