The reason Chinese medicine practitioners recommend having treatments in fertility acupuncture for 4 periods of your menstrual cycle is that 120 days is the minimum amount of time that it takes for the egg to mature. It takes nearly as long for the sperm to develop.

The quality of the egg and sperm today will have been affected by everything that was happening in your life and immediate environment over the previous 4 months. Everything that you have eaten and felt will affect the quality of your fertility, this includes your nutrition, stress levels, hormone levels, emotions, exercise. The opportunity for making significant improvements to your fertility and your child’s health in the future exists in the 120 days of preconception preparation.

Scientific research in relation to nutrition shows this will dramatically improve your chances of a natural conception taking place, and some studies report as much as an 81% increase. And as a further result, if still required after your complete health re-alignment, assisted reproductive methods like IVF are 47.1% more likely to be successful when you are as balanced and naturally fertile as possible.

As a fertility specialist Amanda Hughes  truly understands the challenges of infertility. Amanda provides nutritional and lifestyle advice as part of the programme she provides for fertility acupuncture in Dublin . Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is extremely beneficial for conception success and a healthy pregnancy as it increases the blood flow to the uterus increasing the endometrial lining, It also assists with ovulation as it regulates the gonadotrophin – Releasing hormone (GRH). In men, a short course of acupuncture can improve sperm quantity, mobility and health.

A report published in Fertility and Sterility magazine found the pregnancy rate in the group receiving acupuncture was 42% compared with 26.3% in the group that was not receiving acupuncture.

Studies have shown that acupuncture is effective in patients receiving IVF treatments : a 2004 study in the Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Centre in Colorado found that 51% of women who underwent both IVF and acupuncture treatment at the same time, became pregnant, while only 36% of those who only underwent IVF did. The latter groups had higher rates of miscarriage (20% compared to those women who had received acupuncture (8%).

Speaking from her fertility acupuncture clinic in Dublin, Amanda says “Taking the time to improve your diet, lifestyle and getting regular acupuncture treatments in the months prior to IVF and natural conception is extremely beneficial for a healthy pregnancy”.

What you can do to naturally increase your fertility:
Both you and your partner should cut out coffee, smoking and alcohol
Vitamins – Both you and your partner should take preconception vitamins daily
Fresh Food – Cut out all processed foods, try to prepare your meals with fresh foods