Acupuncture Can Help Prepare for Pregnancy

By Melissa Murtha

Acupuncturist, Spa Harmony

If you’re trying to become pregnant, you may want to think about acupuncture. It’s a safe, natural way to help you prime your body for a process that involves significant physical change.

And if you’re having difficulty getting pregnant, acupuncture also may help. Treatments may aid with emotional or hormonal issues contributing to infertility, although they cannot address problems that require surgical intervention, such as blocked fallopian tubes.

Manage stress
First and foremost, acupuncture can help you manage stress. Often, trying to get pregnant involves plenty of stress, especially if it’s taking longer than anticipated.

There’s also some evidence that stress can play a role in infertility problems, so reducing stress may improve your chances of conceiving as well as help you cope better with the process.

A type of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is based on the premise that health and well-being depend on the strength, vitality and free-flowing of qi—vital energy—throughout the body.

Acupuncture helps your body handle stress better by correcting imbalances and enabling qi to flow smoothly. Treatments can provide a strong calming effect throughout your body resulting in numerous physical and emotional benefits, from lower blood pressure to improved ability to sleep.

A holistic approach
Second, acupuncture’s holistic approach to health can have a positive impact on fertility, especially in cases where couples have undergone extensive testing that has failed to identify a cause for infertility.

It’s usually best to treat both the woman and the man, so that both are energetically balanced. For women, treatment often focuses first on regulating the menstrual cycle. The frequency and timing of future treatments are then based on your cycle.

Acupuncture can work in conjunction with other fertility treatments, such as Clomid or in-vitro fertilization. In fact, acupuncture may help boost IVF success, according to a review of past studies recently published in Fertility and Sterility, though researchers agree more clinical trials are needed.

Researchers speculate that acupuncture may help by improving blood flow to the uterus and/or make the uterine wall more receptive to embryo implantation.

Pregnancy and beyond
Once you become pregnant, it’s safe to continue acupuncture treatments. Throughout your pregnancy, treatments may help reduce your stress, enhance your sense of well-being and prepare your body for the major changes it is undergoing. And there can be benefits right through delivery—some women
even find acupuncture offers relief from labor pain.

About the author: Melissa Murtha earned her master's of science degree from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in Chicago and is licensed by the Pennsylvania Medical Board as well as certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She is an acupuncturist at Spa Harmony in the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center at the Washington Hospital. For more information, visit www.spaharmony.org.

To learn more about preparing for a healthy pregnancy, attend our next Girl Talk Program—Healthy Beginnings: Fertility, Pregnancy & Childbirth, March 7. It is sponsored by Spa Harmony at the Wellness Center. Panel discussion: 6-7 p.m. featuring experts from Spa Harmony and The Washington Hospital. Expo featuring an acupuncture demonstration, 5:30-6 pm, and 7-8 pm. Free and open to the public, but please register at 724-250-5238.