IVF is highly specialised medical treatment, and naturopathic care should work alongside it rather than operate as a separate fertility treatment.
At Fertile Ground, we have worked with people undergoing IVF and other assisted reproductive treatments since 2001. Our fertility naturopaths consider your reproductive and general health history, previous fertility treatment, investigations, nutrition, medications and supplements in the context of the treatment you are receiving from your fertility specialist.
Some people come to us before their first IVF cycle. Others have already undergone treatment and want to review their health, nutrition or supplement use before another cycle. We also work with people who are already in treatment, including those using donor eggs, donor sperm or other assisted reproductive pathways.
The approach will depend on where you are now rather than requiring you to complete a particular program before IVF can begin.
IVF produces an enormous amount of clinical information. Part of our role is to understand that information alongside your broader health history and identify what is relevant to naturopathic care.
Depending on your circumstances, this may include:
Not every person undergoing IVF needs additional testing, supplements or complementary treatment. Recommendations should be based on your individual history, existing investigations and treatment plan.
If you have already undergone fertility investigations or previous IVF cycles, bring the results and reports you have available to your appointment.
Depending on your history, this may include blood tests, ultrasound reports, semen analyses, fertility specialist correspondence, embryology information or previous IVF cycle summaries.
Your naturopath can review this information alongside your broader health history and identify areas that may warrant further discussion with your GP or fertility specialist.
We do not replace medical fertility investigation or interpretation by your treating specialist. Where further medical assessment appears appropriate, we will recommend that you discuss it with the relevant healthcare provider.
IVF treatment can be demanding enough without trying to follow a complicated or highly restrictive fertility diet.
Our naturopaths assess your usual diet, nutritional requirements, health history and relevant pathology to identify where changes may be useful and realistic for you.
Nutrition recommendations may also change according to where you are in treatment. Preparing several months before an IVF cycle is different from being midway through ovarian stimulation, approaching an egg collection or preparing for embryo transfer.
Our aim is to provide practical nutritional guidance that can sit alongside your medical treatment and your everyday life.
This is an area where we take particular care.
People preparing for IVF often arrive taking several supplements recommended by different practitioners, fertility information sources or previous treatment plans. Ingredients can overlap, doses can accumulate and a supplement that was appropriate at one stage may not necessarily be appropriate throughout treatment or pregnancy.
We review the products you are taking, including individual nutrients, prenatal supplements, herbal medicines and other complementary medicines, alongside your current medications and IVF treatment.
As your IVF protocol changes, your naturopath may also review whether your complementary medicines need to change.
Please tell your fertility specialist about supplements and complementary medicines you are taking and keep your Fertile Ground practitioner informed when medications or treatment protocols change.
If you have time before beginning IVF, your naturopath may use this period to review your general and reproductive health, nutrition, existing pathology, lifestyle and supplement use.
There is no requirement to delay fertility treatment in order to complete naturopathic preconception care. The timing of IVF is a medical and personal decision to make with your fertility specialist.
If your treatment is beginning soon, we work with the timeframe you have.
Read more about Preconception Care
Where sperm is involved, male reproductive health forms part of the fertility picture.
Depending on your circumstances, naturopathic care may include reviewing semen analysis results, reproductive and medical history, nutrition, lifestyle, medications and supplements, while identifying when further medical assessment may be appropriate.
Read more about Male Fertility and Sperm Health
After an unsuccessful IVF cycle, it is understandable to want to know whether there is something else you should be doing before trying again.
There may also be a substantial amount of information to review: your response to stimulation, number of eggs collected, fertilisation, embryo development, transfer history, pathology and any observations made by your fertility team.
A naturopathic review can provide an opportunity to look carefully at your nutrition, general health, investigations and supplement use in the context of what occurred during previous treatment.
It is important, however, not to assume that an unsuccessful cycle was caused by something you ate, did or failed to do. IVF outcomes are influenced by many factors, and questions about changes to medical treatment or the interpretation of previous cycles should be discussed with your fertility specialist.
Not everyone who sees one of our fertility naturopaths is already undergoing IVF.
If you are currently trying to conceive and deciding whether or when to investigate fertility or consider assisted reproductive treatment, our Trying to Conceive page explains how we approach this stage.
Read more about Trying to Conceive
Naturopathic IVF support does not replace IVF treatment, fertility investigation or advice from your fertility specialist.
We work alongside the medical care you are receiving. With your consent and where useful, information about your naturopathic prescription can also be shared with other members of your healthcare team.
If your medications, IVF protocol or health circumstances change, let your naturopath know so that your recommendations can be reviewed.
Fertile Ground Health Group has worked in fertility and reproductive health since 2001.
Our fertility naturopaths work with people preparing for their first IVF cycle as well as those who have undergone previous treatment. Care may include detailed case-taking, nutrition, review of pathology and fertility investigations, evidence-informed supplementation and collaboration with medical and fertility providers where appropriate.
IVF naturopathic support is available in Melbourne and via telehealth Australia-wide.
