5 Ways Acupuncture Can Significantly Improve Pregnancy Outcomes

The causes of implantation failure and pregnancy loss are many. The lining might be too thick or too thin, there might be genetic issues with the egg or sperm, immune issues can play a role. Additionally, there can be a hormonal dysfunction or abnormalities in the shape of a women’s uterus.

A previous pelvic inflammatory disease might have impacted her fallopian tubes which now harbor secretions that impede implantation. She might have endometriosis. All are suspect. And then to make matters more difficult a women is more at risk if she is advanced maternal age. Which is defined as the ripe old age of 35 years old.

How Can Acupuncture Help

• Acupuncture for fertility has been demonstrated to increase the blood flow to the uterus. Improving blood flow to the uterus has been shown to improve pregnancy outcomes. Healthier blood flow is a healthier pregnancy.
• Acupuncture normalize hormones associated with implantation. A 2009 study on 67 IVF patients, showed the acupuncture group had significantly improved cortisol and prolactin levels during the medication phases of their IVF cycles. These trends suggest more fertile IVF cycles
• Improved miscarriage rate. A 2006 Pub mMed article, compares the miscarriage rate between two hundred and forty seven women. All patients were given progesterone after their IVF transfer. 116 women served as control and took no Chinese herbs. Group A started on the formula Gutai 2 days after transfer. Group B started on the same formula 14 days after transfer. The miscarriage rate was 23.28% for the control group, 13.64% for Group B and 12.84% for Group A. There were no adverse effects reported in terms of liver or kidney function and no birth defects in the Chinese Medicine group.
• Possibly improved Implantation rate. A 2011 study showed that acupuncture normalized estrogen levels and increased the expression of implantation markers during the implantation period in animal models.
• Acupuncture has been shown to reduce the impact of endometriosis. This can help conceptions by stabilizing and reducing the severity of the adhesions. Furthermore it you have had laparoscopy acupuncture can help slow down the regrowth of the cysts. Giving a couple added cycles to try to conceive.

What About the Men in All of This?

50% of all repeated implantation failures or miscarriages loss (RIP or RML) are due to a male factor or complicated from a mixed of male and female factors. Often a male factor is not recognized due to the fact that even if a man has a normal sperm analysis there can be issues.

Sperm are the smallest cell in the human body. As of yet, we don’t have a way to examine the integrity of the sperm’s DNA. We can only look at the quantity, how well they swim, and their shape but this leaves out the most integral part of sperm which is the DNA.

There is a great stigma in the world around male infertility and it seems they less often seek out treatment. On the bright side, if we can get our male factor patients in for treatment they are much easier to treat than women and make strides more quickly.

Here is a great video between Dr Lorne Brown, TCM with Dr Ursula Ritz, Reproductive Endocrinologist discussing how Chinese Medicine can help with recurrent pregnancy loss.

Bethany Richardson is the owner of Enliven Health and Wellness located in San Antonio, Texas. She is a fellow with the Acupuncture and TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine. (FABORM.) To book an appointment, click here. If you live outside San Antonio, TX, you can book a Telehealth fertility appointment. We go over your lab results and create a diet, supplement, lifestyle and herbal regimen to regulate and optimize your fertility.