• Fertility Care
  • Approach to Fertility
  • Testimonials

Fertility Care

The marriage between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Reproductive Medicine is a fruitful one. Over the past decade, many studies have been conducted showing the benefits of utilizing Chinese Medicine in conjunction with Reproductive Medicine to enhance the effectiveness of the treatments.

Whether you are just getting started in your fertility journey, or are working with a fertility specialist, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can increase your likelihood of conception and full term pregnancy.

Acupuncture Healthcare Associates Board Certified Acupuncturists Julie Silver, MSW, Dipl. Ac. and Monica Mae Klemmer, Dipl. Ac., have undertaken advanced training with world renowned fertility specialists Dr. Randine Lewis and Jayne Littleton. This specialized training, with an emphasis on combining acupuncture with assisted reproductive technology, make the team of Ms. Silver and Ms. Klemmer one of the leading Traditional Chinese Medicine fertility experts in Metropolitan Detroit.

How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine and Infertility Work?
At Acupuncture Healthcare Associates of Michigan, we use Traditional Chinese Medicine to improve both your overall health and reproductive health. It is our goal to work with you to bring your body to a state of wellness. To do that, we must identify the root cause of the imbalance and problems.

  • We look at signs and symptoms of daily body functions: how is your body operating, how is your digestion, menstruation, sleep, energy?
  • We observe facial complexion, body posture
  • We take your pulse and look at your tongue
  • We review your lifestyle and assess your diet and exercise
  • We talk about emotions and causes of stress

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can help with :

  • Idiopathic Infertility
  • High FSH
  • Poor Egg Quality and Diminished Ovarian Reserve
  • Thin Endometrium
  • Irregular Menstrual Cycles
  • Estrogen Dominance
  • Annovulation
  • Endometriosis
  • Polycysitic Ovarian Syndrome
  • Miscarriage and threatened miscarriage
  • Hyperprolactemia
  • Sperm - Motility, Morphology and Motility
  • Luteal Phase Defect

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have been proven to

  • Improve the success rates of IVF
  • Reduce stress
  • Improve ovarian response and decrease FSH levels
  • Improve blood flow to the uterus and thicken endometrial lining • Increase ovarian blood flow and response
  • Assist in implantation
  • Improve sperm count, motility and morphology
  • Reduce uterine artery impedance
  • Strengthen and enhance the immune system
  • Reduce the chance of miscarriage
  • Regulate the hormones; including reducing excess estrogen
  • Reduce the side effects of the hormone treatments

Studies :

 

Acupuncture Healthcare Associates of Michigan Client Centered Approach to Fertility

The specialists at Acupuncture Healthcare Associates of Michigan work closely with couples and individuals to create a customized treatment plan. This includes:

Fertility - Kristin
I just wanted to send you a quick note and thank you for all your help and support with my quest to have a baby. I am at the 6 week point, so if I can make it 6 more, I should be in good shape. I am so grateful for your help and support! Take Care,
Fertility - Sue
I was a patient of yours last year while I was going through my fifth In-Vitro Fertilization Cycle. After four failed attempts I decided to include acupuncture to the procedure. To my delight, I just gave birth to the most beautiful twin boys I have ever seen. I can’t say for sure if the acupuncture is that made that cycle a success, but I believe it did! Thank you so much for your compassion and professionalism and most of all for our precious, precious sons! Sue
Fertility - Swati

I have been meaning to come and visit you for a long time. I was planning on visiting you early summer when things weren’t so hectic but then I ended up having my baby so early and everything was a bit chaotic. I wanted to let you know that I truly believe that you are responsible for my little miracle. Thank you so much for you all the support, encouragement, and research you did for me. Your work is so meaningful as you help so many people realize their dreams. I hope to stop by and visit with my baby as soon as he is a bit bigger. I will send a photo. Sincerely,

Swati

Fertility - Patricia

I've been meaning to get this out to you sooner but just got caught up in some great news, I'm Pregnant pregnant!! Thanks to your treatments. I know that the acupuncture and prayers played a BIG role. And we did not ever do IVF. So, I am writing this to you to say thanks, thank you so very much!! Sincerely,

Patricia

Fertility - Lisa
I am so glad you were able to see Kelsey when she was brand new. Babies are so tiny and precious when they're newborns! You were able to help me achieve a very important dream, and I can't thank you enough for this most precious and incredible gift! I don't know what I would have done if this dream hadn't become a reality for Steve and I. After so many IVF tries, I was truly shocked when the results were positive! You do a most helpful and much needed service for the women in our community, and I cannot say thank you enough to express my gratitude! I will always have thoughts of you when I look at my daughter and watch her grow. For this and for meeting you, I am truly blessed. Best wishes in your practice, and I will keep in contact! Sincerely, Lisa
Fertility - Julie
They Say “it takes a village to raise a child”. In our case, it took a village to conceive one (or two in our case). Thank you for being a valuable member of our “village” – we couldn’t have done it without you – I know that for sure! Thank you for everything. Sincerely – Julie
Fertility - Sheryl
I just wanted to write a quick note to say THANK YOU! I am now 9 ½ weeks pregnant and couldn’t be happier. After 2 rounds of failed IVF, we added acupuncture for the 3rd try. Needles to say, my husband and I are true believers! I definitely plan on coming back for treatments when we try for number two! Thanks again! Michelle After having a miscarriage I sought assistance from Julie Silver. I really did not know what to expect but I realized that I had to take responsibility for my reproductive health. I slowly began changing my diet as well as following the recommendations of Chinese herbs that Julie suggested I use to achieve a pregnancy. I appreciate the assistance Julie and her staff provided me. I am happy to say that I naturally became pregnant and have a healthy baby girl. Thank you Sheryl
Fertility - Karian
I can't thank you enough for all the help & support you provided me when I was at an all time low trying to conceive. I had been trying for 3 years with various infertility treatments with no success so I started looking into other ways of getting pregnant and I came across Randine Lewis book - The infertility cure and thought I would try changing my diet, using herbs & acupuncture along with doing IVF. To this day I believe it all helped considering the acupuncture was a wonderful form of stress relief that definitely comes with going through infertility. Now I am 33 weeks pregnant and still consider this to be the best miracle anyone can ever be blessed with. My husband & I are truly thankful for all your guidance. Karian
Fertility – Kristin S.
I have been coming to Monica for acupuncture regarding my infertility. I had been trying to get pregnant for over 6 months with western medicine and none of it has worked. Monica helped me make a lot of dietary changes, changes in my exercise routine and also stressed the importance of relaxation. She is very inspirational! I am a nurse and sometimes its hard for me to think outside the western medical model of treatment. But I am a firm believer in what she does and the hope she provides to people who are going through such pain emotionally and physically. She helped me trust my body again. I also made sure to tell my physician that it was indeed my acupuncturist, my diet, and my yoga that achieved this pregnancy. There were no meds involved! This was our "break" cycle, while we figured out what our next step would be. Kristin S.

more testimonials...

Pregnancy and Post Partum Care

The treatment of pregnancy-related conditions lies within the scope of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acupuncture is an ideal form of treatment, as it offers women drug-free relief from a multitude of problems that can arise during pregnancy and childbirth. It is a healing modality that can effectively be used with conditions that are viewed as a normal part of pregnancy, such as nausea and musculoskeletal pain. Acupuncture can assist in improving the quality of life during pregnancy and prevent these and other conditions from becoming more serious.

Acupuncture during the 1st trimester
Treatment during this time helps the woman’s body adapt to pregnancy as well as prevent threatened miscarriage.  It treats common first trimester symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.  Recommended one time weekly

Acupuncture during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters
Treatment during this time relieves and prevents symptoms such as heartburn, hemmriods, back pain, anemia, insomnia, vaginal itching, sinusitis, anxiety, and much more. Recommended one to two times monthly.

Pre-Birth Treatment
Research has demonstrated that  the mean duration of labor in women giving birth for the first time was reduced by two hours in the group of women who had received pre-birth acupuncture. Acupuncture is an ideal way to help women prepare themselves for labor.  In addition, many minor discomforts that women experience around this time (heartburn, constipation, leg cramps, nasal congestions, swelling) can be assisted with acupuncture.

Pre-birth treatment assists in ripening the cervix, helping position the baby for labor, and to promote optimal energy and stamina for women to enter into labor. Recommended weekly starting at week 36. 

Breech Birth
Typically, a baby will move to the head down position within the pelvis around the 34th-to-36th week of pregnancy.  In some situations, the baby is either malpositioned (the head is in the pelvic outlet, but not in the best position) or malpresented (the baby has a body part other than the head presenting in the pelvic outlet).  The use of acupuncture, and moxabustion, can be all the baby need’s to move into the correct position.

Studies looking at the optimum time for turning a breech baby with moxa have found that intervention is most effective at week 34, before the baby has grown too large.  Many practitioners and physicians wait until week 36, as many of the babies spontaneously turn by that time.

Labor Induction
Acupuncture can be very effective and is often sought out to assist in labor induction.  Most commonly, women who are past due (a full term pregnancy can last from 38-42 weeks) often seek acupuncture for labor induction.  In this situation, acupuncture points that are not used during pregnancy are used to stimulate the uterus and induce labor.

Post partum Care
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can be very helpful with the following post natal complications:

 

Acupuncture during pregnancy can shorten labor and decrease the need for medical intervention.

  1. Cooperative Research Group on Moxabustion Version (1984). “Clinical observation on the effects of version by moxabustion”. Abstracts from the Second National Symposium on Acupuncture and Moxabustion and Acupuncture Anesthesia, All-China Society of Acupuncture and Moxabustion, Beijing, p150.
  2. Kubista E, Kucera H (1974). “Uber die Anwendung der Akupunktur zur Geburtsvorbereitung”, Geburtshilfe Perinatol: 178, 224-9.