Combining Wisdom. Empowering Women
The Wisdom of Three Doctors
We know how hard it can be to get good advice when it comes to Women’s health and fertility. We are here to give you wisdom, facts, and expert advice from our years collaborating as fertility specialists from both Eastern and Western medical backgrounds.
We are three doctors…one “Eastern” Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine and two “Western” MD Reproductive Endocrinologists. We’ve been collaborating on patient care for almost a decade and have gained deep respect for each other’s medicine, while also learning where each approach excels and how they work together for faster results and happier patients.
Our passion is empowering and educating women on all things reproductive. We are honest and direct, but keep it approachable, like talking to your best friend. In our clinics in NYC, we’ve helped thousands of women conceive through our collaborative approach, which studies show not only improves fertility outcomes, but also improves patient health and quality of life along the way.
We are on a mission to share our knowledge in an accessible way, so women can understand their bodies and optimize their health, fertility, and pregnancies.
Recent Posts
5 Things to do Before Trying to Conceive
Even saying the words out loud: “We are ready to have a baby” can be overwhelming and frightening. Although it may take some years to get to this point while others reach it in a minute, vocalizing this statement is a big deal. Here are some tips to help you get ready…
Paternal Age and Fertility
Fertility is a two-way street. While we have let the guys off the hook when it comes to age in the past, we now know that paternal age does matter. It can most definitely play a role in infertility and abnormal pregnancies. Sperm, like their egg counterparts, seem also to be on the hunt for the fountain of youth. This is important to remember when looking for the cause of infertility.
Check Your Gas Tank Meter…It Might Be Time to Refuel: The Thyroid and TTC
Thyroid hormone plays a role in regular ovulation, pregnancy implantation, and miscarriage. Additionally, babies don’t start to produce their own thyroid hormone until about 13 weeks of age (in utero). Therefore, for the first trimester of pregnancy, babies rely exclusively on their mothers. If you are borderline low making thyroid hormone, they will be super low. And given that thyroid hormone is essential for brain development, this is not an area you want to be lacking in!
Cervical Mucus: A Marker for Ovulation, A Must for Pregnancy?
Egg white versus watery, creamy versus sticky. Are we baking a cake or making a baby? While in many ways, it’s sort of a little bit of both, tracking your cervical mucus is not a prerequisite for detecting ovulation or having a baby.
Ovarian Reserve and Antral Follicle Count: Chips in the Cookie
A big part of the fertility assessment is ovarian reserve. You probably hear your fertility doctor throw this term around like it’s candy (or cookies!): “Your ovarian reserve looks good!” “Your ovarian reserve is not so good.” You may be nodding and thinking, “What in the world are they talking about?”
Caffeine and Fertility: Is My Grande Getting in the Way of Getting Pregnant?
Caffeine is key; ask any working woman what moves her from bed to car/subway, office to a workout, and shower to dinner, and most will say coffee. Hot, iced, sugared, and frothed, it can motivate even the most sluggish of us to complete and power through our daily tasks. Questions about caffeine from bleary-eyed women who have been incorrectly instructed to quit flood our desks on a daily basis.
Are Fibroids Causing Your Infertility?
While fibroids are pretty pesky for most of us, some women are completely unaware of their presence. They find out totally by accident during an ultrasound, a pelvic exam, or during pregnancy. And just like if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, fibroids that are causing no symptoms are really no big deal…
Case Study #1 Our collaboration in action!
Read about “Sarah”, a patient with endometriosis who had success after a collaborative approach.
The Big 10. We Answer Your Most Commonly Asked Questions When TTC.
As fertility specialists and women, we have been asked almost every question in the book (and actually several out of the book) about the dos and don’ts, the yeses and nos, and the cans and cannots when it comes to getting pregnant. There is actually almost nothing that is too taboo, nothing too risqué, and (almost) nothing that we haven’t heard before.
5 Tips for a Peaceful and Productive Egg Retrieval
The big day is here. Egg retrieval. You are filled with anticipation, angst, and probably some fear. To minimize some of the negative thoughts running through your hormone-infused head, we have some suggestions for you to make it easier…
Getting out of Limbo Land: Making Decisions on Fertility Treatments
Identifying your options and deciding when, where, and what fertility treatment to embark on can take time and work.
What's in the Sauce? Why The IVF Lab Matters.
How many chefs do you know that will hand over the ingredients to their famous, to-die-for “sauce”? Not many. What makes their dish unique is usually kept under lock and key and shared with only their closest confidants. The same can be said for the conditions in an IVF laboratory. “Secret ingredients” (a.k.a. laboratory culture conditions, temperature settings, and embryologist technique) are in many ways what distinguishes one IVF center from the next.
Heads or Tails? Breech Babies!
Of all the crazy positions a kid can get themselves into in utero, a breech is the most common and the one that shouts “C-section” the loudest and the fastest to most modern OB/GYNs. While it’s usually just a flip of the coin for whose baby will be breech and whose will not, there are some risk factors for a breech presentation: the shape of your uterus, the position of your placenta, low amniotic fluid volume, or a previous breech baby. There are also some tricks to try and get your baby to move into the right position…
Exercise and IVF
There is a lot of advice out there on exercising while ttc. The science behind this data is weak though, making it more fiction than fact. While there are times during fertility treatment where you may need to modify your regimen, it actually has less to do with the impending pregnancy and more to do with the size of your ovaries and where you are in your IVF cycle.
Uterine Adhesions and Asherman's Syndrome
The uterus is vital for reproduction, so when it sustains damage, what do we do? Read on to find out the details on uterine scar tissue aka Asherman’s Syndrome
Translating Fertility Lingo
While we talk fast (we’re New Yorkers), we often work hard to help our patients better understand the shorthand or lingo that we are using for medical terms. Think of us as your fertility language translator. We offer you here the top 15 most frequently heard acronyms in the halls of a fertility clinic, in alphabetical order…
Everything You Wanted to Know about Egg Freezing But Weren’t Sure Who to Ask!
As fertility doctors from both Easter and Western medicine, girlfriends, and exercise enthusiasts, we’ve chatted with patients, friends, and ladies we meet on the shower line in the locker room about egg freezing: what they know, what they want to know, and what they wish they knew. Here are the top 6 questions we’re most frequently asked…
8 Symptoms That May Indicate Endometriosis
When getting your period feels like getting hit by a sledgehammer, you very well may be suffering from endo (the implantation of uterine tissue on other organs in the pelvis/body). Here are some other red flags that should flash “endo” in your head.
Optimizing Fertility with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
Couples trying to conceive have many options when it comes to improving their odds each month. Not even the most advanced science or technology can guarantee a pregnancy, but thankfully, many treatment options exist for couples who are struggling to conceive…
Inflammation Could Be Affecting Your Fertility. Here's What Can Help.
Inflammation is a normal immune process in our body, but when chronic and exacerbated by factors such as an unbalanced lifestyle and diet, it can cause more trouble than good. In women’s health and fertility, chronic inflammation is associated with endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), hidden infections causing endometritis, fibroids and polyps.
Empowering Women Nationwide
Sheeva, Jaime and Mary regularly lecture about their integrative approach to supporting women and couples at events all over the country. To book a lecture or webinar, contact us at emwfertility@gmail.com