What is Fertility Acupuncture? Is it a bunch of woo-woo, or based in science? We talk to the leading fertility acupuncturist in NZ and learn that yes, it is science based (Roberta even does sessions inside IVF clinics) – plus, we talk to a former patient about her journey… ME!
Welcome to our series, The Motherhood Diaries – a safe space for you to share your experiences, advice, hopes and heartbreaks. We’ll be hearing from industry experts giving practical advice alongside Capsule readers (You!) sharing your firsthand experiences. We’re looking at everything from fertility, trying to conceive, pregnancy, the fourth trimester, newborns, toddlers, children’s mental health and teenagers, fertility issues and everything in between!
Trigger warnings: Infertility, IVF
Note: Please seek the advice of your medical professional if you are experiencing issues with infertility or are trying to conceive. The information in this story is not intended to replace advice from your GP, fertility specialist or any other medical professional. While I [Alice] was a patient of Roberta at Dr Vitalis’ clinic, I was a fully paying customer and this story was not paid for.
There are lots of things that are wonderful about being a mother a bit later on in life, but while I absolutely loved becoming a mother a few weeks after I celebrated turning 40, it’s also not really something I would encourage others to necessarily do. Not because I would change a single thing, but because, well, if you’re one of the lucky later-in-life mums you’ll likely be terrified out of your mind that you won’t be able to get pregnant or stay pregnant or have a healthy baby due to your age, or, yes, if you’re supremely unlucky, you may just find out that you have left it too late.
Everything I was reading/hearing/exposed to out there said that my chances of getting pregnant naturally at 39 were about as slim as waking up next to Brad Pitt. Because, not only was I at an age where my fertility apparently would have fallen off a cliff, but I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis – a condition that is known to make it more difficult to conceive and see a pregnancy through to full-term – also working against me.
My GP and the naturopath I see (the wonderful Annaliese Jones) both assured me it was all possible and fine, and that I was in good shape to get pregnant – but to keep in mind that most women my age take around a year to conceive. I had a rather pessimistic timeline figured out – a year of unsuccessful trying, then we’d start IVF… maybe I’d have a baby by my mid 40s if I got lucky?!
It was then that a friend told me how she’d been struggling to conceive, but started seeing a great acupuncturist and then got pregnant remarkably quickly. I figured it was worth getting all the help I could, so I booked in immediately myself.
Roberta is warm and empathetic and we immediately connected. Her advice was invaluable – she was happy with my thyroid levels but told me to put on four kilos to up my chances. I went to see Roberta twice a week, for one hour acupuncture sessions and I looked forward to those appointments all week. I had a lot of crazy stuff happening at the time, so a chance to lie down with my eyes closed and feel this wild and unexpected sense of calm brought on by the treatment, was incredible. I swear it actually made me more resilient through that time too. Then, three months into trying, I was literally speechless when I got a positive pregnancy test.
I was so incredibly excited, but also… terrified. I knew how common miscarriages were, I’d written dozens of stories for Capsule on the topic, and how my odds were even higher. But, going to Roberta really got me through. There’s not really a lot you can do during it all to fight for your little baby (besides following the rules of what to do and not do, like not smoking, eating raw salmon etc), but going to Roberta made me feel like I was doing something to look after my little guy.
I also experienced hyperemesis, where, during the first trimester and a good portion of the second, I was throwing up about 20 times a day. Roberta’s treatments were the only thing that seemed to give me some relief, and when we went into lockdown while I was 10 weeks, I was only half joking when I asked if I could be in her bubble. When we got out of that ridiculously long lockdown, one of the things I was most excited about was seeing Roberta again. She really helped too, when in the third trimester my little guy (with a ginormous head) was breech and threatening to break my ribs. After seeing Roberta, I lay down in bed that night and realised the pain had gone – he had moved (although, I must add, that he definitely likes to do things his way, because he then somehow moved to be transverse the day that he was born. Joy.)
I’ll never know if fertility acupuncture made the difference or not in me conceiving and then delivering a healthy little boy, but I know that it at least brought me a lot of peace of mind and helped my mental health exponentially.
So, who is Roberta Mek, what is fertility acupuncture, is it legit and how does it all work?!
Essentially, Roberta is the real deal, with the education to prove it. She has a master’s degree in acupuncture from the Zhejiang University of Chinese Medicine in Hangzhou, China. She also travelled to Canada to take an eight hour exam to get accreditation from the International Fertility Acupuncture Organisation, the Acupuncture and TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine, recognized as the world’s most stringent in this field (she’s also the only acupuncturist in NZ to have this recognition).
Roberta works at Dr Vitalis Acupuncture – in 2003 they became the first acupuncture clinic to start providing acupuncture at IVF clinics.
One of the great joys of her life is seeing her clients become parents. “Someone popped in today with a photo of their seven-year-old son, who was one of our success stories,” she says. “Another patient came in for her third labour induction. It is most heart-warming when we receive good news or baby pictures from our patients. Some patients even come with their little ones to celebrate them together. These are the moments that make you realise that you have been supporting/caring for those growing families for quite some time.”
Roberta is passionate about empowering and informing women. “Good information can empower a woman’s reproductive choices,’ she says. “I’ve been running workshops helping women learn about their cycles and fertility. For me it is about advocating for better knowledge. I try to guide you to a better understanding. aAnd empowered you can make much better choices regarding the lifestyle and treatments. by the knowledge wWhatever options you choose fully informed – And it doesn’t necessarily have to be include acupuncture.”
But while they have plenty of success stories, Roberta says you won’t find an baby photos on their walls (even though they receive lots of cute pictures – “and, if we are lucky, even baby cuddles!”). “Because we respect that this is very sensitive, and for some, seeing others conceive can cause mixed emotions, I don’t like to boast about our success. Yes, Ssometimes happy stories can give you hope. When this is needed And if you need this, we can always pull out share a relevant real story from our experience.”
How Does Fertility Acupuncture Work?
Roberta says, “Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are the only natural therapies which have extensive quality research backing up their use as fertility support.”
Here’s how she explains it:
“Your body responds to a number of stimuli, like light and exercise. These stimuli of light and exercise are essential for our health. And acupuncture plugs into that similar mechanism. Just like light, acupuncture modulatesincreases melatonin levels. Just like exercise, we stimulate the nerves and local tissues and your body responds.”
“For instance, specific targeted acupuncture techniques reduce sympathetic nervous tonus, which expands blood vessels to bring more blood to your reproductive system. When correctly applied, acupuncture also helps with stress, helps to regulate hormones with an aim to improve your chances to conceive either naturally or with assisted reproductive technology such as IVF.”
“We are curious to better understand the mechanism of how acupuncture helps fertility. We designed a clinical study exploring the effect acupuncture has on follicle/ovarian health in women over 34. We advanced it to the ethics committee approval. In 2016 DHB IVF clinic, Fertility Plus, agreed to work with us on the study. We are still seeking funding for this.”
Who Typically Gets Fertility Acupuncture?
“Because we have been caring for reproductive health patients for over 20 years, we’ve helped in all kinds of fertility situations,” says Roberta. “We used to mostly see patients with poor prognosis. Some of those women had up to eight IVF cycles and 10+ years of trying to conceive. Some of these were patients IVF clinics did not have much to offer. Interestingly, there is some promising research showing acupuncture works well for those difficult cases.”
“Helping these people is what provides me with both the challenge and the most satisfaction. With a better understanding of what this natural treatment can offer, lately we are seeing more patients explore acupuncture early on, so that they can avoid having to resort to the highly invasive options.”
“It helps to work in a team When I see an unusual case, I dig into research and discuss it with my colleague Dr Vitalis. There is also a culture of sharing interesting cases among our international colleagues and fertility specialists at ABORM. Of course, they are anonymised.”
“For instance, one of my patients had four failed IVF cycles, which included seven embryo transfers. Because of a problem with uterine lining, IVF specialist advised that the only option was to transfer her embryo (fertilised egg) for another woman to carry (a surrogate mother). When she sought my help, she had a few months to prepare for this procedure. Luckily, with a little encouragement of acupuncture uterine lining started to look better during ultrasound scans. And eventually she fell pregnant naturally and carried full term.”
“Anyone who would like to safely support their fertility journey can consider acupuncture. While not a panacea, even those diagnosed with reproductive health issues such as endometriosis or PCOS can benefit from this natural treatment. It can support you while undergoing treatments with IVF clinics.”
“Lifestyle issues, menstrual cycle issues and referral for basic blood tests can often be missed or overlooked. Very often there is no one exact reason why a couple can’t get pregnant (of course blocked fallopian tubes, no sperm, those are obvious issues), but in most cases it all boils down to a bunch of small things. “
“There was that one couple who described themselves as super healthy. But because we ask our patients to fill out a big questionnaire before they come in, we already knew that there are some red flags in that super healthy couple. They were working out seven days a week at the gym, she worked night shifts and was very underweight. While all those things will look good on your instagram, when trying to conceive it is about balance. It’s about reducing stress on the body. Because stress is not only emotional, exhausting lifestyle can stress your body as badly and reduce your chances to get pregnant. We can help with acupuncture to reduce your stress, but we need to work as a team to optimise your chances through lifestyle as well.”
When is the Best Time to Begin Fertility Acupuncture?
“The healthier you are, the healthier your baby is. Ideally, you would start acupuncture as early as you start preconception care lifestyle changes, at least three months before you are trying to conceive. It gives time to spot red flags and start working on them, additionally this is how long it takes for a new round of follicles to mature. Some patients only come to see us when they have been struggling for some time. Because fertility acupuncture has been shown to reduce the time to pregnancy, they miss out on a chance to have a less stressful journey and on the potential to improve their health prior to conception.”
How Is Fertility Acupuncture of Help During a Pregnancy?
“The healthier you are in pregnancy, the better it is for the baby. Even deceptively minor issues such as stress/anxiety and lack of sleep during pregnancy have been shown to harm the baby.”
“For instance, depression in pregnancy increases risk of preterm birth, leads to smaller babies, and affects baby brain development. Babies may have altered structure of the brain, particularly regions vital to emotional development. Acupuncture has been shown to benefit depression. Your balanced emotional state is important for the baby. And there is no need to miss out on the balancing benefits of acupuncture during these crucial months of the baby development.”
“Because of the unique mechanism of acupuncture, it can benefit your pregnancy in many ways. For instance, researchers studying acupuncture for morning sickness observed that women who received acupuncture had fewer miscarriages. There were similar observations in studies on IVF acupuncture.”
Does Our Fertility Really Fall Off a Cliff After 35?
“It gets harder to get kids in your mid 30’s but there are women who struggle to get pregnant in their late twenties. There is a small risk of you running out of eggs (premature ovarian failure) in your early 30’s. You can end up with a partner who doesn’t produce sperm. You never know what life is going to throw at you.”
“There is that understanding that fertility is given right. There is that strong feeling of unfairness. I see it as any other body function, not everyone is born with a healthy heart so not everyone will be able to run.”
“At 35 you don’t necessarily fall off the fertility cliff. Likely it’s more like a slope you start going down and depending on your general health, your lifestyle, genetics you will have a higher or lower chance of getting pregnant. What really falls with age is your chance to conceive with IVF.”
“Additionally, we should not neglect men health. The sperm quality reduces with age as well.”
“From the reproductive health perspective, the best time to have kids is in your early 20’s. Not because your eggs all of the sudden expire at 35, but because your body is affected by natural ageing. Oestrogen and progesterone may decline mid to late 30’s. That will eventually affect the receptivity of your lining. Some conditions like, for instance, endometriosis, have more time to manifest the longer you wait. I often hear couples saying if we will not get pregnant naturally we will do IVF. Often they underestimate the emotional stress IVF can cause, which some studies have equaled to stress of having a treatment for a terminal illness. And IVF doesn’t guarantee success by far.”
Roberta’s Advice:
“Because it is popular among those trying to conceive, a lot of clinics claim to provide fertility acupuncture. Receiving the accurate advice and treatment on time can be essential to your success. This is the reason why choosing the right specialist can be crucial to your success. Because fertility can sometimes decline rapidly, time it’s one of the most precious things when you’re trying to conceive. Don’t waste it.”
“Please remember that acupuncture is only safe when it is done correctly with the level of expertise that pregnancy deserves. Your choices may impact the health of your baby.”
