Fertility

How do you support people with fertility issues at Collective Health Center?

When it comes to having a child, there is so much to consider, and knowing how your body and reproductive systems function is something that some people have to look closer into. One in eight couples in the United States have difficulty getting pregnant and infertility rates are increasing. Infertility is defined as when a couple has had no luck with conception after attempting to conceive for at least a year. 

As a Naturopathic Doctor, I take a holistic approach with each of my patients to dive deeper into their individual body’s needs and functions to find a way to help them overcome their difficulties to conceive. Mainly in my practice, I support women and families during preconception. This includes lifestyle and environmental factors that may be directly tied to infertility. There are so many different factors that could cause infertility such as the more obvious ones like poor sperm health or poor egg quality, but some other factors may also be linked to infertility such as hormonal imbalances and obesity. While there are so many different fertility methods available today such as artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a lot of these procedures are expensive, invasive, and still may not result in conception. 

Fortunately for my patients, there are so many things that someone can do at home or with the help of a Naturopathic Doctor that can help to increase their fertility in a non-invasive way. Let’s break down some of the lifestyle changes and natural approaches I work with my patients on during preconception that can help with increasing fertility – this goes out to both the men and women out there! 

• Physical: Exercise is a great practice for overall healthy living. Exercising can help to increase chances of conception as well as having a healthier pregnancy once conception does occur. With regular exercise, we are increasing blood circulation and lung capacity. With proper weight-bearing exercises, we are gaining muscle – great practice for when you have a little one to pick up and hold! 
• Nutrition: As I’ve mentioned in a couple of my #FloraFriday social media posts, there are a lot of wonderful botanicals and herbs that can help with regulating our reproductive systems. Certain foods can also either negatively or positively affect our chances of conception. Folic acids are vital to your nutrition that can help with fetal development during the early stages of pregnancy and conception. Some other everyday foods that can help with fertility include dairy, lean proteins like turkey, fatty fish, complex carbs, and some berries. There are also some foods you may want to avoid while attempting to conceive, including caffeine, red meats, and soy products.
• Ovulation: While every woman’s body and ovulation schedules vary, for the most part, regular cycles are 28 – 32 days long. There are many ways to track your ovulation and fertility window. With simply tracking your cycle, it may take a few months to regulate your body and understand how long your cycle is. Once you are able to track your first day of menstruation, you can count down to which days your eggs are released. For example, a 28-day cycle has ovulation occurring between days 11 and 22 of the cycle. Another approach to finding out when you are fertile is through monitoring changes in your cervical mucus. Leading up to your ovulation, the cervical mucus will become wetter, slippery, and stretchier – similar to the consistency of egg whites.
• Timing Intercourse: Once you are more aware of your fertility window and when ovulation occurs, you will be able to time intercourse accordingly for conception. While it is a common misconception to have sex daily during ovulation, it is actually wiser to have sex every other. Due to the production of sperm in males, having sex every other day provides a larger amount of healthier sperm entering the uterus. Not a lot of people realize that sperm can actually survive inside a woman for up to 5 days! So by having intercourse every few days during ovulation, sperm is able to healthily travel and survive until an egg is released.
• Acupuncture: As a licensed Acupuncturist, I have seen some success in preconception and the ability to conceive through the use of acupuncture. Certain acupuncture points can access our energy sources for producing healthy sperm and blood flow to the uterus. While there are these points that can help with fertility issues, acupuncture, in general, acupuncture can also help to relax/ease the nervous system which could help with the stress and pressure of attempting to conceive. 

There are so many non-invasive ways to help achieve conception and pregnancy! If you want to dive deeper into your fertility, please contact me using the form below to see how we can work together. I also work closely with a lot of women’s (and men) health practitioners that I can refer you to for a healthier pregnancy experience from conception to delivery!