Hello and welcome to the Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture’s first blog post!
I’d like to take a moment and introduce the myself, the clinic, and tell you a bit about the services here.
My name is Sarah Prater. I am the founder and acupuncturist at the Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture. I recently moved here with my family from Indianapolis, IN. We came to be closer to the mountains and our family. As avid cyclists and outdoor lovers, we feel at home up in the Smokies. And, personally, I LOVE the warmer weather down south!
I studied pre-medicine at Indiana University in Bloomington and finished my bachelor’s in 2005. I went on to complete a master’s degree in Oriental Medicine in 2008 and have maintained a private practice ever since. I decided to become an acupuncturist instead of continuing on to medical school gradually during a time of self reflection. I was suffering from some health issues and had discovered that my diet, lifestyle, activity level, and some alternative treatments had such an impact on how well I felt and how well my medications and other treatments were working. I thought of my future patients and how I wanted to instill this knowledge in them so they could help themselves feel as I did! Over time, and with the guidance of a few mentors, I decided to pursue a career in Chinese Medicine.
In my early years of practice, I began to realize how much I truly loved working with families trying to conceive. Nothing beats a patient bringing their new bundle of joy into the office for a quick visit! I also realized the clinical benefit that acupuncture treatment could have on someone undergoing fertility treatment. Aside from increasing pregnancy rates, acupuncture was helping my patients reduce side effects, stress levels, and making each cycle a little easier to go through. Research in integrative fertility shows acupuncture can decrease miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and increase overall live birth rates. Once pregnant, it can help a woman feel more comfortable during her pregnancy and have a faster, easier birth with reduced interventions. It seemed my specialty had found me!
After deciding to specialize in fertility and prenatal wellness, I was able to focus my efforts on meeting the needs of my patients by offering flexible scheduling (as the body cannot be reliably put on a calendar), treatments around embryo transfer and developing protocols that work with a woman’s cycle, whether natural, medicated, IVF or IUI. It also afforded me the time to be able to stay current with research in the field, which is something I truly value.
I am so excited to be bringing my passion here to Knoxville! The Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture is our area’s first and only fertility and prenatal speciality clinic. We are truly built from the ground up to be able to work alongside your treatment cycle and (hopefully!) pregnancy.
It is my sincere hope that all families experiencing fertility challenges will be able to realize their dream and we are here to help.
In the future, this blog will serve as a voice for our clinic in addition to Facebook and our website. We will post clinic updates, case studies, research, patient guides and tips and anything else that we feel will be of service to you, our patients.
We truly look forward to working with you! Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to set up treatment with your cycle or during your pregnancy. We are happy to answer your questions and find a treatment that is right for you.
