The popularity of holistic medical practices seems to be helping infertile couples to conceive. While in no way new, many patients in the U.S. are turning to acupuncture to treat infertility.

Licensed acupuncturists – such as Leslie Oldershaw, a Piedmont-based acupuncturist who specializes in women’s health and endocrinology – offer a holistic approach to overcoming infertility by way of working to increase a woman’s overall health.

By acting as a “case manager” for her patients, Oldershaw uses her East-West integration to help determine what kinds of treatment options are appropriate.

“Acupuncture and herbal medicine have a track record of working over several thousand years. In the last five to 10 years, Western research has shown favorable results toward acupuncture helping fertility. The Eastern approach in combination with Western fertility treatments is often the most successful method of helping patients succeed,” says Oldershaw.

“It’s important for us not to focus solely on whether a technique will make a woman pregnant but rather get her to a place of better health so that she can in turn become pregnant,” she says.

“A lot of patients come in saying, ‘I want to get pregnant, and by the way, I’m overweight, I get headaches and I’m always stressed out.’ Resolving these imbalances can go a long way in helping patients reach their goal of becoming pregnant.”

Once thing to remember thought, the scientific evidence for acupuncture being an effective treatment for infertility are weak. [source: BA Parent]