Can naturopathy improve my chances of conceiving?

Your naturopath can't promise an outcome, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What naturopathic care can do is address the things that are modifiable — nutritional status, blood sugar, thyroid function, stress, sleep, alcohol, weight and cycle regularity — and make sure nothing correctable is being overlooked. Your practitioner will be clear with you about what is and isn't within reach.

Can I see a naturopath while I'm doing IVF?

Yes, and many people do. Carmen Farrugia works alongside medical fertility treatment rather than instead of it. Tell your naturopath and your fertility specialist what the other has recommended, particularly any supplement, because some interact with medication.

Should both partners come?

Where possible, yes. Conception outcomes depend on the health of both partners, and assessing only one leaves half the picture out. There's a 90-minute couples appointment for exactly this.

How far ahead should we start?

Around three to four months is the usual guidance, because that's roughly the development cycle for both eggs and sperm. Starting earlier gives more room to act on anything that turns up.

Fertility Naturopath Melbourne | Preconception Care

Fertility is one of the areas people most often come to naturopathy for, and it’s also the area where the most is claimed. So it’s worth being plain about what naturopathic care is and isn’t.

Your naturopath cannot promise you a pregnancy. Nobody can. What a naturopathic consultation can do is take a careful look at the factors that are modifiable, make sure nothing correctable is being missed, and support you through a process that is often long and difficult.

What your naturopath will look at

Conception is affected by a lot of things that don’t show up on a standard fertility work-up: nutritional status, blood sugar regulation, thyroid function, iron, vitamin D, stress load, sleep, alcohol, body weight and cycle regularity.

Your naturopath will take a detailed history covering all of it, along with your menstrual cycle, any previous pregnancies or losses, medications and supplements you’re already taking, and what your medical team has found so far.

Where it’s clinically appropriate they may recommend pathology or functional testing to fill gaps in that picture. That might include thyroid or hormone studies, iron and nutrient status, or saliva hormone testing.

Working alongside medical care

Naturopathic care sits beside medical fertility treatment, not instead of it. Blocked fallopian tubes, structural problems of the uterus and many hormonal conditions need medical management, and your naturopath will say so.

Carmen Farrugia is the practitioner here whose work centres on this. She’s an Advanced Diploma qualified naturopath and an AHPRA-registered midwife and Division 1 nurse, and she supports patients through preconception planning, natural fertility, IVF, pregnancy and the postnatal period. She also works with PCOS, menstrual disorders, menopause, and the anxiety and low mood that often travel with hormonal conditions.

⚠ Always tell both your naturopath and your fertility specialist what the other has recommended. Some herbs and supplements interact with fertility medication, and neither practitioner can account for something they don’t know about.

Both partners

Where you’re trying as a couple, both of you being assessed is worth the extra appointment — outcomes depend on the health of both partners, and looking at one leaves the other half unexamined. There’s a 90-minute couples appointment for this.

Endometriosis is a leading cause of infertility and pelvic pain. Women’s health covers cycle and hormonal presentations more broadly.

Fertility