If you’ve been trying for a baby for a long time but have been struggling, it can be quite a harrowing and frustrating experience. Other people around you seem to get pregnant at the drop of a hat, but even with conscious effort and months and years of trying it never seems to happen. It’s one of the things that’s driving more couples to look to naturopathy to try and help the process along.
But why choose a fertility naturopath? What exactly can they do for you? Let’s explore more below.
When Should You Consider a Naturopath?
There’s not really a specific “correct” time to opt for the naturopathy route. Some people go straight to it as their first port of call, many others might turn to it after more conventional steps like IVF have failed to work multiple times. Some find their way to a naturopath after more tragic circumstances such as multiple miscarriages. In short, it’s not a path everyone finds in the same way.
What Can a Naturopath Offer Those with Fertility Issues?
1. Reducing Inflammation
For many, blocked fallopian tubes are the chief obstacle to successfully getting pregnant. Herbs used by naturopaths can be effective in lowering the inflammation in the fallopian tubes, as well as slow down or even stop the growth of endometrial tissue. Such reduction in inflammation and endometriosis aids the fertilized embryo through the fallopian tubes.
2. Balancing Hormones
Oestrogen is needed to thicken the lining of the uterus, which allows proper implantation of the fertilized egg. On the flip side, when oestrogen levels get too high, it can suppress the progesterone. Oestrogen levels often get too high because of xeno-oestrogen found in many cosmetics, and even in tap water! A naturopath will seek to create a proper balance of oestrogen to help optimise the internal environment for implantation of the fertilized egg.
3. Cause of Miscarriages
If miscarriages have occurred in the past, a naturopath will help look into possible reasons connected to lifestyle, diet, emotional and hormonal well-being and more. This holistic approach helps to reduce the risk factors that cause miscarriages so that if and when a new pregnancy comes, everything can go smoothly.
4. Helping Ovulation
When someone is suffering from anovulation, it means they are not ovulating as they should be or as one might expect them to. Causes of this can include both obesity and low body fat, not to mention high levels of stress, thyroid problems, insulin resistance and more. A naturopath will seek to find remedies to these factors, helping to make lifestyle adjustments that will actively combat these symptoms and allow ovulation to happen.
5. Autoimmune Responses
Some people who suffer from things like Graves disease, lupus, type 1 diabetes and other conditions can experience autoimmune responses that attack sperm or even the embryo itself. It sees these things as hostile exterior influences that need to be neutralised. A naturopath can try to use herb mixes and supplements to help better support the immune system in a more natural way, and possibly help reduce or eliminate the triggering of this kind of response.
6. Boost to Reproductive Cells
Finally, a naturopath typically has good knowledge of the types of nutrients that are needed to make your reproductive cells — sperm and eggs — healthier, more active and more receptive to the natural conception process, or even to processes like IVF.
For many seeking a naturopath isn’t about finding a miracle cure, but about improving some of the symptoms of their reproductive malaise. In doing so, nature’s own processes can be allowed to happen more effectively, and/or treatments like IVF can have a higher success rate. It’s not necessarily the be-all and end-all, but it can be a great help along the journey.