Fertility

Did you know that if you are a woman of reproductive age, then nearly everything related to your health can affect your fertility chances?

Anything from your stress levels to your dental health can affect your chances of getting pregnant!

 Results from a study published in Oct 2018 have shown that higher stress levels are associated with lower odds of conception for women, but not for men (1). 

According to recent research published, dental health impacts how long it takes a woman to conceive. Gum disease and tooth decay are also related to sperm health in men! (2)

Oddly enough, our body works harmonically together. For this reason, I believe in the importance of spending quality time with my patients to make sure that I get to ask a lot of questions about their health. This way, I can develop a holistic treatment plan that helps target their specific needs. 

Natural infertility treatments for women

Certain vitamins might help you increase the odds of getting pregnant. Folic acid intake, for example (at doses higher than those recommended for the prevention of neural tube defects), has been related to a lower frequency of infertility. It also lowers the risk of pregnancy loss and leads to greater success in infertility treatments. Vitamin D also increases the chance of fertility. Not only for fertility but low blood levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of giving birth to infants with low birth weight. If you are pregnant with twins, you need to watch your vitamin D levels even more. Twin newborns and their mothers have higher vitamin D deficiency levels than singleton newborns and their mothers. (3,4)

Certain nutritional deficiencies in men have also been linked to lower odds of fertility. Zinc deficiency, for example, is linked to poor sperm quality and low testosterone levels. It also increases the risk of male infertility (5). 

Acupuncture and Fertility

Aside from considering your nutritional needs, we might use other modalities like acupuncture to help increase the odds of getting pregnant. So even if you are currently trying other methods such as IVF, we can still use acupuncture to improve your chances of becoming pregnant.

Acupuncture can improve the success rate of IVF in many ways by improving the function of the ovaries, regulating hormone levels, increasing the blood flow to the uterus, and increasing the thickness of the uterine wall. It also decreases stress and keeps the patient more relaxed, further preventing the uterus from contracting. It can also reduce the chances of miscarriages. (6)

If you are pregnant, your doctor needs to check your vitamin D and other nutritional levels! If no one has checked that for you and you’re looking for a doctor to help you during your pregnancy, I can help. Please call (416) 684-55-14 or click here to book your appointment.

(1) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001171207.htm
(2) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1557988316655529
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27358199
(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24522025
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010824/
(6) https://mcmasteracupuncture.com/articles/case-report-successful-in-vitro-fertilization-following-acupuncture-treatment/