Featuring Dr. Alana Shaw, BSc., ND, RAC, Naturopathic Doctor, Infertility Treatments In Naturopathy

Duration: 2 minutes, 35 seconds

A naturopathic approach to treating infertility would really depend on getting at the underlying root cause. So that’s primarily what the philosophy of the medicine is about, is figuring out for each couple what is the underlying root cause.

And once we have identified that it’s really targeting that, so for some couples the therapy would focus a lot on nutrition and lifestyle changes, whether that be making changes to nutrition or alcohol or smoking habits.

It might include optimizing the body composition, either gaining weight or losing weight. And then for some couples, a focus on herbs and supplements might be indicated. A lot of women who have been told they have issues with their ovarian reserve or egg quality can respond really well to different antioxidant supplements.

There may also be a heavy focus on things like mind-body medicine and mindfulness, which may also include things like acupuncture, which has some really positive studies for helping boost both male and female fertility.

There are some controversial or I guess mixed studies about whether stress can cause infertility. It certainly helps to reduce stress, for any couple who’s going through this, it’s certainly one of the more stressful events that can happen in one’s life.

So, you know, starting to practise certain kinds of stress reducing practices or mindfulness type behaviours is really helpful. So that can include anything; it depends on the person’s preference.

Things like yoga, meditation, acupuncture, or even just simple breathing exercises can all help to not only improve a couple’s fertility, in theory, but also just their whole experience of going through treatment for infertility.

There are many supplements that have some good research behind them that show promise that they may help optimize a woman’s fertility. And some of these supplements can be used indefinitely on their own, but some of them can be used alongside other fertility treatments that are often done, for example, IVF or in vitro fertilization.

But these are best obviously used after you’ve consulted a qualified health care practitioner and you’re sure that they’re safe with the other treatments you’re doing.

So if you’re looking for ways to optimize your fertility, you may want to start by consulting your local naturopathic physician to discuss different ways that you can use natural and complementary medicines to support your ongoing treatments.

Presenter: Dr. Alana Shaw, Naturopathic Doctor, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Naturopathic Doctor