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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – More than a thousand babies are born every day on average in the month of September*, making it one of the busier months in maternity departments.
But for all of those women who are having babies, there are millions more who keep trying. For some women, getting pregnant can be a long and frustrating experience, and a new study shows that many of them are looking for help in some unconventional ways.
Kim Browning is one such example. She tried for years before she was finally able to get pregnant with her first child and when she decided to have another, she turned to acupuncture to improve her chances.
“It really helped me feel like I was doing everything that I could, mentally. Physically, you don’t notice that big of a difference, so mentally it was really helpful for me,” says Kim.
Kim is not alone. A sampling of women conducted by experts at Ohio State University Medical Center and recently published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine shows that two out of three women include some form of alternative treatment in their hopes of getting pregnant.**
Whether it’s something as simple as prayer, as ancient as acupuncture or learning to relax in yoga class, a majority of women say they want to do something to help the process along.
“Both men and women would like to feel that they are more active in being able to control the timing of pregnancy and anything that gives them a sense of control, of empowerment, is going to be important to them,” says Jonathan Schaffir, MD of Ohio State University Medical Center.
Ohio State experts say that, while there may be little scientific proof that methods like these actually work, most are relatively harmless, with one exception. If you’re turning to vitamins and supplements to improve your odds of getting pregnant, make sure your doctor knows.
“It’s amazing the people that will tell me they’re taking several supplements and even more amazing when I’ll ask what’s in them and they’ll have no idea what they’re taking,” says Beth Kennard, MD, of Ohio State University Medical Center.
The best advice? Take a team approach and keep your doctor informed of every method you consider for you can both agree on the best way to spend your time – and money.
Sources:
*Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths: Provisional Data for July 2008, National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 57, Number 13, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_13.htm
**Use of Nonmedical Treatments by Infertility Patients, The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Volume 54, Number 7, July 2009. http://www.reproductivemedicine.com/feature/2009/feature072009.php
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