Author: Maria Porcellato
More and more women are hearing about something called restorative reproductive medicine or restorative fertility, but it’s actually nothing new at all. My name is Maria and I’ve been providing fertility consults for women and couples at fertility care Calgary since 2010.
Being an RRM provider has enabled me and my team to help hundreds and hundreds of women successfully achieve pregnancy all naturally and cooperatively with the body. What exactly is restorative reproductive medicine or RRM and how can it help your patients? Well, it’s an umbrella of personalized medicine for gynecology and infertility.
It is not a generic one size fits all model. RRM focuses on what’s wrong in order to make things right. It can help patients to restore, support and optimize their natural functions of their reproductive system without suppressing or bypassing them. It’s really the way patient care was always meant to be finding the underlying cause of their gynecological related problems with the help of biometrics or biomarkers and wearable devices.
The I-I-R-R-M or International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine defines restorative reproductive medicine as a branch of reproductive medicine that has been around for decades and focuses on diagnosing and treating reproductive issues by restoring and supporting the natural functions of the reproductive system.
It goes on to say that unlike conventional approaches that may rely on artificial reproductive technologies and treatments that suppress natural function, RRM seeks to work with the body’s physiology, treating reproductive issues, not by bypassing the body’s processes, but by diagnosing understanding and addressing underlying health concerns, thus improving overall wellness.
For those looking to conceive healthy babies. So how can RRM work for your patients? RRM looks to diagnostic tools for help.
Menstrual Cycle Biomarkers – a Vital Sign of Health
Just like any branch of medicine and just like a blood pressure machine and stethoscope, are commonly used to understand how their heart and blood vessels are working. RRM will use biometrics or biomarkers specifically.
Cycle charting or tracking as its main diagnostic tool to identify signs that they, as women can recognize. These outward signs help explain what is happening inside their body, reflecting truths about their gynecological health. By patients tracking their cycle long-term, they can receive instant feedback and see improvements with treatment over time.
There are many fertility appreciation methods and fem tech devices that are available, and your patient can decide which one works best. When I first began my training in 2010, there was very little knowledge available to women to understand their reproductive cycles or if a problem even existed in the first place.
It is a whole different world. Now, an RRM is empowering women and couples like never before. The best part about RRM is that women are the main experts who provide information to you as the practitioner.
In this way, RRM is completely reliant and centered on women, not on the healthcare provider. They will be listened to and validated about their healthcare concerns, and after all, they know their body better than the clinician. In my experience of listening to hundreds of women with concerns, they instinctively know when something isn’t right with the way their body is functioning.
As an example, perhaps they don’t get their period every month, or perhaps they have extremely painful periods and can’t function at work or school, or maybe their PMS symptoms are unbearable and they struggle every month with anxiety or depression. These are all outward signs or red flags that something isn’t quite right.
It isn’t normal, and simply putting them on the birth control pill is a bandaid solution. An RRM approach listens to their concerns, and together we help them develop a real treatment plan to successfully restore their cycle to normal and improve their health and fertility for life. It’s so rewarding when I see women learning the language, their body is speaking to them, and when they finally understand what it is that it’s trying to tell them.
These women feel immense relief once this happens. No bandaid solutions or age restrictions are involved in RRM only answers and solutions that will bring them great reassurance. Now many women and couples access RRM because they want to know why they’re having infertility issues or having miscarriages.
Oftentimes, they are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all, and their complaints might be just dismissed. Once they know why they are having troubles, then there’s hope for short and long-term solutions. Unexplained infertility as this terminology implies it’s known, and unfixable could be nothing further than the truth.
RRM Answers “Why”
Infertility is actually a symptom of an underlying condition or disease. It can be physical, hormonal, or maybe related to the immune system. Endometriosis, for example, is present in about 77% of infertility couples, and many of those may also have PCOS or insulin resistance. 85% of miscarriages occur in women who have underlying endometriosis.
An RRM practitioner has the right training to get the answers women and couples are seeking. RRM is not a generic one size fits all program. In contrast, artificial reproductive clinics or ART clinics, and they’re designed to achieve pregnancy by artificial techniques.
They are not clinics where there is training in reproductive restoration techniques or to explain the “what’s wrong?” or “why?”.
RRM – Four Differentiating Factors
To summarize, according to the I-I-R-R-M, restorative reproductive medicine is set apart from assisted reproductive technology or reproductive endocrinology in four ways in order to help your patient achieve their goals.
Number one, fertility trackingand charting. RRM often begins with observing and charting a woman’s menstrual cycle, paying close attention to patterns in mucus production, hormone patterns, bleeding, and other cycle characteristics. This tracking reveals different phases and potential abnormalities in the reproductive cycle.
Number two, diagnosis and testing. RRM. Practitioners conduct specific medical tests like ultrasounds and blood tests to confirm observations and time treatments. Screening for conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome, thyroid dysfunction, and endometriosis is common to identify underlying health concerns that may impact fertility.
RRM can also manage restorative andrology and work with male factor infertility and reproductive health, identifying and optimizing the health of the male, whether the goal is improved, health, wellness, or family. Thirdly, personalized treatment plans. RRM uses a multifactorial and often multidisciplinary approach.
Treatment plans are tailored to the individual or couple aiming to restore normal hormonal functions and correct any abnormalities found. Treatments, for example, may include personalized hormone therapies, medications, supplements, surgery, and lifestyle adjustments. Conditions that RRM treats is the fourth and last point.
Conditions that women think will be treated when they are referred to the fertility clinic but are not. RRM does not just address infertility, recurrent miscarriage in pregnancy. It can also help manage and improve various reproductive and gynecological conditions, including infertility, recurrent miscarriages, ovarian cysts and endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, Irregular cycles, hormone imbalances, premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD, PMS, postpartum depression, low ovarian reserve, and low A MH, premature birth risk or preterm birth, chronic fatigue, adolescent and postmenopausal health, as well as, uh, many more.
RRM training through CME
Endodiagnosis.com/providers has links where you can learn more about RRM training programs for healthcare professionals.
There are several routes, uh, through accredited models for clinicians. You can visit the professional associations of the International Institute of Restorative Reproductive Medicine. The Institute of Restorative Reproductive Medicine of America, Facts about Fertility, FCCA or Fertility Care Centers of America or the American Academy for for Fertility Care Professionals, the current individual models you can train in are Creighton Model Fertility Care, and NAPROtechnology, Neo Fertility, Billings Ovulation Method, Marquette, and FEMM, to name a few.
Opportunities for CME for Managing Endometriosis
There are several endometriosis specific continuing education courses for clinicians that are also posted on our website. Appendix Four lists continuing education courses such as the Canadian Healthcare Network. The Canadian Pharmacist Association, Canadian Society of healthcare Systems Pharmacy, Canadian Medical Association Journal Diagnosis and Management of Endometriosis, the Mayo Clinic Stats Pearls Journal, CE Power Pack on the role of pharmacotherapy in endometriosis, Pelvic Health Solutions and AMCP Learn: developing an individualized treatment approach to endometriosis. My hope is that by listening today to what RRM can offer your patients, it will help you to find the answers that they need to help them achieve their fertility related goals and get a better understanding of their overall health.