Acupuncture and IVF Support

Gayle

Gayle first came to see me in mid October 2005 having had several unsuccessful IVF cycles. Medical examinations had revealed mild endometriosis (abnormal blood patterns in the uterus and surrounding tissues), but otherwise her infertility was unexplained.

A worker in the health industry for 18 years, Gayle generally kept good health, menstruated regularly but had clotting when she had her period.  The presence of clots always tells us there is something amiss with the mechanism that drives uterine blood flow, so we developed a treatment protocol to promote blood flow.

Gayle's preference was to use Chinese medicine to support her body through the IVF process. Shortly after Gayle's first session with me she underwent an IVF transfer which was not successful. 

Still, we kept working at fine-tuning's Gayle's natural fertility and in March 2006 Gayle had what is called a Frozen Egg Cycle (where an egg that was 'left over' from the previous IVF cycle is frozen and stored for future use).  Gayle's IVF doctor implanted the thawed egg and we supported this process with acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Gayle returned a positive pregnancy test, had a faultless pregnancy and delivered baby Alistair in November 2006.

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As a side note, Gayle visited her obstetrician and then me at 40 weeks.  On that day the baby was three-fifths engaged (that is, in the right position to go into labour).  We did a labour-inducing treatment, Gayle went into labour and delivered her baby within days.  Since then, Gayle and her husband conceived under their own steam and I helped them through their 2nd pregnancy with acupuncture.  We did the regular pre-birth labour preparation and Gayle delivered a healthy baby girl in August 2008.