If you are reading this page, then you likely have invested more time and money than you ever thought would have been needed to conceive and have a baby. We understand how important it is for you to feel confident that you are with a clinic that can understand and anticipate your needs as well as have the knowledge and clinical experience to provide you with the necessary support you deserve to make your IVF/FET cycle both a positive experience and a successful one too.

Ruhe Fertility + Prenatal Acupuncture Center is a leading natural fertility center and located in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. Our founder and clinical director, Dr. Ivelisse DeJongh has over 15 years of experience in providing excellent personalized care and building great relationships with IVF clinics in South Florida, provides us with a deep understanding of your IVF process, what you may be going through emotionally, physically and financially, and how to best support you on your fertility journey to parenthood.

Acupuncture for IVF/IUI Can Increase Your Success Rates by 60%-70%

In the last 4 years, there has been an increase of reproductive doctors recommending acupuncture treatments during IVF/IUI procedures as more western science and published studies have proven acupuncture to increase the chances of conceiving by 60%-70%. The junction of eastern and western reproductive medicine is due to a large number of successful treatments when acupuncture is provided during IVF/IUI and ARTs.

IVF is an expensive procedure with varying rates of success. For women under 35 years old, the live birth rate from IVF can be as high as 45%, but drops to as low as 4% for women over 42. In addition, side effects from the medications used are uncomfortable for many women.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are an excellent complement to a planned IVF cycle. A 2015 study* compared live birth rates in three groups: women undergoing IVF only, women undergoing IVF with 1 acupuncture treatment on the day of embryo transfer, and women undergoing IVF as well as receiving acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatments.

For the purposes of the study, this third group received what the study authors called “Whole Systems Traditional Chinese Medicine” (WS-TCM), defined as 11-12 acupuncture treatments in the 2-3 months leading up to embryo transfer, and 1 treatment on the day of transfer, with additional dietary/lifestyle recommendations. The study authors found that the IVF-only group had a live birth rate of 48.2%. With 1 treatment on transfer day, the rate rose slightly to 50.8%. However, for the group receiving WS-TCM treatments, the live birth rate rose to 61.3%, a 13-point increase in success.

These study results reflect what we have seen over many years of treating women at FPAC: regular acupuncture in the months before IVF, in addition to one treatment within 24 hours of embryo transfer, is often very beneficial at helping women achieve and maintain a healthy pregnancy.

How Acupuncture & Chinese medicine can help improve IVF success:

• Acupuncture can improve blood flow to the ovaries and uterine lining.
• Increased ovarian blood flow helps with your response to fertility medications & optimize eggs quality.
• Increased uterine blood flow helps ensure a thick uterine lining and provides an ideal environment for implantation by improving the uterine receptivity therefore helping with a successful embryo implantation

Acupuncture reduces the stress response

• High levels of stress hormones increase cortisol levels which have been shown to have a negative effect on fertility by influencing the HPO (hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian) axis.
• Reduce the side effects of IVF medications.

Acupuncture leads to relaxed muscles, breathing to slow, and to peace of mind. This calm response from acupuncture helps IVF patients feel more relaxed during their fertility treatment, and as a result, also feel more “in control.”  Stress hormones can interfere with ovulation and implantation and the stress response can also lead to a reduction of blood flow to your reproductive organs, which indirectly helps with nourishing your ovaries and uterine lining.

Acupuncture improves your odds of having a baby with IVF

The research on how acupuncture increases IVF success seems to be related to the number of acupuncture sessions leading up to transfer day. In recent studies, women who added more acupuncture sessions were more likely to have a baby compared to women who did IVF alone (no acupuncture) or just acupuncture on transfer day. The studies vary from 3-15 sessions leading up to transfer day to increase the odds of having a baby through IVF.

When to start your IVF support:

To increase the success rate of your IUI/IVF cycle, it is recommended you make the next 90 days count and use them to increase your egg quality and uterine environment and if you have a male partner, maximize his sperm, before you begin your IUI/IVF cycle or Embryo Transfer. With the start of the IVF cycle, we can also support you during the stages of hormonal regulation, follicular stimulation, egg retrieval, embryo transfer, and implantation.

Are in the middle of your IUI/IVF cycle, or are about to begin? Did you know that acupuncture can still have a big impact on this cycle? YES!! It has been proven that various acupuncture session during your birth control cycle, and during the stem cycle have an impact on ovarian response, increased egg quality and uterine receptivity.

If you are considering an IUI/IVF cycle or Embryo Transfer, contact the fertility specialists at Ruhe today to find out more about how acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help you achieve success!

*Hullender Rubin, L.E., Opsahl, M., Wiemer, K., Mist, S., and Caughey, A. (2015). http://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(15)00092-9/abstract