Choosing the right Naturopath for your fertility
Choosing the right Naturopath for your Fertility
Many women and couples who are going through the trials and tribulations of becoming pregnant will often seek out the help of a Naturopath and or Acupuncturist in the hope of improving their health and fertility.
In fact recent research that aimed to identify patterns of integrative medicine use for fertility found that 80.4 per cent of women used at least one of the following:- acupuncture, herbal medicine, yoga, massage and meditation. Around 74 per cent of women used dietary interventions.
When searching for a fertility naturopath or acupuncturist on the internet, it can seem very confusing to discern who the best practitioner for the task may be. One thing to keep in mind is that whilst your local naturopath or acupuncturist may be a convenient option, he/she may not necessarily have the right skill set for your fertility concerns.
It is always worth asking to have a short conversation with the naturopath or acupuncturist in question before booking your fertility appointment so that you clarify how he/she works and what the treatment process is.
You may have heard that a Naturopath can help with fertility but unsure about what a Naturopath actually does. Let me clarify this for you.
Naturopathy refers to the use of natural medicines to treat the person as a whole including body and mind. It aims to treat the root cause of illness, rather than just the symptoms and takes into account a detailed medical history, stress factors and lifestyle.
There are six principles of naturopathy which include:
The healing power of nature
Do no harm
Find and treat the cause when possible, not just the symptom
Treat the whole person
Education
Prevention
How Can Fertility Naturopathic Services Help You?
Although it’s not fool-proof (when it comes to fertility, unfortunately, nothing is), naturopathy helps to investigate and identify possible causes of infertility and recurrent miscarriage. It is best suited to people who:
Have been trying to conceive for a long time, without success
Have been diagnosed with unclarified infertility
Have had numerous miscarriages
Have been diagnosed with hormonal, reproductive or endocrine health issues
Need treatment for menstrual abnormalities
Want to start a pre-conception health plan
Are in a same-sex relationship and using a donor.
Have male factors thats are contributing to infertility.
When I am chatting to prospective fertility clients I explain some of the ways in which I work. These include such things as:
Requesting hormone blood tests on specific days so of the menstrual cycle.
Reviewing and interpreting blood tests from your GP or fertility specialist.
Reviewing or requesting blood tests that check for nutritional status such as B vitamins, Vitamin D, iron etc.
Discussing all aspects of your health and reviewing all bodily systems to establish whether there are specific areas that need to be addressed.
Ensuring that your mental health is in tip top shape and addressing and treating stress levels that are often notoriously high in women and couples trying to conceive.
Addressing and treating any known reproductive or hormonal health conditions such as Endometriosis, PCOS, Fibroids etc
Ensuring that we are doing our best to improve egg quality where necessary using evidence based treatment approaches
Ideally assessing sperm health and general health in the male partner.
Identifying any dietary and lifestyle factors that may be affecting your fertility and making recommendations to improve these.
What type of treatment will a naturopath prescribe for your fertility ?
As stated above, once it has established where the focus of treatment falls, a comprehensive plan is created that includes specific herbal medicines, nutritional medicines, dietary and lifestyle recommendations.
You may also be prescribed a course of Acupuncture treatments that will work alongside your Naturopathic treatment plan.
To read more about Naturopathy services for fertility please click here.
To read more about Acupuncture services for fertility please click here.
About Michelle Blum - Fertility Naturopath and Acupuncturist
My name is Michelle Blum and I have over 21 years of experience in the natural medicine space as an Acupuncturist and Naturopath. Over this time, I have devoted my career to understanding and learning how I can best support women and couples improve their fertility and overall health.
You are welcome to contact me to find out how I can help you achieve your fertility goals, book a complementary 15 minute chat with me or book an Initial Naturopathy appointment to get started.
Whichever you choose, I look forward to chatting to you soon about all things “fertility”.
