Acupuncture may help in the treatment of infertility and IVF by

How acupuncture can help (excerpt from the British Acupuncture Council website)

Acupuncture may help in the treatment of infertility and IVF by:

• regulating fertility hormones - stress and other factors can disrupt the function of the hypothalamic pituitary-ovarian axis (HPOA). Acupuncture promotes the release of beta-endorphin in the brain, which regulates gonadatrophin releasing hormone from the hypothalamus, follicle stimulating hormone from the pituitary gland, and oestrogen and progesterone levels from the ovary (Anderson 2007).
• increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs (Ho 2009, Anderson 2007), which can improve the thickness of the endometrial lining, so increasing the chances of embryo implantation.
• increasing egg production (Jin 2009) and improving oocyte quality (Chen 2009), which could increase the chance of fertilisation.
• enhancing luteal function (Huang 2009)
• regulating follicle stimulation hormone-receptor expression (Jin 2009).
• normalising cortisol and prolactin levels on IVF medication days (Magarelli 2008); reducing stress (Anderson 2007)
• promoting embryo implantation (Liu 2008).