IVF and Fertility

MAR 11, 2025 • Written by DR. NICOLE VAN POELGEEST, ND

Unexplained infertility is increasingly common for people trying to conceive. Many opt for reproductive assistance such as IUI (intrauterine insertion) or IVF (in-vitro fertilization) with local fertility clinics such as Olive or PCRM, The Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine. 

As BC moves towards providing financial support for these treatments (starting April 2025!) this is likely to become a more viable option for many people who are struggling to have a baby. Hooray! 

Regardless of cost, this is still a BIG decision and requires a lot of preparation to ensure your hormones and your body are prepared for pregnancy. When working with patients preparing for fertility treatments my goal is always to ensure the best outcomes possible: a healthy pregnancy, healthy mama, and healthy baby! 

At Madrona I support families in achieving their fertility goals, however that journey looks. Many naturopathic tools such as supplements, herbs, acupuncture, and/or bioidentical hormone treatments can be used to improve outcomes of fertility treatments. 

For females this often looks like cycle tracking, ensuring hormones are well balanced, addressing metabolic health, and focusing on improving egg quality. There is a great deal of research on egg quality in particular with several supplements that when dosed appropriately can improve the number and quality of eggs harvested for IVF treatment! Did you know that ideally we aim for at least 4-6 months of a customized treatment plan to see an improvement in egg quality before doing IVF? This gives us time to have a positive impact on the health of those eggs you've had since in utero.

For males it tends to be a little simpler as they produce new sperm relatively frequently. Our goal here is to ensure sperm count and quality are optimal for conception and focus on the whole health picture including hormones, metabolism, and immune function. 

Trying to conceive is arguably one of the MOST important times in your life for prioritizing your health. In doing so you're not just ensuring better fertility odds, you're also also contributing significantly to the health of your future little one! 

If you're interested in learning more on ways naturopathic medicine can support your fertility journey, consider booking a meet & greet with one of our ND's at Madrona to discuss further. I (Dr. Nicole) personally have a practice focus on fertility and perinatal support in particular, but we are all well versed in hormone health and look forward to meeting you!