A decade ago when Beth Heller and Tami Quinn opened Pulling Down the Moon in Chicago, “fertility yoga” was little-known. Today, they operate four centers in Illinois and one in Rockville, Md., offering a variety of services to women trying to get pregnant.
“Never did we imagine that it would grow into a $1.3 million company,†Quinn says. To generate interest in their yoga classes, Heller and Quinn initially sent out marketing materials to area fertility doctors. As the customer base grew, so did the company’s holistic offerings, which now include acupuncture, nutritional counseling, Chinese herbal medicine and massages.
Pulling Down the Moon’s story is an increasingly familiar one. As the number of fertility doctors has grown, so too has a cottage industry of yoga centers, acupuncturists, nutritionists, massage therapists, online sites and CD-makers that claim to increase a woman’s chances of conceiving. While the scientific evidence is limited, there is growing belief among both doctors and patients that stress-reducing techniques, acupuncture and proper diet can increase the probability of pregnancy.