Here at The Ribbon Box we’d like to introduce you to holistic treatments to aid your fertility journey, so we reached out to Mike Berkley in NYC to tell us more about Chinese herbs for fertility and IVF acupuncture.

In this article he explains some of the science of fertility and how it naturally occurs. An advocate of emulating this natural process as closely as possible, he’ll introduce us to why using herbs and acupuncture can be beneficial for fertility. it is a scientific and informative read.

Mike is also offering our readers a discount on his virtual tele-consults and in-person treatment.

Over to Mike Berkley, Founder and Director, The Berkley Center for Reproductive Medicine…

www.berkleycenter.com | Instagram

It’s a process

Conception, pregnancy and parturition are a process. One definition of process is “a series of actions, changes or functions bringing about a result”. Any natural process is better in every way than an artificial one. A good example is cooking. There is the process of cooking which is a slow, mindful act and there is microwave cooking which is basically a non-participatory act without natural process. There is no relationship between the chef and the outcome of the meal. Which meal tastes better? And, which is healthier to eat?

The process of conception is quite complicated and requires the perfect balance and function of many components all working in a co-ordinated and harmonious fashion. Sperm must be attracted to the egg, it must find the egg, and it must penetrate the egg. The egg has be high quality, and so too must be the sperm. The endometrial lining must have integrity. The embryo must find the lining and must be able to penetrate it. The placenta must develop and nourish the growing baby and rid the foetus of waste matter.

The placenta must protect the foetus from immunological attack. The cytokines, proteins, immune function, blood flow, gycoproteins, hormones must all be in balance and not under or over-functioning. There must be absence of pathological mitigators that can contribute to infertility or promote baby loss. Each and every player in the orchestra of conception must be in tune. One sour note and pregnancy will not occur or miscarriage will ensue.

Chinese Medicine for infertility

Chinese medicine, which consists mainly of fertility acupuncture and fertility herbs, does not work by adding to that which is deficient or reducing that which is in excess; Western medicine is good at that. For example, a common method at reducing excess insulin is by prescribing Metformin. These medicines which add or suppress or reduce have changed the face of civilization. Without the intervention of Western medicine and surgery, our life-span would probably not exceed 40 years of age and three million babies would not have been born as a result of IVF. How many couples, however, have remained childless even though they have undergone multiple IVFs?

Here is why: Just as a microwave oven can cook a meal, IVF can create a baby. But, as the microwave does not supplant the relationship between the chef and the food and the process of creating a meal, IVF cannot, in all its glory, in all cases replace the natural process which is necessary to occur for conception and to increase the chance of taking home a baby at the end of it.

The alternative

Fertility acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are essentially used to create a state as close to homeostasis as possible. Homeostasis is when everything in the body and mind work perfectly. Obviously, this is not attainable. But, acupuncture and fertility herbs attempt this and, by attempting it, a greater state of systemic and psycho-emotional health is frequently achieved. This is why, in many cases, fertility acupuncture and Chinese herbs work to help one achieve pregnancy when IVF fails.

The greater one’s physical and psycho-emotional health is, the more likely one will be to conceive and deliver.

Read more – IVF Acupuncture – Advice from Emma Cannon

Based upon 23 years of clinical experience in the field of infertility, it is my professional opinion that the best-case scenario for the infertile patient is to utilize Western medicine in conjunction with fertility acupuncture and herbal medicine. The reason for this is quite simple. When the fertility specialist retrieves eggs and fertilizes them with sperm, the resulting embryo is as good as its constituent components, egg and sperm. Most IVFs that fail do so because of poor egg quality and/or poor sperm quality. The fertility specialist cannot improve egg or sperm quality; acupuncture and herbs for fertility frequently can.

Related Articles – How to Optimise Sperm Quality Through Nutrition and How to Optimise Egg Quality Through Nutrition

The importance of your blood

I saw a thirty-four-year-old patient today. She has conceived three times with intercourse only to miscarry each time. She did get pregnant and delivered a baby as a result of insemination. She had one subsequent failed IVF. Now her doctor recommends donor eggs with IVF. The patient has cold hands and feet, a pale complexion, low energy and gets dizzy. Obviously she has poor hemodynamics.

Blood is what carries FSH and LH from the brain to the ovaries; blood nourishes the endometrial lining; blood carries oxygen, electrolytes and nutrition to the entire reproductive system and removes waste matter from the reproductive environment. When cells die, which they constantly do, they are ‘eaten’ up by macrophages. If the immune system is not functioning normally and debris is not removed, the outer layer of the dead cells breach and the internal toxic substance circulates within the ovarian milieu causing degradation in ovarian/egg quality. Acupuncture and herbal fertility medicine increase blood flow; as a result this can, in many cases, improve the health and function of the target tissue: ovaries and endometrial lining.

Related Article – Everything You Need to Know about Immunology and Fertility

Why not use acupuncture and herbs?

It is difficult for me to understand why all infertile patients don’t include fertility acupuncture and herbal medicine in their trying to conceive protocols. Why would they not? There has been so much research elucidating the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of infertility that acupuncture is no longer referred to as ‘alternative’ medicine but rather a ‘complementary’ medicine. Herbs have a three-thousand year history of positive clinical outcomes.

Are herbs safe to use?

Regarding the safety profile of fertility herbs I have this to say: there are at least one million hospitalizations per year in America alone which occur as a result of adverse reactions to Western medicine. Many of these hospitalizations result in death. This does not happen with herbal medicine. It is ironic therefore, that many (but no longer all!) fertility specialists don’t want their patients on herbs because “they don’t know what’s in them”. Do you know what’s in Lupron? Or Gonal F? Did you know that ovarian hyper stimulation even from Clomid can be fatal?

Don’t misunderstand, I am 100% pro IUI, IVF and donor egg-IVF protocols. But to not partake of a modality with proven results which may change the course from a negative outcome to a positive one, especially in the patient who has had multiple IUI/IVF failures, is a clinical error.

For 10% off an initial telemedicine or in-person visit with Mike, click here to book directly.