In your Forties and Trying-to-Conceive?

Advanced Maternal Age + Pregnancy

Many women are trying-to-conceive while in their forties. Chances for success are limited and

even if conception is achieved, the rate of miscarriage is high. The reason it is difficult to

conceive is because the woman in her forties has (generally speaking) diminished ovarian

reserve and a reduction in egg quality.

After several failed IVF cycles the usual next step is donor egg. Donor egg has between a 60 and

70 percent success rate.

Rate limiting factors may include but are not limited to poor uterine lining, poor sperm quality,

and disease (autoimmune attack of the embryo – or poor patency of blood flow not nourishing

the embryo or placenta).

Acupuncture and herbal medicine cannot increase ovarian reserve, but it can improve egg,

lining and sperm quality in many instances. The mechanism-of-action is improved blood flow-

to the ovaries and testes. A “perfect” 10 millimeter lining is not necessarily “perfect”. Many 10

millimeter linings do not have proper blood flow within the lining and this compromises the

ability of the lining to maintain an implantation. The eggs of a woman in her forties can always

stand to be improved. The sperm in a man in his mid to late forties is often sub-par and may

often be improved with acupuncture and herbs.

I don’t, for example, believe that acupuncture and herbal medicine can get one pregnant

The desired and often obtained end result of the inclusion of acupuncture and herbal medicine

when trying-to-conceive is an improvement in egg, lining and sperm quality. An IVF-embryo

transfer is a ‘mechanical’ procedure: eggs are retrieved, mixed with sperm, embryos develop,

and are placed in the uterus and the rest is pure luck.

IVF or IUI has no bearing on improving the chances of conception and an ongoing pregnancy via

the mechanism of improving the constituent components of an embryo – egg and sperm.

Acupuncture and herbs often fill in this gap. If egg and sperm and lining quality can be improved

even a little bit, this may significantly enhance pregnancy outcomes.

Our expectations are not unrealistic. I don’t, for example, believe that acupuncture and herbal

medicine can get one pregnant any more than an IVF can get one pregnant, even though

pregnancies do occur as a result of both interventions occasionally. Pregnancy occurs as a

result of the relative health of the woman who is housing the embryo in addition to the quality

of the embryo and uterine lining. Many things can go wrong resulting in failed cycles.

So, at the end of the day IUI, IVF, acupuncture and herbal medicine can help a woman conceive

but cannot guarantee success. The key is this: you have the power to use additive means which

today, more than ever, are at your disposal to help increase the odds of a healthy, ongoing

pregnancy. Acupuncture and herbs are just but two. Psychotherapy, diet, exercise, biofeedback,

yoga, taichi, and meditation can also be helpful.

Did you know that pregnant women who are highly stressed are more likely to give birth

prematurely? This is a fact. Acupuncture, besides it action on the testes and ovaries and lining

is also known to help reduce stress.