Naturopathic Approaches To Infertility
There has been a decrease in fertility in the last 20 years and according to Pew Research Center, 33% of Americans have turned to fertility treatments or know someone who has. 12% of women have challenges getting pregnant or carrying to term, which also demonstrates the increase in miscarriages. Additionally, women are opting to freeze their eggs because women are working more and/or they haven’t found a partner that they are ready to have a child with.
The most well-known causes of infertility include ovulatory dysfunction, hormone imbalance, pelvic or cervical abnormalities, male factors, or “unexplained infertility.” Conventionally speaking, most of these causes can be identified, until infertility becomes unexplained and this is where Naturopathic Medicine thrives. Additionally, the American Pregnancy Association has found that 25% of women have more than one cause of infertility, which makes it even more vital to rule out every cause with a trained Naturopathic Medical Doctor.
Conventional Infertility Evaluation includes
Checking hormone levels, risk factors with age, assessing egg and sperm quality, diagnosing structural abnormalities and maybe looking into some thyroid markers. If something is found to be abnormal, options for treatment usually include hormone prescriptions, specific medications to support ovulation, egg/sperm quality, and hormone modulation or if needed IUI or IVF.
Success rates of these more conventional procedures are between 5-30%.
“Unexplained infertility generally means the physician failed to find the TRUE cause of your infertility.” – Dr. Norbert Gleicher
Naturopathic Infertility Evaluation beyond conventional:
In addition to the evaluation of a couple’s health discussed above, Naturopathic Medical Doctors will also assess and maybe begin with assessing nutritional status, stress levels and adrenal health, look into genetics, evaluate immune health such as if autoimmune disease is present, will look into food allergies/intolerances, gut health as well as heavy metals and total toxic burden.
Every one of these aspects of health is a vital component to understand the reason for a couple’s infertility. Some causes may seem so simple or even unrelated, but each body system works synergistically with the rest of the body to create health. So, if something is off, this could cause infertility. And because the body doesn’t do anything randomly, the reason for infertility could be the body’s innate safety mechanism kicking in, but doesn’t mean that it can’t be addressed.
Besides finding the cause of infertility,
diet, sleep and stress must be also managed and optimized.
Additionally, the emotional turmoil of having trouble conceiving must be supported too because it can further exacerbate the struggle! Whether it’s working with a therapist or joining a support group, mental health and mindfulness are important aspects of addressing infertility.
All this considered, the proper conditions to maintain a pregnancy must be created and maintained. Naturopathic Medicine takes the entire individual into account and looks at the deeper and sometimes simpler causes of infertility. If you are experiencing “unexplained infertility” or want to start with a more individualized and holistic approach to find answers, we are here for you!
There are SO many things to be considered and
to be done to help you create the family you desire.
Dr. Alioto is our Naturopathic infertility and family medicine specialist. If you have questions about next steps in working with her, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
