Herbal teas for fertility are NOT your mother’s chamomile

Written by Diana Palmentiero

It’s been over 6 years now but every once in awhile, someone will remember that I had problems conceiving.  And if that someone knows someone who is having fertility issues, who do they contact for advice?  Me!  Usually they remember that I used “acupuncture and herbal teas” to help conceive my children.  However, they usually forget that the herbal teas I used were not the kind that you can buy in a local supermarket.   I often wished that they were those teas.  The ones I used did not smell or taste very good, at all.   Compared to using fertility drugs which made me feel like I had PMS 24/7, I would recommend these awful teas, along with acupuncture, to everyone with fertility problems.

The teas I used were prescribed by an acupuncturist with years of experience.  My first acupuncturist, Michael Berkley, would prescribe herbal teas from a pharmacy in Chinatown, Kamwo.  These teas were vacuum packed at the pharmacy and then sent to my office in mid-town Manhattan.   I am not sure what my mailroom thought about the big boxes that they were dropping off in my office.   To heat them up, I would drop the packs into a cup of hot water and let them heat up for a few minutes.  After that, I would pour the tea into the mug.   The smells that would come from my office were not the most pleasant.  If I haven’t said, “Thanks” to my fellow officemates for putting up with the smell, I am going on record now.

The next time I tried to get pregnant, I had the same fertility issues.  Once again, I turned to acupuncture and herbal teas to help my body become ready for pregnancy and stay pregnant.   This time the acupuncturist that I saw, Yaron Seidman, was the acupuncturist and pharmacist, all in one.  At the end of my acupuncture session, I would leave with a bag of teas which I would brew at home in a big, ugly pot.  And now for my second apology, to my family for putting up with the smell of those teas.

Recently, Mike Berkley wrote an open letter which he posted to Facebook and his blog at The Berkley Center to Reproductive Endocrinologists (“REs”).  In part the letter basically asked that REs have an open mind before suggesting to their clients not to take herbal teas while trying to conceive.  My belief is that the Chinese people must be doing something right if there are over 1 billion people in China and they have been using them for thousands of years.   These teas have almost no negative effect on the babies that are being born.  Has anyone noticed the increase in the rates of autism over the last 20-30 years?  To me, it seems to be in correlation to the increased use of fertility drugs in the last 20-30 years.  Coincidence?  It certainly makes me wonder about it.   I’m so glad that both of my children were conceived with the help of acupuncture and herbal teas.  So when people ask about the acupuncture and herbal teas, I tell them this.  The teas may have smelled and tasted awful but the end result was totally worth it.

Diana Palmentiero is a Certified Wellness Coach and co-founder of Fertility Wellness Group.  Fertility Wellness group offers on-line fertility enhancing workshops that will help empower women to write about their own fertility struggles which will lead to positive endings.  You can learn more about them at www.fertilitywellnessgroup.com/workshopinfo.

A Family of My Own Conference Rocks the Rye Town Hilton!

Written by Diana Palmentiero and Lenore Pranzo

On April 21, 2012 we went to the A Family of My Own conference which rocked!  Why weren’t you there?  There were great speakers from several fertility clinics including Greenwich Fertility Center, Hudson Valley Fertility, and Yale Fertility Center.  Some major players in the world of reproductive medicine in the New York Tri-state area in one venue, the Rye Town Hilton.   Now are you wondering why you didn’t attend?

So were you thinking “I may want to switch gears with this whole fertility medical plan and try some holistic medicine to help me have a baby.  I didn’t think those kinds of speakers would be at the conference.”   If that was the case, then you missed hearing some great speakers like Nina Antolino of Limitless Potential, Angela Le of Fifth Avenue Acupuncture, Dr. Mike Berkley of The Berkley Center, (Diana’s acupuncturist who helped her to conceive her daughter, April), Vicki Kobliner of Holcare Nutrition, Pamela Madsen, the founder of the American Fertility Association, and Dr. Henri Roca of Greenwich Integrative Medicine.  Not to worry because you are in luck.  We attended several of the sessions, mostly the ones on the holistic track.   We’ll give you an update of what you missed.

And for those of you that may be thinking, “I would love to adopt a child but I don’t know much about it” there were plenty of speakers for that too.    Elizabeth Falker, a/k/a the Stork Lawyer gave a talk as well as Becca Leitman, of Forever Families Through Adoption, and Nina Rumbold, Esq. of Rumbold & Seidelman, just to name a few.

Nina Antolino started off the day discussing how she was able to get pregnant with acupuncture and diet change at the age of 40.   Her view on changing the negative thoughts about fertility was so empowering.  She personified her work by her calm, passionate manner.  She shared the podium with Angela Le, the acupuncturist that helped her get pregnant with her now almost 4 year old son.   Angela discussed the idea of being a whole person and how our diet can impact our fertility, not to mention our overall health.  She was passionate and her own story into health was inspiring and might have sparked a few to contemplate a trip to India to learn how to meditate and be at peace from within instead of looking outside ourselves for all the answers.  She meditated for 30 days straight in her journey to health!  Awesome!

Vicki Kobliner followed Nina and Angela.  We took away some great ideas from her.  Did you know that the standard American diet is known as “S.A.D. “  And as we listened to her, it really is.  Did you know that in 1821, the S.A.D. consisted of 10 lbs. of sugar per year?  Guess what the amount is today?  140 lbs.!  Her best analogy was that the first true nursery of a baby isn’t the one that you spend months trying to prepare with new colors on the walls and new sheets in the crib.  It’s your uterus.  So consider spending some time getting that nursery ready for your baby.

Dr. Roca  spoke about the science behind the mind-body connection, in a calming hypnotic voice.  His work combines eastern and western modalities and treats the patient as a whole person.  He practices functional medicine in Greenwich and seems so suited for the work he does.  Thank you to Dr. Roca for the serene vibe you brought to so many over-stresssed attendees!

Lisa Rosenthal, RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) and Helen Arienne, LCSW, discussed how to support the emotional journey through relaxation and yoga.  Some beautiful mantras that Lisa mentioned really stuck with us.  “I am complete,” “I am whole,” “I am grateful”….  We all need to say these things to ourselves more often.  Helen helped everyone relax with her beautiful meditative voice in a way that felt natural and safe.  You ladies do wonderful work for women!

After lunch we were treated to the presentation by Dr. Daniel Levine of Hudson Valley Fertility and Mike Berkley.   You’re probably wondering why a reproductive endocrinologist (“R.E.”) and an acupuncturist were giving a talk together.  You’re probably thinking, “When I go see my R.E., he never recommends seeing an acupuncturist and if he does it is to help me ‘de-stress.’”   These two speakers were fantastic in that they had a mutual respect for what the other did.  Amazing!   But what was surprising, as Mike said, “Why isn’t this room standing room only?”  Why weren’t more people that were in attendance in that room, listening to them speak.  We couldn’t agree more.

You could tell that Mike has a passion for what he does.  He didn’t refer to a Power Point presentation; his speech was from the heart.   He stressed the importance of using both East and Western modalities to reach your goal of having babies.   His best analogy was when he said that you don’t eat with just a knife, but rather, a fork and knife.  Why would you just go see a reproductive endocrinologist without also seeing an acupuncturist?   Although a reproductive endocrinologist can perform surgeries and other procedures that an acupuncturist can’t, sometimes, when there is something going on that is unexplained by Western medicine, an acupuncturist can work his magic with acupuncture and herbal teas.  Mike even told us about a case he had in which he did just that.  And one of the take-aways from this presentation, don’t just go to your local acupuncturist.  Find one that specializes in fertility.  You can find them on the website for the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine or get a referral from your R.E., if they know one.

The last presentation that we attended was not what we expected at all.  It started with Diana daring Pamela Madsen, (author of Shameless: How I Ditched The Diet, Got Naked, Found True Pleasure and Still Got Home In Time To Cook Dinner ), to go out into the hallway, yelling “Sex & fertility talk in this ballroom” which she did.  From that beginning, we knew it was going to be different.  And it was.   She talked about sex and fertility with such openness.  And that was the theme of her talk.  She showed the women how to “warm up their cauldrons,”  if you know what we mean.  The knowledge she was imparting was something we could have used a few years ago.  Had we known how to be “open” when going for our cold, sterile fertility treatments, maybe we wouldn’t have had so many failures.    If we had had the courage to say to the nurse at the fertility clinic, “I’m going in with my husband,” as he made his deposit, maybe we wouldn’t have had so many failures.   So the take-away from Pamela is that even though the fertility clinic is a cold, sterile place, if you go into it with a certain openness, you may have a positive ending.

This conference, facilitated by A Family Of My Own, was well run and positive that we were a little sad more people didn’t benefit from it.  It’s directors, Preya Shivdat and Elizabeth Carellas, are amazing women whose past has inspired them to create these conferences and help others, because knowledge is power!  Nina Antolino is also to be commended for all of her hard work that went in to making this event so successful.

Tomorrow we will share with you what to do with all the information that you receive when you attend a conference of this type.  (Because we know you will want to attend the next one that is coming to your area soon.)

Diana Palmentiero is a Certified Wellness Coach and a co-founder of Fertility Wellness Group.  Lenore Pranzo is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a co-founder of Fertility Wellness Group.  Their on-line fertility enhancing workshops help empower women to write about their own fertility struggles which will eventually lead to positive endings.  You can learn more about them at www.fertilitywellnessgroup.com