6 Ways Naturopathic Infertility Care Optimizes Fertility

Improves Sperm and Egg Quality

Good sperm and egg quality are central to fertilization, and the health of the baby. After all, those two cells alone, begin to divide pretty rapidly after fertilization, and end up as the parent cells to every single cell in your baby's body.

When you think of it that way, doesn't it make you want to do every thing in your power to optimize the health of those two cells? 

Procedures like IVF and ICSI, try to merge the sperm and the egg together for fertilization, but they overlook the basic health of the two cells to begin with. Do you see how that can potentially be a problem? Overlooking the basic foundations to optimize the health of those two cells can have a serious impact on your fertility and the health of your pregnancy and baby. 

Optimizes Endometrial Lining/Thickness

Your endometrial lining is the blood layer that coats the inside of the uterus each month, in response to hormonal changes. Estrogen and progesterone are the two big hormonal players in the development and retention of the endometrial lining. 

An endometrial thickness of 10cm or more has the best pregnancy outcomes, optimal thickness is 12-15cm. Many women, due to nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances fall short of this thickness.

Having a thinner lining can support implantation, in some cases, but can be one of the causes of recurrent miscarriage. Having a thin endometrial lining can also lead to preterm delivery, low birth weight, and ectopic pregnancy. 

Addresses Nutritional Deficiencies

Growing a baby takes some serious work. Good nutrition is the foundation of healthy development of the baby, healthy development of the baby at its core is centered around cell division. Fertilization is when the sperm and egg merge their DNA together to create one cell. Soon after fertilization, that one cell becomes two cells, the two cells become four cells, and so on...In order for cell division to happen, for the DNA to be copied properly, and new cells to form healthfully, the proper nutrients need to be present. This is why it is well studied that proper nutrition reduces pregnancy complications and health complications for the baby significantly. 

The big nutrients you probably hear about include folate, iron and B12, but there are many more nutrients that need to be present and as the cells evolve into different types of cells, such as bone cells, for example, other nutrients become more necessary. This is why it is important to address nutrient deficiencies before pregnancy and maintain a health nutritional plan throughout pregnancy.  

Improves Pregnancy Outcomes

All three topics discussed above are ways in which pregnancy outcomes can be directly impacted through naturopathic care. It is well studied, that having a healthier sperm and egg, a healthy thick endometrial lining, and proper nutrition can improve the health of the pregnancy, leading to a full term pregnancy and less delivery complications. 

Naturopathic care can also improve hormonal health which is necessary for pregnancy retention and mental wellbeing which can reduce the chances and severity of post-partum depression, and other post-partum challenges.

Improves Placental Health

The placenta acts as kidneys, lungs, and a liver for your baby until birth. It removes waste (metabolic waste and CO2) from the baby, enables exchange of oxygen, provides a flow of nutrients, secretes hormones, and acts as an immune barrier between mom and baby. It's a pretty mighty organ and its optimal functioning is obviously imperative for a healthy pregnancy.  

The health of the placenta is directly correlated to birth weight, fetal growth, gestational age, and birth complications. A placenta can begin to calcify towards the end of pregnancy, and cause the placenta to deteriorate prematurely. Naturopathic care is centered around improving the health of the mother and this can help keep the placenta healthy for the duration of your pregnancy. 

Optimizes the Health of the Baby

This one goes without saying, but it has to be included.  The goal of pregnancy is not only having a baby, it's about having a healthy baby. So many times couples skip improving their health before IUI/IVF/ICSI procedures, and even natural pregnancy, and this can increase chances of the baby having health risks. This goes especially for IUI/IVF/ICSI procedures. This is by no fault of the couple, as it is not commonly discussed in mainstream fertility clinics. I have heard multiple times, how couples undergo IVF and once they are confirmed pregnant, they hear of all of the extra testing they need to undergo because their baby is at increased risk for various complications. None of which was discussed before hand, in their specific cases. 

Using Naturopathic care before natural conception and IUI/IVF/ICSI can change the outcomes of the health of your baby directly, and should be taken seriously. This is by no means intending to blame parents who did not attempt to improve their health before getting pregnant, this is simply to bring awareness. 

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