The success of IVF depends on no alternative therapies
Women who are desperately trying to get pregnant might want to avoid complementary and alternative medicine, research shows.
Danish scientists have found the chances of a successful in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment can be reduced if a woman had earlier used an alternative therapy.
The research took in more than 700 IVF users and those who had first tried alternative treatments - such as reflexology, acupuncture, or herbal and aroma therapy - had a 30 per cent reduced success rate.
Melbourne-based IVF clinician Dr Beverley Vollenhoven says the research questioned the view that it didn't hurt to try alternative fertility treatments before reverting to IVF.
"Until further evidence is available, it is best to counsel couples against the use of alternative therapies when also having IVF," says Dr Vollenhoven, a senior lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University.
Discuss this topic with Essential Baby members in the What Do You Think? forum.
