| Infertility and IVF often go together, in that IVF is | | | | relieving the pressure and restoring the patient to full |
| very often the route chosen by couples who have | | | | health. |
| difficulty in conceiving a child. But this is an expensive | | | | Meditation can also be practised by patients, as |
| option, and one demanding a high level of trust and | | | | results have shown that it helps relieve the stress |
| commitment, and the results are by no means | | | | and anxiety that IVF treatment can often induce. |
| guaranteed. | | | | The important point seems to be that the patient |
| Is there a way of increasing the chances of | | | | should be genuinely ready to "relinquish control". In |
| conception following IVF treatment? Recent research | | | | other words, to accept, if such be the case, that she |
| in Germany. China and elsewhere suggests there is. | | | | cannot conceive, whether through her own infertility |
| Probably the biggest obstacles to overcome when | | | | or that of her partner. |
| undergoing IVF treatment are anxiety and stress. | | | | That, if it can be achieved, immediately removes the |
| These conditions are often present in the equation | | | | worry and tension that has been present, and the |
| already, but must be exacerbated by fertility | | | | body responds by eventually becoming more healthy |
| treatment. The preliminary visits to the specialist and | | | | and, possibly, regaining fertility as well. This is rather |
| developing the necessary relationship with him are | | | | generalised, and of course it doesn't happen in every |
| stressful, even with the most modern and | | | | case, but it does happen in a substantial number of |
| sympathetic of treatments. | | | | cases. |
| No wonder, then, that IVF scientists and specialists | | | | The message here for all couples experiencing their |
| have been actively searching for a way of alleviating | | | | first difficulties in conceiving a child is not to |
| the pressure on patients, and now, possibly, they | | | | necessarily turn to IVF treatment until they have |
| have found what they've been looking for. | | | | exhausted all other options. Consider instead whether |
| Experiments with the use of acupuncture have | | | | your lifestyle, and in particular your diet and exercise |
| shown that it can increase conception rates among | | | | routine, ought to be changed to reduce stress levels |
| IVF patients by as much as 50 per cent. Acupuncture | | | | and bring your body into peak performance as far as |
| works on the principle that if energy flows through | | | | possible. |
| the body as it should, without any obstacles, then | | | | If a healthy diet and lifestyle cannot bring the desired |
| the mind and body tend towards good health, which | | | | results, a sustained acupuncture and meditation |
| includes fertility. Blockages in the flow of energy are | | | | course may be just what is required by your body to |
| relieved through needles placed by a skilled | | | | bring it to fertility. |
| acupuncturist at the precise point of each blockage, | | | | |