When Cara Bergman was pregnant with the first of her three children as a student in graduate school for acupuncture, the experience led her to choose an area of concentration that would later become her specialization.
“After going through my own pregnancy and seeing how effective acupuncture was for fertility in my student clinics, I decided it would be one of my primary focuses,” said Bergman, a licensed acupuncturist and owner of the newly opened Blue Nest Acupuncture in Chester Springs, Chester County.
After 20 years of clinical practice, Bergman finds that over half of her patients seek out fertility treatment.
According to the World Health Organization, roughly one in six people, worldwide, experience infertility.
A majority of the rest of her patients — men, women and teens — get treatment for areas of mental health including depression, stress and anxiety.
“Aside from fertility concerns, other main reasons people come to me are for back pain and stress,” she said. “They might be going through a divorce or a major transition that they’re struggling with.”
Customized treatment plan
Bergman works with her patients to meet them where they are in their lives with a customized treatment plan.
“We can’t always prevent challenges that happen, but we can learn to navigate them with more grace and ease,” she said.
With its roots tracing back to China over 4,500 years ago, acupuncture is the practice of applying needles to specific meridian points on the body to shift energetic patterns.
“We can look and see things energetically before they manifest into a disease,” she said. “We detect imbalances in the body before they manifest”.
One of the ways acupuncture aids in fertility is by clearing blockages and redirecting energy to the reproductive organs, which are targeted by placing fine, sterile needles on key acupuncture points.
“Unprocessed trauma is often stored in the womb and someone winds up with cysts or fibroids which can interfere with fertility,” Bergman said. “Acupuncture helps to create womb receptivity that is necessary for life to move through you.”
Women’s health
Opened in January of this year, Blue Nest Acupuncture is largely dedicated to women’s health. In the decades that Bergman has been practicing acupuncture, she said she’s seen a huge growth in what’s now available for women to improve their mental and physical health.
Treatment for any area of focus at Blue Nest starts with a comprehensive health history to enable Bergman to customize a plan to meet her patient’s needs. In addition to acupuncture, she incorporates dietary recommendations, abdominal massage, castor oil packs, low-level light therapy and infrared heat.
A three-month treatment plan, which includes 12 sessions, is typically recommended to boost fertility, but Bergman has had clients who see results much sooner.
“I had two people this year who got pregnant after one treatment, “she said.
Struggling to get pregnant
One of Bergman’s patients who was struggling to get pregnant shared this comment about her experience on the Blue Nest website.
“I could not believe it when I found out I was pregnant. After four acupuncture treatments, I am pregnant without clomid (clomiphene) or IUI (intrauterine insemination). I know acupuncture helped my body be ready for this pregnancy. I can never thank Cara enough for helping to make my dream come true. We have been trying to get pregnant for almost two years after a previous miscarriage. After only 2½ months of acupuncture, I am expecting!”
Research supported by physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical Center supports acupuncture’s potential benefits for fertility treatment as a complementary or alternative form of treatment.
“Acupuncture works really well whether you’re going through IVF or trying to conceive naturally,” Bergman said. “I wish more people knew about it.”
Bergman finds her work to be very gratifying, especially for her clients who think they’re a failure due to their infertility and then find success in getting pregnant through treatment.
“It never gets old,” she said. “It’s the best feeling – I feel so excited and happy that they are now on a path to motherhood.”
Benefits of acupuncture for fertility
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the benefits of acupuncture include regulating your menstrual cycle, improving sperm count and motility, increasing blood flow to your reproductive organs, and decreasing stress and anxiety.
Blue Nest is an acupuncture clinic in Chester County that also serves those who live in Montgomery, Delaware and Berks counties. Treatment is available for anxiety, stress, depression, infertility, back pain, menopause, weight loss and more. For more information, visit BlueNestAccupuncture.com or call 484-961-0465.
