Fertility / Infertility

Deciding to start a family is an exciting prospect. Unfortunately for some, this journey can be filled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Whatever road you have travelled so far in your desire to have a child, whether just thinking about it, trying to conceive naturally or using modern assisted reproductive techniques like IUI, IVF, ICSI, ask yourself "what have I done with my body? Is there any way I can enhance it, make it healthier?

Like any journey, you need to be prepared. What we do with our bodies, emotionally, physically and nutritionally, has a direct impact on our health, hormones, eggs and sperm. This therefore has a direct impact on the prospect of achieving a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been treating fertility and gynaecological issues for over 2500 years. In recent years the number of people experiencing difficulty conceiving is increasing. Women put on the pill to regulate cycles are realising their menstrual issues still remain when they return to their natural cycle attempting to conceive. Male fertility, accounting for 40% of fertility issues, show sperm counts are 50% lower then that of two generations ago. Infertility rates are rising as people are holding off starting a family until later in life.

Shenacu has specialised in the treatment of Fertility/ Infertility (male and female) undergoing specialist training in this area. Gillian has studied under some of the most famous Acupuncture and TCM fertility specialists. She is a founding member of the Zita West Network for Reproductive Health in Ireland since 2009. The Zita West Clinic is the largest integrated (medical and complementary) practice in the UK specialising in all aspects of male and female reproductive health. (for more information on how you can benefit from the Zita West Network please click here)

Both males and females have the opportunity to improve their health to help achieve their dream of having a family. The potential for success starts with making sure your body is as healthy as possible. My role is to help to provide tools so you can improve your general health and increase the awareness of your own body.

Acupuncture can help with the following areas:

• Regulates the menstrual cycle
• Regulates hormones
• Improves the thickness of the uterine wall lining
• Improves blood flow to the ovaries and uterus
• Improves ovarian function – encourages the production of follicles and enhances their quality
• Enhances the immune system
• Reduces the chance of miscarriage
• Improves sperm parameters count, motility, morphplogy( can take at least 3 months)
• Improves quality of oocytes (can take at least 3 months)
• Reduces uterine contractions after the embryo transfer
• Reduces side effects of Assisted Reproductive Hormonal treatment

Shenacu integrates the most up to date Acupuncture protocols to increase your chances for pregnancy whether it is through Natural Fertility or with assisted techniques such as IVF. Ideally, I'd like to see you at least three months before you start trying or an IVF

The following areas affecting infertility can be helped with Acupuncture

• Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Uterine Fibroids
• Hormonal imbalances (high FSH, elevated prolactin etc)
• Irregular Menstrual Cycle, Amenorrhea (no period)
• Anovulation (Lack of ovulation), Luteal phase defect
• Premenstrual syndrome, painful periods
• Unexplained infertility
• Advanced maternal age, Low ovarian reserve, Recurrent Miscarriage
• Male infertility -Low Sperm Count, Poor Motility Rates, poor morphology
• Stress, insomnia, depression, fatigue
• Improve the outcome of assisted reproductive procedures (IUI, IVF, ICSI, IMSI, Donor cycles)

Research shows how valuable having acupuncture pre and post embryo transfer can be. A recent meta-analysis (Manheimer E), published by the British Medical Journal in February 2008, suggests that women undergoing IVF, who also have acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer, have a substantially higher chance of conceiving than those who have no acupuncture.

A German study, the Paulus Protocol, completed in 2002 showed that of the 80 women who underwent IVF and received acupuncture, 34 women got pregnant, a success rate of 42.5%. Of the 80 women involved in the study who received IVF without any acupuncture treatments, only 21 women (26.3%) became pregnant.