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.

09/04/2026

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.

An organ that’s often overlooked... but In Chinese Medicine, when we talk about the Spleen, we are not talking only abou...
08/21/2026

An organ that’s often overlooked... but In Chinese Medicine, when we talk about the Spleen, we are not talking only about the anatomical organ in the way Western medicine understands it.

We are talking about a functional system; a whole energetic network of digestion, transformation, nourishment, Qi, Blood, and steadiness.

This is one of the reasons TCM can feel confusing at first. We use organ names like Spleen, Liver, Kidney, Heart, and Lung, but we are often speaking through the lens of the acupuncture meridians, organ systems, elemental correspondences, and energetic functions… not simply the physical organ itself.

So when I say fertility care often begins with the Spleen, I do not mean your spleen is “broken.”

I mean we need to understand how well your body is receiving nourishment and turning it into something usable.

In TCM, the Spleen and Stomach are central to the Earth element. The Stomach receives. The Spleen transforms. Together, they help create the Qi and Blood that nourish the entire body.

And for fertility, that matters deeply.

Your cycle, uterine lining, follicular development, luteal phase, hormonal rhythm, and capacity to hold all depend on the body having enough nourishment beneath them.

If someone is bloated, exhausted, depleted, heavy, foggy, craving sugar, struggling with loose stools, overthinking constantly, or feeling like they are eating but not truly being nourished, I’m thinking about the Earth element…

And specifically I’m thinking about Spleen Qi.

Because fertility is not only about the ovaries.

It is also about the terrain those ovaries are living in.

This is why nourishment is one of the foundations of my work. Not in the shallow “eat perfectly” sense, but in the deeper sense of looking at the body’s ability to receive, create, and hold.

If you’re trying to conceive and your body feels depleted, bloated, exhausted, or hard to read, The Fertility Roadmap is where we take a deeper look at your whole pattern — and build a plan that actually belongs to you.
➡️Comment ‘ROADMAP’

Dr. Laura x

08/17/2026

The luteal phase is often treated like the “waiting” phase.

The two-week wait.
The symptom-spotting phase.
The time where everything suddenly feels emotionally loaded.

But in Chinese Medicine, this part of the cycle is not passive.

This ‘season’ of the cycle marks the end of summer, when fall is just around the corner and nature moves to gather and protect its reserves— it is the season of holding.

The female body reflects this by shifting into a more inward, sustaining rhythm. Progesterone rises. The uterine lining prepares for possible implantation. The body asks for warmth, steadiness, nourishment, and enough internal support to receive what may be arriving.

BUT, the luteal phase can only hold what has already been built…

If the follicular phase did not have enough support to build Blood, nourish the lining, develop the follicle, regulate inflammation, and prepare the terrain, then the luteal phase may end up struggling to do its job.

This is why symptoms that pop up in the luteal phase deserve some attention.

🚩Spotting before your period, a short luteal phase, intense PMS, breast tenderness, insomnia, anxiety, low temperatures, cramping before bleeding, recurrent loss, or implantation concerns are not reasons to panic — but they are signals worth paying attention to.

In TCM, we may be looking at Spleen Qi and the body’s ability to hold, Kidney energy and reproductive reserves, Liver Qi and the smooth movement of the cycle, Blood, warmth, circulation, the Shen, the nervous system... the deeper terrain the body is trying to conceive within.

Fertility support should never be generic.

When we work on a deeper level through 1:1 fertility coaching, we don’t just ask, “How do we support your luteal phase?”

We ask:

What does your whole cycle and the body it moves in need in order to build, receive, and hold?

➡️ Comment ‘READY’ if you would like to explore personalized 1:1 fertility care that integrates modern science with the holistic wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Dr. Laura x

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