Integrative Care for Fertility: Healing The Whole Person

Fertility treatment is high-tech medicine. Millions of children have had their lives begin inside the laboratories of specialists like Shady Grove Fertility Center. As hopeful and exciting as assisted reproductive medicine can be, some of the latest trends for helping patients get pregnant come from the integration of ancient Eastern practices with conventional Western medicine.

Tami Quinn and Beth Heller are the founders of a company that is bringing a holistic perspective to fertility treatment. You might even say that their company, Pulling Down the Moon, is softening the hard-science world of reproductive medicine with alternative eastern teachings.

Both former fertility patients, Heller and Quinn refer to Pulling Down the Moon’s (PDtM) services as Integrative Care for Fertility™ (ICF) and further describe it as “a holistic approach to treatment.”

“Holistic” approaches provide a perspective that considers the emotional, psychological, and even spiritual foundations of a patient, in addition to the physical. Since 2002, PDtM has extended its concepts and services to fertility treatment specialists, and they will be affiliating with Shady Grove Fertility beginning in fall 2008.

“Over the years, we have seen the popularity of non-western medicine grow and become more of a benefit to our patients,” said Robert Stillman, M.D. “We have noticed an increase in relaxation and confidence from patients undergoing fertility treatment who participate in complementary medicine, and felt that it was important to offer these services at Shady Grove Fertility Center.”

“It’s important to note that we work with physicians and not against their recommendations,” Heller emphasizes. PDtM professionals, which includes yoga therapists (both Heller and Quinn are registered yoga teachers,) acupuncturists, reiki therapists, massage therapists, and nutritionists work in partnership with reproductive endocrinologists and other fertility practitioners.

More than feeling good

Shady Grove Fertility Center’s attraction towards adding a complementary medicine program came after seeing an increase of patients participating in mind/body programs while undergoing treatment. Many of the SGFC doctors noted patients who had positive attitudes and peaceful qualities about themselves while undergoing acupuncture in addition to their fertility treatments.

The PDtM team recognizes that infertility patients are savvy health care consumers. They know that men and women who want to build a family and may have encountered obstacles won’t settle for talk that simply helps them cope -- although mind-body theories are an important building block in the services offered by PDtM.

Their upcoming Rockville facility will mimic their highly successful Chicago-area offices, complete with comfy meeting spaces where support groups like “Tea & Talk” are popular. The women who run Pulling Down the Moon are well-versed on the scientifically-supported holistic methods that can help patients conceive.

“Having a resource like Pulling Down the Moon at Shady Grove Fertility Center will be a huge benefit to our practice as it will give our patients a much broader range of tools to help deal with their infertility,” said Melissa Esposito, M.D.

For example, specific yoga poses and movements can result in increased blood flow -- important for hormone regulation and a healthy uterine lining. The use of acupuncture before and after embryo transfer in an IVF cycle has been found to significantly and positive impact outcome. The oft-cited troika of nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction are widely believed to be the first line of defense for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

“Physicians are very on board with the concept that nutrition impacts their patients’ fertility,” Quinn says. “We’ve seen numerous women with long-term ovulatory dysfunction start to ovulate with nutritional support.” Heller adds that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has reported that approximately 12 percent of infertility patient cases are weight related, whether it’s over- or under-weight, and that the vast majority could likely resolve with nutritional support.

Even massage can be recommended by physicians to help patients combat the stress and tension that is carried in their musculature. “Women are presenting with so many different symptoms of simply feeling poorly,” Quinn explains, “we’re finding that sometimes simple touch can help relieve many of their physical symptoms, as well as anxiety and depression.”

Different types of massage round out the offering; fertility massages that increase blood flow in the reproductive area, raindrop therapy that incorporates pure essential oils, Mayan Abdominal Massage based on ancient techniques that eliminate pain from fibroids and endometriosis. Reiki therapy is an alternative acupressure point treatment that can be especially helpful for patients who are needle-phobic.

“It’s all about regaining control of their bodies,” said Dr. Esposito. “Patients know that medically its out of their hands, but if they can do something to strengthen the emotional and spiritual aspect of what they are going through, then it provides an inner peace for them and they begin to feel better about themselves.”

From research studies to the community

“Studies show that women going through infertility have depression rates similar to women with cancer or AIDS,” says Quinn. “A big focus for us is supporting them on their journey so that they walk away feeling that they’ve been enriched in some ways through our programs and classes.”

PDM’s founders traveled their own infertility paths. “I was a Type A business person,” recalls Tami Quinn. “Infertility represented a tremendous loss of control for me. It created a personal change in me. Our different journeys teach us a lot about who we are as people, whether it’s a new perspective, an abundance of gratitude, or something else.”

Their experiences also exposed a gap in services for women needing support. “It’s okay to talk about breast cancer, it’s okay to talk about diabetes, but nobody wants to talk about their fertility issues because it’s still taboo. We want to bring it out of the closet and let women know they’re not alone,” Quinn says.

Heller adds, “There’s a unique healing power when you put women together in a community.” Both women have been traveling to facilitate the creation and running of discussion groups that are based on their new book (co-authored with Jeanie Lee Bussell,) Fully Fertile™: A Holistic 12-Week Plan for Optimal Fertility. They describe the groups as peer-led, empowering, and not typical of support groups. “There are other programs that require a teacher or trainer be present to run, but we’ve seen a beautiful evolution of the women supporting each other.” The free book groups will be offered at their Shady Grove Fertility office and at other locations in the Washington, D.C. area.

Not all the services are for women only. PDM’s Dealing with Disappointment workshops are open to all, with or without partners, to provide a healing space for the myriad losses that come with infertility. PDM will be working as a team with Sharon Covington, MSW-LCSW-C, Director of Shady Grove Fertility’s Psychological Support Services.

Healing the fertile spirit

Regardless of their particular treatment modality, all the practitioners at PDM are trained to do one thing at all times: to simply be there for each patient.

“I always tell my students that I’m here. I’m holding your dream. I see you with the child you’re meant to have or happy in the life you choose,” Beth Heller says.

Tami Quinn sums up how the core beliefs steer Pulling Down the Moon‘s services.

“We feel strongly that you can’t say that a patient has failed in their infertility journey, regardless of the outcome. There has to be acknowledgement and recognition of that spirit that is hard to define but is at the core of this experience. Even women who don’t leave treatment with a baby will also leave with something powerful; and who are we to say that’s invalid.”