Recurrent miscarriage or recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as two or more consecutive pregnancy losses.
Miscarriages in the first trimester are thought to be as high as 50% with many women not even realizing that they are pregnant before miscarrying. After having one miscarriage, most women go on to have a healthy pregnancy and even for women who have had six or more pregnancy losses, the overwhelming majority of them go on to have a baby. If you have had two miscarriages in a row, you should see a medical practitioner for a basic testing workup to check for miscarriage causes such as uterine shape problems, blood clotting disorders, and possible hormonal imbalances.
Women who have had recurrent pregnancy losses have higher than average odds of developing anxiety and depression for obvious reasons. Recent studies show that women who have regular supportive care during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy dramatically reduce the number of unexplained miscarriages. Care includes regular medical and emotional check-ins with midwives or doctors and a regular practice of deep relaxation.
Recurrent Miscarriage Holistic Treatments
Traditional Chinese Medicine
While Western medicine can be effective at treating symptoms of endometriosis – removing scar tissue, repairing any structural damage, pain management usually using medications and surgery, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approaches treatment differently. TCM does help minimize the symptoms, but also attempts to treat the root causes that led to the development of endometriosis in the first place.
TCM uses acupuncture, herbal medicine, stress management techniques along with dietary and supplement recommendations to help patients with endometriosis manage their condition and sometimes reverse it. If the Western medical diagnosis is mild to moderate endometriosis, TCM on its own can be effective with 4 – 6 months of care. However, if the condition is considered severe endometriosis, typically the best response will be with Western and TCM therapies used together.
The main benefit of using TCM treatments is improvement of your overall health which ultimately improves your chances of pregnancy. Therapies are designed to help you decrease pain and inflammation throughout the body, eliminate some of the built up scar tissue, reduce stress levels, improve digestion, improve blood flow to the reproductive organs, and balance many of your hormones.
As with all TCM treatments at AcuPlus, the recommended treatment protocol will be based on your individual TCM diagnosis as not all patients diagnosed with endometriosis will be treated the same. But in general, endometriosis is seen as a damp condition with many other factors contributing to an individual’s diagnosis. The aim is to stop the creation of damp, remove it and bring about a healthier balance between the organ systems.
Nutrition & Diet
Your nutrition and diet must not be neglected when working to decrease body inflammation and improve the hormone balance in your body. A great approach is to create an anti-inflammatory diet that helps your body heal itself.
General Endometriosis diet tips:
- Eat plenty of high fiber foods. Fiber increases movement of food through the intestines and helps promote an optimal balance of helpful bacteria.
- Increase liver friendly foods such as kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and spinach.
- Use more anti-inflammatory spices such as turmeric, ginger, and garlic.
- Minimize or avoid sugar, caffeine and alcohol.
- Minimize or avoid dairy and gluten as they may contribute to inflammation and are considered damp promoting foods.
- Minimize or avoid red meat because it contains large amount of arachidonic acid, which promotes inflammatory prostaglandins, inflammation, and pain.
- Avoid soy products because they have an estrogenic effect.
*More detailed diet and supplement recommendations are given to you based on your individual TCM diagnosis.
Lifestyle Shifts
Perhaps the most important lifestyle shift if you suffer with endometriosis is learning to manage your stress response. Poor management of chronic stressors can increase inflammation in your body. When you learn techniques to minimize the effects of those stressors, using tools such as yoga, qi gong (meditative exercise), breathing exercises and meditation, your body chemistry will change and become healthier.
Of course regular exercise can reduce your stress response as well, but it also will improve whole body circulation of blood and lymphatic fluid thereby helping your body feel and function more optimally. The general recommendation is to include at least 30 minutes a day of brisk walking or other aerobic exercise to help improve your health.