Fertility and Preconception care are missing a critical component: Fertility-focused Manual Therapy.
There is an epidemic in our culture of rampant hormonal birth control use from young ages, chronically high levels of stress, unavoidable exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals, broken connections with our bodies from sitting all day and favoring left-brained activities, of endometriosis, of PCOS, of irregular menstruation, and of cultural suppression of our bodies. This is the environment in which people with childbearing capacity are delaying first pregnancies longer and longer, and many are having challenges and long roads trying to conceive.
Conception, like all innate biological functions, is a complex dance of organ function, blood flow, hormonal and cell signaling, human behavior, nervous system regulation, and timing. The uterus, ovaries, ovarian (fallopian) tubes, cervix and vagina are key players in this particular dance of conception. For many different reasons (like sedentary lifestyle, physical and sexual trauma, surgery and disease) those of us with internal female anatomy can often experience sluggishness in our organs- stickiness, poor circulation, adhesions, restrictions, misalignment, scar tissue, and emotional disconnection.
Fertility massage addresses these structural and functional challenges.
When we talk about fertility and infertility, our minds swerve to IVF, (In Vitro Fertilization) IUI (Intrauterine Insemination), and ovulation-stimulating drugs like Clomid and Letrozole- and mostly, the picture of a long, expensive journey that is resource intensive and emotionally taxing. These strategies and interventions are often times just the key to a pregnancy and birth after a difficult journey to conception, and for many are the only option. We are glad to have these options!
But…Medical fertility treatments should be paired with or done after manual pelvic therapy.
Gynovisceral manipulation is hugely underutilized in the world of preconception and fertility. Deep organ visceral manipulation like Mercier Therapy and Barral Technique are critical in optimizing organ mobility, restoring blood circulation, and helping to break down scar tissue and release adhesions.
For example… A uterus that is pinned back to its neighboring rectum and unable to ebb and flow with breath and movement is going to be a less hospitable host for swimming sperm or an embryo trying to implant.
Or… An ovary with poor blood supply is not going to properly receive the hormones sending to it during an IVF stimulation cycle.
Manual therapy and massage can prepare the abdominal and pelvic organs, often times yielding much higher success rates of IVF and IUI, and sometimes even eliminating the need altogether. Manual Therapy is a safe, noninvasive alternative to or preparation for pharmaceutical and surgical fertility treatments that harnesses your body’s natural drive toward health, movement, and balance.
Click Here for more information about my Fertility Program with Mercier Therapy.