For thousands of years, women have moved through life stages whose essence remains unchanged—infertility, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and menopause. Each carries profound physical and psychological significance.
Modern society, however, has reshaped the journey to motherhood. Contraception, egg freezing, and career priorities allow couples to delay starting a family. Yet this freedom brings new pressures: the need to justify choices, the burden of responsibility, and a steady rise in the average age of first-time mothers, even panic as the biological clock seems to tick louder. This vicious cycle calls for a holistic approach that addresses both body and mind.
A Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views every life stage as a natural transition in the flow of Yin and Yang. Rather than labelling infertility as a ‘problem,’ TCM aims to restore energetic balance to support fertility, nurture pregnancy, and ease the transition into menopause.
Some causes of infertility are hard to detect medically but are well recognised in TCM. The lower body – womb and kidney area – must be warm to nourish new life, much like a seed needing sunlight to grow. Dietary habits often reveal excess ‘cold’ energy: raw vegetables, frequent dairy products, iced drinks, and smoothies may feel healthy but cool the womb and block the formation of vital Energy.
Warming, cooked foods combined with acupuncture and moxibustion (burning mug wort over specific points) can significantly improve the body’s Energy.
Consuming dairy products frequently is known to increase internal cold and create phlegm, which blocks the meridians and prevents Energy from flowing freely.
Even lifestyle habits matter. Walking barefoot on cold stone floors, for example, draws cold through Yong Quan (Rising Fountain), the first point of the Kidney Meridian, located on the sole of the foot. Sending chills up the Kidney Meridian, which runs from the feet up through the whole body, is potentially causing pain in the feet, knees, hips, lower back – and affecting fertility.
Beyond the Physical
Sometimes the deeper question is why a child is desired. A baby may be unconsciously expected to repair a strained relationship – a hope that rarely materializes.
Others may fear passing on their own traumatic experiences to their child.
Parents seeking a second child are often driven by loneliness from their own childhood or by the wish for future caretakers.
These often-unconscious layers cannot be addressed by medication alone. They require compassionate listening to explore motivations and resolve hidden fears to guide parents-to-be toward emotional clarity.
Finally:
Infertility is rarely just a medical challenge. It is an emotional journey. Supporting measures, like acupuncture, special herbs, balanced nutrition and compassionate counselling, have been proven to significantly increase the ability to conceive.
For more details, go to www.lifebalance.com.sg
