Fertility Acupuncture in Charleston, SC
Support for your fertility journey, wherever you are starting from.
Trying to conceive can bring a lot of uncertainty, stress, and questions. Whether you’re just beginning to think about starting a family, navigating irregular cycles, working with a fertility specialist, or going through IVF or IUI, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can provide personalized support along the way.
At Balance, we take time to understand your health, your cycle, your goals, and what you’re going through. Your care is tailored to you and can work alongside the medical care you’re already receiving.
How Acupuncture Can Support Fertility
Fertility care is about more than conception. We look at your whole health and how you’re feeling throughout the process.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be used to support:
Menstrual cycle regulation and reproductive health
Hormonal balance and endocrine health
Stress, anxiety, and the emotional demands of trying to conceive
Overall well-being during fertility treatment
Recovery and support after miscarriage or pregnancy loss
Your Acupuncture Care
If you’re just beginning to plan a family, navigating infertility or fertility treatment, or have experienced miscarriage or loss, your care is tailored to where you are in your journey.
When possible, we typically recommend weekly treatments for about three months when beginning fertility care. This gives us time to support your overall health and address areas such as menstrual cycle health, stress, and hormonal balance.
Your treatment plan may include acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, dietary and lifestyle support, along with therapies such as moxibustion, cupping, massage, or essential oils. Treatments are adjusted throughout your cycle and individualized to your needs.
IVF & IUI Support
If you’re going through IVF or IUI, acupuncture can be incorporated alongside your fertility treatment schedule. For IVF, we often recommend 9–12 sessions leading up to embryo transfer, with a focus on supporting your overall well-being, managing stress, and helping you feel prepared for the process.
We’re happy to collaborate with your fertility specialist and other members of your healthcare team so your care feels connected and supportive.
Acupuncture During Pregnancy
Acupuncture can provide support throughout each trimester of pregnancy.
First trimester: Weekly treatments help support common concerns such as nausea, fatigue, stress and anxiety.
Second trimester: As you move into the second trimester, visits may become less frequent, often around once a month, depending on your needs. Aches and pains, heart burn, swelling, and disrupted sleep are often addressed here.
Third trimester: We typically increase treatments again, with weekly care during the final month to help prepare your body for labor and more frequent visits as you get closer to your due date. Props and bolsters are used throughout treatment to keep you comfortable.
Breech Presentation
If your baby is breech, acupuncture and moxibustion may be used between approximately 30–38 weeks.
Along with specific acupuncture points, we can teach you a moxibustion technique to use at home. Moxa is made from the mugwort herb and provides gentle, warming heat over a specific acupuncture point on the little toe.
We’ll always work alongside your prenatal care team and can help you understand your options for supportive care.
Postpartum Support
The “fourth trimester” brings its own physical, emotional, and hormonal changes. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can provide support during this transition, with care focused on physical recovery, nourishment, stress, emotional well-being, and the changes that come with new parenthood.
We also offer pediatric care and are happy to answer questions about acupuncture and Chinese medicine for your baby or child and guide you toward appropriate care options.
You Don't Have to Navigate It Alone
Fertility treatment and pregnancy can feel like a lot to carry. Your care at Balance is a place to slow down, reconnect with your body, ask questions, and feel supported throughout the process.
Wherever you are in your fertility, pregnancy, or postpartum journey, we’re here to provide thoughtful, individualized care for your whole health.
Patient Testimonials
The following month my cycle was as if it was straight out of a textbook - something I’d never experienced in the 20 years since getting my first period.
“I found Lauren through an essential oils candle-making class at Candlefish. At the time my husband and I were about to start trying to get pregnant so I took note of some of the essential oils to avoid when pregnant that she mentioned during class. Fast forward 7 months and we still weren’t pregnant. Even though my cycles had always been screwed up, my doctor said she wouldn’t address it until we had tried for a year at which point they’d give me medicine. I contacted Lauren on a long shot to see if there were oils that could help me get pregnant and set up an appointment for a consultation. What did I have to lose? In the first 15 minutes of that appointment, Lauren was more thorough in her questions about my cycle than any GYN I had ever seen. She drew up a plan to treat me for blood stagnation (suspecting endometriosis, which my doctor later confirmed) and asked me to give her 4 months to get my body operating the way it should. She sent me away with oils, instructions, recommendations for food, and information on acupuncture should I decide to try it. At my appointment the following month I opted to add the acupuncture as I was already starting to see changes in my cycle. The following month my cycle was as if it was straight out of a textbook - something I’d never experienced in the 20 years since getting my first period. I got pregnant that month and became a Chinese medicine proponent for life! Lauren helped me through my entire pregnancy, with the added bonus of getting to share in the excitement our first pregnancies together (she was five weeks behind me). I gave birth without any complications and have a beautiful 2 year old girl I tell people to this day would not be here if it wasn’t for Lauren (with a little help from my husband). To top it off, Andrea recently helped get my friend pregnant after they struggled for almost a year! Thank you both for giving us the best gifts you can receive in life!” - J.P.
Lauren worked with me on the underlying autoimmune disease, and on preparing my body for another pregnancy.
“I started seeing Lauren for fertility treatments after my first pregnancy resulted in miscarriage. After being told by one OB-GYN that my miscarriage was likely due to my Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, and by another (in the same practice) that my thyroid had nothing to do with it, I wanted another opinion. Lauren worked with me on the underlying autoimmune disease, and on preparing my body for another pregnancy. Once I felt ready to try again, I got pregnant in my first month of trying. I continued to see Lauren throughout my pregnancy where she helped with the usual aches and pains that come with carrying a baby, and I enjoyed the added benefit of stress relief that comes with every session. Lauren actually listens to you, and her warm demeanor makes you comfortable enough to ask any question. I can’t say enough how highly I recommend her for fertility, autoimmune, and stress-of-everyday-life treatments!'“ - M.E.