Dr. Savita

A Holistic Approach To Fertility

We have various associations and provides a supportive, personal and holistic approach. The different therapies include yoga, meditation. Each offers a different method of help and can be used in conjunction to conventional and evidence-based treatments, providing many benefits as part of an integrated health plan.

Couples who combine their IVF treatment with these therapies frequently report they feel calmer, emotionally stronger, and more able to cope with the demands of the IVF regimen, and importantly, feel more hopeful about the outcome.

Research has examined the interplay between fertility and environmental and lifestyle factors as well as the impact of specific complementary therapies.

Herbal Medicine, Supplements and Naturopathy

Herbal medicines and supplements can increase fertility, however they can also interact with drugs you may have been prescribed if undergoing IVF treatment and if used incorrectly, they can interfere with your fertility and chances of success.

We work closely with expert Naturopaths who are highly experienced in this area.

Herbal medicines should only be used in between IVF cycles and discontinued at the beginning of an IVF cycle.

Physical benefits of complementary therapies:

A healthy diet along with exercise helps to build a strong foundation for pregnancy and improved fertility.

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, meditation and yoga can help regulate your menstrual cycle, improve fertility, vitality and boost ovulation.

Improved health before conception can help enhance the quality of sperm and egg, lower the rate of miscarriage and increase fertility.

Emotional benefits of complementary therapies:

Infertility can cause great emotional stress, anxiety and pressure on couples.

Holistic care can be helpful in lowering your anxiety and dealing with emotional stress while also increasing the chances of conception.

We are here to support you!

You may experience intense feelings and stress at various times on your journey from initial contact right through to becoming a parent. We understand and our entire team is committed to supporting you and helping you to cope as effectively as possible.

We believe that Counselors can be an integral part of your journey providing additional one-on-one support when you need it.

Whether you need a little extra support as an individual or with your partner, We are always there for you.

We are all here to help guide you through your medical treatment, the uncertainty of the outcomes and can provide advice and assistance in dealing with family, friends, work and the fertile world during this time.

We believe in comprehensive care for the body, mind, emotions and spirit and will ensure you receive the best possible advice on the most appropriate complementary support for you.

Can Complementary Therapies support fertility?

Many people use complementary or alternative therapies to improve their overall physical and emotional health. This could include medicines, such as herbal, vitamin, mineral, homoeopathic, nutritional and other supplements, and therapies such as , chiropractic, naturopathy, osteopathy, acupuncture, homoeopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy.

There is limited evidence of the beneficial impact of complementary and alternative medicines and therapies on fertility. While improving your general health is clearly beneficial, we do not routinely recommend their use to improve your chance of conception.

If you would like to try alternative therapies while also seeking medical support for conception, it is important that you tell your doctor. While some complementary medicines may interfere with fertility treatments, acupuncture and vitamin supplements are generally not considered to be incompatible with treatments.

Ginger is a common ingredient in asian and indian cuisine. However, ginger has been used for its medicinal properties for centuries among many cultures. The root or underground stem (rhizome) of the ginger plant can be consumed fresh, powdered, dried as a spice, in oil form or as juice.

Possible health benefits of ginger:

1) Digestive issues:
The phenolic compounds in ginger are known to help relieve gastrointestinal irritation, stimulate saliva and bile production and suppress gastric contractions and movement of food and fluids through the GI tract.

2) Nausea

• Chewing raw ginger or drinking ginger tea is a common home remedy for nausea during cancer treatment.
• Pregnant women experiencing morning sickness can safely use ginger to relieve nausea and vomiting, often in the form of ginger lozenges or candies.
• During cold weather, drinking ginger tea is good way to keep warm. It is diaphoretic, which means that it promotes sweating, working to warm the body from within. As such, in the wake of a cold, ginger tea is particularly useful.

3) Pain reduction

• A study involving 74 volunteers carried out at the university of georgia found that daily ginger supplementation reduced exercise-induced muscle pain by 25%.
• Ginger has also been found to reduce the symptoms of dysmenorrhea (severe pain during a menstrual cycle). In one study, 83% of women taking ginger capsules reported improvements in pain symptoms compared to 47% of those on placebo.

Female infertility is considered as the inability of conceiving. As per WHO it is described as the inability to be pregnant, maintain and carry forward a pregnancy to its full term. It is often of two types:

1. Primary Infertility: This is the inability to give birth to a baby either due to the inability to become pregnant or maintain a pregnancy, which includes stillborn and miscarriage.
2. Secondary Infertility: This refers to the inability to give birth when there is already a live birth or the woman was pregnant.

The causes of infertility can vary from being acquired or genetic. However, following factors are largely responsible for infertility:

1. Genetic: Some genes can lead to mutation leading to infertility like, in case of BMP15 gene there is a hypergonadotrophic ovarian failure which causes infertility.
2. Acquired: This is caused by factors like age, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, obesity, body weight, eating disorders, diseases like diabetes, thrombophilia and also radiation and chemotherapy.

The treatment for infertility usually depends on the cause, age, duration of time for which a person has been infertile and preference of the patient. Infertility is believed to be a complex disorder and the treatment involves a huge amount of physical, financial and psychological commitments. All this also requires a lot of time. Some women might need just a minimum of two therapies to attain fertility while others might require different treatment before they can conceive.

Treatment is largely aimed to restore the fertility either by means of medication and surgery or help in reproduction with the help of some procedures.

Fertility Restoration through medication

This is the main treatment for women who are infertile because of ovulation disorders. These drugs include:

1. Gonadotropins: These are injected to stimulate the ovaries. Drugs like Menopur, Repronex, Follistim AQ, Gonal-F, Bravelle restore the production of eggs, while Ovidrel and Pregnyl are used for maturing the eggs and for their release.
2. Clomiphene citrate: This is taken orally and stimulates ovulation by releasing more Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone from the pituitary gland.
3. Metformin: This is used in females who have PCOS and also when insulin resistance plays a major role in infertility.
4. Bromocriptine: Used when the infertility is caused due to excess prolactin production.
5. Letrozole: This also induces ovulation

Fertility Restoration through surgery

Surgical procedures can amend the problem of infertility. However, these treatments are very rare these days owing to the success of other fertility treatments. These include:

1. Tubal ligation reversal surgery: In case a tubal ligation has been performed it can be reversed by reconnecting the tubes again through surgery.
2. Hysteroscopic surgery: This corrects or removes the abnormalities that cause infertility. This surgery can correct the shape of the uterus, remove endometrial polyps and improve chance of getting pregnant.
3. Tubal surgeries: In case of blocked fallopian tubes laproscopic surgery can be performed to dilate the tubes, removed blockages or create a new opening.

Assistance in Reproduction through techniques

The most common used techniques for reproduction assistance are:

1. Intrauterine insemination or IUI: In this about million healthy sperms are put in the uterus at the time of ovulation.
2. Assisted reproductive technology: In this mature eggs are retrieved from a woman and this is then fertilized with sperms in a dish in the lab. Once the fertilization is done the embryo is placed in the uterus for further development. IVF is the most common and effective assisted reproductive technology. This procedure takes place over weeks with several blood tests and hormone injections.

Dealing with infertility is not easy and can be emotionally and physically draining. To cope with the various tests and treatments of infertility one should be fully prepared, eat a healthy diet, exercise reach out for help and support of family and friends and look for other options like a donor egg, adoption or no children.