Dr. Laura Erlich

Dr. Laura Erlich Acupuncturist, herbalist, doula, fertility coach, author and leading educator.

Dr. Laura Erlich (DTCM, LAc, FABORM)
Doctor of Chinese Medicine- Women's holistic health expert specializing in fertility, pregnancy & postpartum.
25+ years experience.

09/18/2026

And the answer is: often, yes — but not always.

A period is one piece of information. Ovulation is another.

Apps can estimate your fertile window, but they can’t confirm what your ovaries actually did. Ovulation predictor kits can catch the LH surge before ovulation. Cervical mucus can show you when the body is becoming fertile. Basal body temperature can help confirm that ovulation likely happened, but only after the fact.

And sometimes, the most useful next step is as simple as a properly timed progesterone blood test.

In Chinese Medicine, ovulation is not just a calendar event. It is a movement. The body has to build, ripen, release, and then hold. That requires enough Blood, enough Qi, enough warmth, and enough smooth movement in the system.

So if your cycle feels confusing or hard to read, the answer is not to endlessly track or track harder. It’s to understand what your body is actually showing you.

➡️ I’ll be going deeper into topics like this when my new YouTube channel launches next month- so watch this space, and be sure to follow me for updates.

Dr. Laura x

This grocery list is not about eating perfectly.It’s about building meals that help the body feel more regulated, nouris...
09/14/2026

This grocery list is not about eating perfectly.

It’s about building meals that help the body feel more regulated, nourished, and less caught in the blood sugar rollercoaster.

Because when we support the foundation, we create more room for the cycle to regulate, ovulation to be supported, and the body to feel safer in its own rhythm.

Food is not the whole treatment plan.

But it is one of the places we begin 🩵

Dr. Laura x

A large 2026 multi-ancestry genetic study of approximately 1.4 million women identified 80 genetic risk regions linked t...
09/07/2026

A large 2026 multi-ancestry genetic study of approximately 1.4 million women identified 80 genetic risk regions linked to endometriosis and pointed toward pathways involving immune regulation, inflammation, tissue remodelling, and cell differentiation.

That matters.

Because it confirms what many patients already feel in their bodies: endometriosis is not just “period pain.” It is not just tissue in the wrong place. It is systemic.

This is why, in clinic, I am always thinking about the terrain.

Inflammation. Blood flow. Pain signalling. Gut health. Blood sugar. Nutrient status. Nervous system stress. Immune reactivity. Hormone metabolism. The body’s ability to resolve inflammation instead of staying caught in it.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, we may also be looking at patterns such as Blood stasis, Dampness, Heat, Liver constraint, Spleen Qi deficiency, Kidney deficiency, or a combination of several. These are not conventional diagnoses — they are a way of understanding the pattern underneath the presentation.

Because two people can both have endometriosis and need very different support.

Endometriosis care should not be reduced to “take the pill” or “have surgery,” even though both may have a place.

The deeper work is asking what kind of internal environment this disease is living in — and how we support the body at that level.

That is where integrative care can be powerful.

Dr. Laura x

09/04/2026

PCOS has a new name: PMOS — Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome.

And while the terminology may feel unfamiliar, the reason behind it is important.

For too long, PCOS sounded like a condition that was only about ovarian cysts. But anyone who works with this condition closely knows it is much more complex than that. PMOS can involve ovulation, insulin, androgens, metabolism, inflammation, cycle regularity, skin, hair, fertility, and long-term health.

The name change does not mean your diagnosis has suddenly changed. It means the language is beginning to catch up with the reality of the condition.

In Chinese Medicine, this isn’t news to us- because we were never looking at this as “just an o***y problem.” We’re always looking at the whole terrain.

I’ll be going deeper into topics just like this when my new YouTube channel launches next month — more long-form conversations on fertility, hormones, pregnancy, postpartum, and the places where Chinese Medicine and modern reproductive science meet. Watch this space!

Dr. Laura x

For something to flourish, it must first be fed. In Chinese Medicine, fertility care often begins with the foundation.An...
08/31/2026

For something to flourish, it must first be fed.

In Chinese Medicine, fertility care often begins with the foundation.

And one of the most important foundations is Qi and Blood.

Qi gives the body energy, movement, warmth, transformation, and function. Blood nourishes the organs, tissues, cycle, uterine lining, follicles, skin, muscles, mind, and Shen.

For fertility, this matters deeply.

Because before the body can ovulate well, build a healthy lining, recover after bleeding, sustain a pregnancy, or move into the season of holding, it needs enough nourishment beneath it.

This is also why Blood-building is so important after illness, heavy menstrual bleeding, birth, pregnancy loss, surgery, or postpartum depletion. The body cannot rebuild from emptiness. It needs food it can receive, digest, transform, and turn into usable strength.

In TCM, the Spleen is central to this process. Not the anatomical spleen alone, but the energetic system responsible for digestion, transformation, Qi production, and Blood-building.

As we move from Late Summer toward Fall, Spleen Qi can become more vulnerable — especially with cold/raw foods, irregular eating, stress, overthinking, under-eating, or running on caffeine instead of real nourishment.

When Spleen Qi is depleted, we may notice bloating, fatigue, loose stools, heaviness, brain fog, sugar cravings, poor appetite, spotting, easy bruising, or feeling like food isn’t truly translating into energy.

This is where simple, warm, grounding foods become medicine.

Congee, stews, chicken and vegetable soup, eggs, steamed greens, warm oats, ginger, cinnamon, bone broth, sweet potatoes, and stewed apples or pears are not “fertility hacks.”

They are foods that help restore the center.

They support the body’s ability to receive nourishment, build Blood, rebuild reserves, and create the foundation that growth and holding depend on.

08/26/2026

When you want to get pregnant, it can become so easy to start managing your body like a project.

The tracking gets obsessive. The supplements multiply. Every sensation becomes something to decode. Every twinge, temperature shift, cervical mucus change, mood change, or night of poor sleep starts to feel like it might mean everything.

And I want to say this gently: of course you do that.

When something feels uncertain, control can feel like safety.

But conscious conception is not the same as control.

It is not about becoming perfect enough to deserve a pregnancy. It is not about doing fertility “right.” It is not about forcing the body into obedience through more tracking, more rules, more pressure, and more self-surveillance.

Conscious conception is a softer, deeper kind of preparation.

It is the practice of meeting the body with attention instead of suspicion. It is learning how to listen to the cycle without turning every signal into a problem. It is nourishing the body consistently, supporting the nervous system, tending digestion, building Blood, protecting rest, and creating conditions where the body feels less pushed and more held.

This is The Yin Way.

Not passive.
Not vague.
Not doing nothing.

But a different kind of effort.

The kind that tends the soil rather than pulling at the roots.

Your body will not be ready because every variable is finally perfect.

Readiness begins when your body is being met with the right support, in the right season, for the actual story it is carrying.

And that story deserves more than a generic protocol.

Inside The Fertility Roadmap, we slow down and work 1:1 to look carefully at your cycle, symptoms, labs, history, constitution, lifestyle, and emotional landscape — so your care can be rooted in YOU 🩵

➡️ Reply “ROADMAP” for details

Dr. Laura x

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5855 Green Valley Circle
Culver City, CA
90230

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Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
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