Being an acupuncturist isn't always about helping people in pain or supporting their medical condition. To my delight, it's also often about helping couples get pregnant, and then later down the line helping them have a safe delivery. 

My lovely patient (let's call her Joy) came to me in February this year because she had a recent miscarriage and needed support going through another IVF cycle. She was naturally anxious about getting pregnant again and wanted to do as much as possible to prevent another miscarriage.

I saw her in clinic from February to April, at first nourishing her body and calming the mind in preparation for IVF. Then after she became pregnant, the treatment was about "holding" the foetus to prevent miscarriage.

For the past few weeks, she returned to clinic for help preparing her body for labour. This past week, the treatment changed yet again, this time to encourage the baby to "descend" now that she is approaching the 40-week mark.

As I go through my patient notes at the end of the week, I am struck once again by the wonderful gift of Chinese medicine to help support women through their fertility journey and with their pregnancy, done in a safe and non-pharmaceutical manner. 

Most days I go to work thankful that I earn my living by practicing acupuncture. But on some days like yesterday, when a pregnant patient presented with her baby in breech position, I am even more grateful at this effective and safe form of medicine.
 
The Chinese medicine answer to turning babies who are not in a head-down position (the best position for labour) does not even involve the insertion of needles. Instead we burn a moxa stick – made from the leaves of the Artemisia argyi (or Chinese mugwort) plant – and use it to warm up a point near the mum’s smallest toe. The warming action of the moxa stick reinvigorates the womb and encourages the baby to move into the best possible position for birth. Research* shows that this protocol is successful for turning 75.4% of babies in the moxibustion group (compared with 47.7% of babies in the control group).
 
It is also a much less expensive and less invasive way of moving the baby. The alternative is something called external cephalic version, when an obstetrician tries to turn the baby into a head down (cephalic) position by applying pressure on the mum’s abdomen.
 
I taught my patient’s partner how to administer this moxibustion treatment at home for the next 10 days. He was very excited to be going home to be a “Moxibuster”!
 
* Cardini, F. and Weixin, H. (1998) ‘Moxibustion for correction of breech presentation’, Journal of the American Medical Association, 280, pp. 1580-1584.

​A recent study by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that sperm counts among men in the west have fallen by around 50% in four decades. There is nothing new in this study, as it was an analysis of more than 100 previous studies in the field. But it certainly highlights what fertility experts have known for decades – that more and more couples worldwide are having problems conceiving.
 
According to the NHS, one in seven couples in the UK may have difficulty conceiving. The causes of fertility are myriad, from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and thyroid problems for women, to lower quality sperm and low sperm count for men. But for 25% of couples with fertility issues, a cause cannot be identified.
 
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) has gained wide acceptance since the world’s first baby was born through IVF in 1978 (remember Baby Louise?). In the UK, more than 250,000 babies were born through IVF. In the western world, 1% (and rising) of all babies are born through assisted reproductive technology.
 
However, IVF cannot help everyone, with its high emotional, social and financial burden. Fertility drugs have side effects, from bloating and mood swings, to ectopic pregnancy and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The success rate of IVF is highly dependent on the age of the woman undergoing treatment, as well as the cause of infertility.
 
Unless couples have very specific reasons for going down the IVF route, it’s best to try boosting fertility the natural way first. Some of the suggestions are well-known - get healthy, lose weight, don’t leave it too late, have fun with sex. Less well known is the importance of keeping calm and relaxed and not getting too anxious.
 
In Chinese medicine, the Uterus Channel or Bao Mai is the channel which connects the Uterus to the Heart. The Heart is particularly susceptible to emotional stress such as anxiety, which in turn can affect the health and receptivity of the uterus. Trying to have a baby can be very stressful, and when the body is in an anxious state, many physiological reactions can adversely affect your ability to conceive. Hormones are released, blood vessels are constricted, and blood moves away from the torso to the limbs as your body gets ready to flee in a fight-or-flight response. This means that blood supply to the pelvic organs, the uterus and ovaries is reduced.
 
Acupuncture helps boost fertility by improving blood flow to the pelvic organs, therefore promoting the growth of endometrial tissue, optimising ovulation, and regulating menstruation. Acupuncture is safe and has very few adverse side effects, when done by properly trained practitioners. 
 
Click here to see research on how acupuncture can help with female infertility and male infertility.