Recurrent Miscarriage
Recurrent Miscarriage Acupuncture and Naturopathy in Auckland
There is almost always a reason. Let's find it.
If you're searching for support with recurrent miscarriage in Auckland, you've probably already been told to keep trying. That advice hasn't helped — and you know something hasn't been looked for yet.
Katie Kempthorne is a naturopath and TCM acupuncturist based in Sandringham with 20+ years of clinical experience, and this is precisely the kind of investigation she was trained for.
Katie Kempthorne
Bachelor of Health Science in Complementary Medicine (Charles Sturt University)
Registered Acupuncturist with the Chinese Medicine Council of New Zealand
Advanced Diplomas in Naturopathy and Medical Herbalism (South Pacific College of Natural Therapies)
Post-graduate Diploma in Chinese Medicine Acupuncture (AUT) with practical component in hospitals in China (Nan Jing University)
What recurrent miscarriage investigation actually needs to include.
The standard workup is missing the things that matter most.
Recurrent miscarriage — two or more consecutive pregnancy losses — affects a significant number of women trying to conceive. It is among the most emotionally devastating experiences in reproductive medicine. And it is also one of the most consistently under-investigated.
The standard medical response looks for two things: chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo, and structural issues in the uterus. Both are important. Neither is the complete picture. What the standard workup almost never captures is the biochemical environment in which those pregnancies are forming and failing — the hormonal patterns, the nutritional gaps, the immune signals, and the overall systemic health of both partners.
A 2024 meta-analysis of 28 studies involving 8,875 participants found that women with elevated thyroid antibodies had twice the risk of recurrent miscarriage compared to women without them — even when their standard thyroid markers appeared normal. Thyroid antibodies are almost never included in a GP's recurrent miscarriage investigation. Read the research
A 2024 review of the immunological mechanisms underlying recurrent spontaneous abortion confirmed that immune factors — natural killer cell activity, T-helper cell imbalance, and inflammatory cytokines — play a significant and often unaddressed role in pregnancy loss. Read the research
A New Zealand feasibility trial on acupuncture for threatened miscarriage found it feasible, acceptable, and associated with positive clinical and emotional outcomes for participants — the first NZ research to examine this directly. Read the research
Katie's combined naturopathic and TCM training is designed exactly for this kind of multi-layered investigation. Two diagnostic frameworks working simultaneously on the same body — finding what neither alone reliably sees.
WHAT KATIE'S APPROACH ADDRESSES
What a thorough recurrent miscarriage investigation looks like
Six areas. Almost none of them in a standard blood panel.
Nutritional depletion — especially iron, B12, folate, and vitamin D
Recurrent miscarriage is strongly associated with depletion — particularly in women who have carried one pregnancy and are losing subsequent ones. Folate, B12, iron, zinc, and vitamin D are the literal building blocks of embryo development, placental formation, and fetal growth. Deficiencies — even subclinical ones that don't flag as abnormal on a GP panel — can directly compromise the body's ability to sustain a pregnancy. Katie assesses nutritional status functionally, looking for optimal rather than merely normal.
Progesterone — timing, levels, and what suppresses it
Progesterone — the word literally means pro-gestation — is the hormone responsible for supporting an embryo to embed and a pregnancy to hold through the first trimester. It is exquisitely sensitive to cortisol. When stress hormone levels are chronically elevated, the body suppresses progesterone production. This is not a theory. It is a well-established endocrinological mechanism — and it is rarely tested at the right point in the cycle, rarely examined in the context of cortisol, and rarely addressed in a meaningful way by standard care.
Thyroid antibodies and immune tolerance
Anti-TPO and anti-TG antibodies are associated with doubled miscarriage risk — and are almost never tested in a standard recurrent miscarriage workup. When the immune system is attacking thyroid tissue, it disrupts the delicate maternal immune tolerance that allows the body to accept a genetically foreign embryo. This is one of the most significant and most consistently missed findings in Katie's recurrent miscarriage cases. It is testable, addressable, and completely overlooked by standard care. Read the research
Insulin resistance and blood sugar
Elevated insulin — a marker of insulin resistance — disrupts the hormonal environment of early pregnancy. It affects progesterone production, increases inflammation, and contributes to the metabolic patterns underlying both PCOS and pregnancy loss. It is rarely considered in recurrent miscarriage investigations.
Sperm health and DNA fragmentation
This is the finding that surprises most couples — and the one that has huge impact when it is addressed. Sperm DNA fragmentation contributes directly to early pregnancy loss. An embryo formed from fragmented DNA is less likely to implant, less likely to progress, and more likely to miscarry. Male factor is responsible for a significant proportion of recurrent pregnancy loss cases — and it is almost never included in a standard recurrent miscarriage workup. Katie actively encourages partners to be assessed and supported alongside the woman.
Gut microbiome and immune regulation
An inflamed, imbalanced gut creates systemic immune dysregulation. When the immune system is overactive, it can begin to treat an embryo as a foreign body — attacking rather than welcoming it. The gut-immune connection in recurrent miscarriage is an emerging area of research that conventional medicine is only beginning to take seriously. Katie's naturopathic training has been addressing it for years.
2X
MISCARRIAGE RISK WITH THYROID ANTIBODIES
20+
YEARS CLINICAL EXPERIENCE IN WOMENS HEALTH
1 in 5
PREGNANCIES END IN MISCARRIAGE
WHAT YOU'RE PROBABLY DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW
You've been told it's bad luck.
And sent back to keep trying.
There is a particular cruelty to that advice. Not because it is always wrong — one miscarriage, while devastating, does often resolve without intervention. But two losses, three losses, sometimes more — and still being told to keep trying, still being told everything looks normal, still being handed no roadmap — is a different experience entirely.
Most women who come to Katie for recurrent miscarriage support are carrying two things simultaneously. A grief that doesn't fully resolve between losses, because the fear of it happening again sits in every subsequent pregnancy. And a deep confusion — and often self-blame — about why their body keeps failing to hold what it creates.
It isn't failing. It is responding to an environment. And environments can be changed.
What Katie brings to this conversation is a different kind of investigation — one that looks at the biochemical and holistic picture standard medicine doesn't capture.
There is almost always a reason for recurrent miscarriage. It sometimes just requires a different lens to find it.
THE CLINICAL FRAMEWORK
How Katie approaches recurrent miscarriage - and why it differs from standard care
Standard recurrent miscarriage investigation asks: is there a chromosome problem? Is there a uterine abnormality? These are important questions. They are also the easiest to test for and the least likely to be addressable if found.
Katie asks a different set of questions — and uses two complete diagnostic frameworks to answer them.
01
The naturopathic investigation
What is the nutritional status of this woman? What are her thyroid antibody levels? What is her insulin telling us about the metabolic environment of early pregnancy? What does her gut history suggest about immune regulation? What is her progesterone profile doing in the days after ovulation, when implantation occurs? These are not exotic questions. They have clear, testable, addressable answers. They are simply not in the standard workup.
02
The TCM investigation
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the patterns most commonly associated with recurrent miscarriage are kidney deficiency — insufficient foundational energy to hold a pregnancy — and blood deficiency, which in Western terms maps closely to the depletion framework Katie sees in secondary infertility. Both patterns are assessed through pulse and tongue diagnosis alongside the case history, and both respond well to acupuncture and targeted herbal medicine.
03
Treating the partner
Sperm DNA fragmentation is one of the most underrecognised contributors to recurrent pregnancy loss. A thorough investigation does not examine only the woman. Katie actively works with partners — assessing sperm health, identifying nutritional and lifestyle factors affecting DNA integrity, and treating with acupuncture and targeted nutritional support alongside the female partner. Both people created the pregnancy. Both deserve to be investigated.
04
Building the foundation before trying again
The most important clinical decision in recurrent miscarriage is not when to try again — it is what to change before trying again. Katie works with couples to systematically address everything that can be addressed — nutritional depletion, hormonal patterns, immune regulation, stress response, sperm health — before the next conception attempt. Not to delay. To change the outcome.
"When a woman comes to me after two or three miscarriages, my first job is to change the question she's been living with. Not 'why does this keep happening to me?' — but 'what hasn't been looked for yet?' In 20 years of practice, there has almost always been an answer. It just required a different point of view."
— Katie Kempthorne, Naturopath & TCM Acupuncturist · In practice since 2004
What women say about recurrent miscarriage treatment with Katie…
A healthy pregnancy after recurrent loss — and a reason, finally.
"After my first daughter I had three miscarriages in two years. Every test came back normal. I was told to keep trying. Katie was the first person who actually looked at the full picture — my iron, my thyroid antibodies, my gut, my stress. There were things out of range that hadn't been picked up. We worked through them methodically over about four months. I fell pregnant again and this time I stayed pregnant. Having a reason — and a plan — changed everything."
Two losses, one finding, one answer.
"I'd had two miscarriages and been told both times that everything was normal. Katie tested my thyroid antibodies — something my GP hadn't done — and found they were elevated. Nobody had ever mentioned that was connected to miscarriage risk. We worked on my gut and my immune system, and she did regular acupuncture to support my nervous system and progesterone levels. Seven months later I was pregnant. My daughter is now two."
It wasn't just about me.
"After two early losses, every test I had came back normal. Katie was the one who suggested we look at my partner's sperm — not just the count and motility, but the DNA fragmentation. It was high. Nobody had suggested that was even possible as a factor. Katie treated us both. Four months later I was pregnant. I wish someone had told us to look at both of us from the beginning."
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BOOK
Four steps from
uncertainty to a clear plan.
Women who come to Katie for recurrent miscarriage support have almost always been through standard investigation with incomplete answers. By the end of the first consultation, the picture looks different. You leave knowing what Katie has found, what she thinks warrants investigation, and exactly what she recommends addressing before trying again.
Step 01
A 90-minute initial consultation
Your full health history, your pregnancy history, your cycle, your previous test results, your partner's health if relevant — everything. Katie runs both a naturopathic and a TCM assessment simultaneously, giving her two diagnostic frameworks on the same picture. Bring every result you have.
Step 02
Advanced testing where needed
Where the standard workup has gaps, Katie uses functional naturopathic testing — thyroid antibody panels, comprehensive nutritional markers, continuous glucose monitor, DUTCH hormone panel for cortisol and progesterone mapping, gut microbiome assessment. Not every client needs all of this. But where it fills a gap that standard testing has left, it is worth doing.
Step 03
A personalised treatment plan
Built around what was found — for both partners if relevant. Acupuncture, herbal medicine, targeted nutritional supplementation, and dietary guidance in the specific combination your situation requires. Not a generic protocol. A response to a hypothesis about what is actually happening.
Step 04
Ongoing support every step
Follow-up consultations of 45–60 minutes. The plan adapts as your body responds. If you conceive, Katie supports through the early weeks — the period when most losses occur and when acupuncture's support is most clinically relevant.
QUESTIONS ABOUT RECURRENT MISCARRIAGE SUPPORT IN AUCKLAND
Have a question not answered here?
Email Katie directly — she'll give you a straight answer.
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Two. Standard medical guidelines suggest investigation begins after three consecutive losses, but Katie sees no clinical reason to wait that long. Two losses constitute a pattern. Patterns have causes. The earlier those causes are identified and addressed, the better the outcome for the next pregnancy attempt. If you have had two or more miscarriages — regardless of what your GP has said about investigation — it is worth coming in. In truth, if you’ve had only one miscarriage it’s worth coming in to get some support to rebuild your body after that experience.
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Yes — and this is one of the most common presentations Katie sees. "Normal" in standard medicine means within a broad population reference range. It does not mean optimal for sustaining a pregnancy. Thyroid antibodies, fasting insulin, progesterone timing, nutritional markers, sperm DNA fragmentation — none of these are in a standard recurrent miscarriage panel. There is almost always something that hasn't been looked for. Katie's job is to find it.
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Yes — if they’re open to it and Katie actively encourages this. Sperm DNA fragmentation is one of the most underrecognised contributors to recurrent pregnancy loss, and male factor is almost never investigated in a standard miscarriage workup. An initial consultation for a male partner is available, covering sperm health, nutritional status, and lifestyle factors that directly affect DNA integrity. Both people created the pregnancy. Both can be supported.
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This depends on what Katie finds at the initial consultation. If there are clear nutritional deficiencies, thyroid antibody issues, or significant gut and immune dysregulation, she will generally recommend a period of focused treatment — typically 3–4 months — before the next conception attempt. This is not about waiting. It is about changing the environment the next pregnancy will form in. For some women, that period is shorter. Katie will give you a clear, honest answer based on what she finds.
THERE IS ALMOST ALWAYS A REASON
Let's find it — before you go through this again.
Book a 90-minute initial consultation at Katie's Sandringham, Auckland clinic. She'll go through your full history, your pregnancy losses, your existing test results, and your partner's health. By the end of the session you'll know what she thinks hasn't been looked for, what she recommends investigating, and exactly what she wants to address before you try again. No vague reassurance. A real investigation — from Auckland's only practitioner combining naturopathy, herbal medicine, and TCM acupuncture under one roof.