Fertility issues and the frustrations of not being able to conceive can be hugely stressful to a relationship – and the wider family – particularly so if the decision to ‘have a baby’ has been delayed for whatever reason. As a Zita West affiliated practitioner, Joshua provides acupuncture treatment for couples who wish to take a pro-active approach to starting and growing their family.

The clinical definition of male infertility is ‘the presence of abnormal semen parameters in the male partner of a couple who have been unable to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse’. Successful fertilisation of the female egg requires normal sperm production and motility, and adequate sexual performance, all functions that require normal levels of testosterone.

In a woman, the one-year definition also applies but infertility can be ‘primary’, in women who have never conceived, or ‘secondary’, in those who have. Factors involved in successful conception might also include the woman’s age and pregnancy history, a couple’s lifestyle, nutritional and dietary habits and how their fertility worries might be impacting their relationship.

Acupuncture can help support your journey to starting a family, beginning with preparing you both, mentally and physically, and optimising the conditions for successful conception, through pregnancy and on into the early months of your baby’s life.