In health, a woman is a ‘fertility center’!
This page shows you what Chinese medicine says about trying to conceive – your fertility center – and your chance of getting pregnant.
Remember, Chinese medicine has been thinking about this for 3000 years, rather longer than modern Western medicine. They lacked scientific instruments as we know them. Instead, Chinese doctors used their powers of observation and sensitivity. They applied this to the monthly cycle and a woman’s periods, her menses, to diagnose and treat women trying to conceive.
They realised the importance of regular, healthy menses on a woman’s chance for:
They worked out how to help and monitor them.
You might think that when modern Western medicine arrived, doctors of traditional Chinese gynaecology might give up and do something else! In fact, modern life imposes major problems on women’s bodies which Chinese medicine is very good at helping.
The result? More than ever, Traditional Chinese medicine is being used to diagnose and advise women who are trying to conceive.
In fact many acupuncturists specialise in fertility centers, for example.
‘So what are the basic ideas for promoting a healthy fertility center in a woman? For healthy menses what do you need?
For her womb, her uterus, to work properly there must be Blood and Qi, moving and functioning smoothly.
Blood comes from the food you eat and from your body’s ability to transform it into blood. Blood, (capital B) can then nourish the womb and life inside it.
So your Stomach Energy needs to get you to choose, acquire and prepare, cook and chew the food, then send it on to the Intestines.
Here the Spleen energy transforms it into the red stuff but, at least in Chinese medicine, it doesn’t become Blood (capital B) until it has received Qi from the Lungs and Life from the Heart. Click here for more about this process.
However, that’s still not quite the end of it. For a healthy uterus, you need also ‘Essence‘ or ‘Jing’. This is roughly equivalent to inherited ‘knowhow’ or genes. although that would suggest it’s just information when, in addition, it is a hugely important source of energy.
You also need Yang. Yang comes in the form of what is called Minister Fire: ‘spark‘, if you like: something like libido but as we all know, pregnancy can occur without there being desire.
Both Jing and Yang are dispensed by the Kidney energy.
So now we’ve got Blood, Jing and Yang. What else do we need?
Two important influences take the process forward. One is the Heart energy organ, which governs Blood (after all, if the Heart doesn’t pump, we can all go home). This ‘governing Blood’ idea may seem a bit arcane but the Heart provides the Mental and Emotional balance for a woman’s ‘fertility center’ to know what it’s doing.
The Heart is so important here that there is even a special ‘secret’ stairway or channel between the Heart and the Uterus. (Which may help to explain why some women have palpitations when their uterus is removed – but that will be the subject of another page.)
Also, she needs a healthy Liver Energy organ to move the Blood when it needs to be moved. This balances the Spleen function which likes to hold things in place.
For healthy periods, you can see that the Spleen energy builds up Blood and holds it in place, the Liver makes sure it can flow out at the end of the cycle, ready for the next one.
If your Blood flows at the wrong time, it may be because the Spleen can’t hold it in place. This could be because of tiredness or heat or a range of other things. If your period is very late, it might be because your Liver Qi is stagnating, or because you are so weary that your Spleen (and Stomach and the others) can’t get the energy together to make enough Blood to be worth a period.
You’ve heard of acupuncture points! Probably you’ve also heard of acupuncture channels or ‘meridians’?
On the surface of your abdomen run the Conception vessel points, Kidney channel points, Stomach, Spleen and Gallbladder channel points. Even more run up inside, making your lower abdomen, where you womb resides, one of your most richly permeated areas for acupuncture channels. These include, importantly, your Liver channel: vital for timing and healthy flow of Blood.
Your body invests a huge amount of its resources on your womb. Keep yourself healthy and your chances increase for a healthy pregnancy and birth!
This page is more for women, though I hope men will be interested too. However, both will want to check out sexual impotence, which is more for men.
It may help to ensure that the man is in good health and condition!
So, if we take the analogy of the cooking pot:
Then, with all these ingredients to hand, an egg can be produced and the nest prepared (to switch analogies!).
All your fertility center needs then is another bit of Yang, to bring the egg (Yin) to life. It’s called sperm!
What could possibly go wrong when trying to conceive? After all, we’ve been evolving for a million years: you’d think our genes might have sorted it all out by now!
Well, obviously, if you’re reading this, things may not be going just as you had hoped.
Here are some possibilities in Chinese medicine:
If you know a bit about acupuncture theory, you’ll realize I haven’t mentioned Chong Mai or Mo the Penetrating Channel, Ren Mai or Mo the Conception Vessel or Du Mo the Governor channel, to mention but three omissions.
In treating women with infertility, knowing about and diagnosing problems with these issues and knowing how to use these extra-ordinary channels can be essential for success. But in trying to explain this overall picture simply, I have omitted them.
There are six main causes in Chinese medicine:
If a woman has been having no periods, then there’s an additional reason for infertility – additional that is, to those mentioned above.
Stress, worry, depression. It is terrible to say this, especially if you are feeling stressed, worried and depressed, but these emotions (plus any other major emotion) can disrupt your Heart energy.
If your Heart energy isn’t working smoothly (and this does NOT mean that you have a heart problem) then, as Governor of your Blood, it cannot smoothly supply blood where it’s needed, when it’s needed ie to your fertility center, your womb.
As you may imagine, for 3000 years Chinese doctors haven’t been merely diagnosing fertility center problems of infertility. They have evolved ways to treat it. Western medicine has huge advantages in many ways, but doesn’t yet look at fertility center problems as being energetic in nature – and in its current form, Western medicine has only been around for perhaps 200 years.
Nowadays there are many fertility centers and fertility treatments using the theory of Chinese medicine.
If you have a question on infertility and how perhaps Chinese medicine might diagnose it, fill out the form below and we’ll try to answer you.
Under the form you can see what others have asked or said. That’s also where, if you have something you’d like to contribute, it may be shown so others can read it.
However, if you have a question and DO NOT want it to be displayed, please say so CLEARLY! I don’t wish to cause you offence or embarrassment.
Important! Please head your question with the word ‘Fertility’.
Do you have a question or a great story about this? Would you share it?
Please note! Your contribution will not be made public if you don’t want it to be. Please let me know when you write.
Stay in Touch!
No spam, only notifications about new articles and updates.
Book a Video consultation if you want to know more about your symptoms
Chinese medicine books are what you need to support studying acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. Also for Tuina, Guasha and 5 Elements.
Element points lie between elbow and finger-tip or knee and toe-tip. They hugely enhance other acupuncture strategies but some acupuncturists ignore them!
5 elements acupuncture is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, even spreading back to China from Europe. It can make for powerful treatment..
Want a list of the acupuncture meridians (channels) with links to the individual meridians themselves? This is it!
The Large Intestine Channel may seem unimportant! But it has several of the most-frequently used points, and is vital for many head problems.
What acupuncture point evidence is there? Lots! And growing! Hard to refute, though sceptics will always exist. But even WHO is convinced.
Subscribe to the Newsletter
If you are interested in understanding how Traditional Chinese Medicine can improve your life sign up to my newsletter for the latest updates.
Subscribe to the Newsletter
If you are interested in understanding how Traditional Chinese Medicine can improve your life sign up to my newsletter for the latest updates.
