Fertility Issues

Gerda Ankenbauer-Spetch is an Affiliated Acupuncturist Member of the Zita West Network for Reproductive Health (see www.zitawest.com for further details). Her patients qualify for a discount of up to 20% on any Zita West products like supplements, books and CDs and also selected services.

Acupuncture can help improve fertility in a variety of ways in both men and women.

For women, it can help to regulate the cycle and prepare the body for conception, pregnancy and birth. It can also reduce general stress and also the stress inevitably associated with trying (and maybe failing) to conceive naturally. Acupuncture can also help with the stress throughout the process of undergoing assisted fertility treatment, be it IUI, ICSI, IVF or with the use of a donor egg.

If a woman is undergoing assisted fertility treatment, one of the things acupuncture can do is help thicken the womb lining prior to egg transfer. Gerda also uses Electro-Acupuncture, which has been found to be particularly effective for this purpose, ideally in the run-up to the IVF treatment. Acupuncture has also shown to increase the chance of getting pregnant with IVF when used at various points during the process.

Ideally, acupuncture treatment should be started before the IVF cycle starts to ensure that the woman’s body is in the best possible state for the process.

For men, it can improve general well-being, reduce stress and thus increase sperm count and improve quality such as sperm motility and sperm morphology.