Reiki for IVF and IUI
Gentle, Nurse-Led Support from First Injection to Transfer Day
Where your heart can rest while your body does its work.
With Peggy Gaines, RN, Licensed Reiki Master Teacher. In my Coral Gables office, or by Zoom from anywhere in the world.
There's a little box of syringes on your counter now. Medication vials sit in the fridge door, next to the oat milk. Your phone alarm goes off at 8 p.m. every night, and you've learned to give yourself a shot in under a minute.
You're doing something brave, every single day. And it's a lot to hold.
I'm Peggy. I'm a registered nurse and a Holy Fire® Reiki Master Teacher, and I walk with women and couples through IVF and IUI. Reiki during IVF gives you one quiet hour where your body gets to rest instead of perform. You lie down, fully clothed, and I take care of you for a while.
Your Protocol Is Already on the Calendar
IVF runs on a schedule you don't control. Stims start on a set day. Your trigger shot is timed to the minute. Retrieval follows a day and a half later, and a transfer date can arrive with very little warning.
Support works best when it's planned before the busy part begins. Send me your clinic calendar on a free call, and we'll place each session where you'll need it most.
Bring your protocol dates. You'll leave with a session plan.
A Nurse Who Knows Both Worlds
Before I taught Reiki, I was a labor and delivery nurse and a Lamaze teacher, and I cared for women in high-risk pregnancies. I've also lived it from the other side: weeks of bed rest, and a baby who came early.
So I understand your medical world. I know what "lead follicle," "trigger" and "beta" mean, and why a phone call from your nurse can make your heart race. I'll also never step into your doctor's role. My job is your comfort and your heart.
A gentle, honest note: Reiki is a relaxation practice. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says Reiki hasn't been shown to have harmful effects, and that research on it is still limited. Reiki won't change your egg count or your hormone levels, so I will never promise you a pregnancy. What I can give you is rest, and someone in your corner. You can read more on my main Reiki for Fertility page.
Peggy Gaines, RN, Licensed Reiki Master Teacher
Registered Nurse, BSN, and nurse educator
Usui/Holy Fire® III Licensed Reiki Master Teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training, one of 43 in the United States
Teaching Reiki since 2010, trained by William Lee Rand and Laurelle Gaia
Board Certified Meditation Specialist
Is This Where You Are Right Now?
Your stim injections start soon, and you're dreading the needles more than you'll admit.
You're waiting on monitoring results and checking your follicle count in your sleep.
Last cycle's transfer didn't work. You're trying again, and part of you is scared to hope.
Embryo update calls leave you shaky for the rest of the day.
You'd love support on retrieval day, though the thought of one more drive feels like too much.
You want to be calm for transfer day, and you have no idea how.
If any of these brought a lump to your throat, please reach out. A short call costs you nothing. We'll talk about where you are in your cycle, and you can decide what feels right. I see clients across time zones, so we’ll find a time that works where you live.
Distance Reiki for IVF: Gentle Support Wherever You Are
You don’t need to live near Miami to work with me. You can join from your own bedroom, wherever in the world that is.
Distance Reiki is taught in Reiki II, and it’s a full, real session. Here’s how it works:
We meet on Zoom for a few minutes to talk about where you are in your cycle and what feels heavy today.
You lie down somewhere cozy. Your camera can be off, and an eye mask is welcome.
I send Reiki for the rest of the hour while you rest. Many women drift off to sleep.
We reconnect briefly at the end, and you can share anything you noticed.
During IVF, staying home can be a real gift. There’s no drive after an early monitoring appointment, and no getting dressed when your ovaries feel sore. When we finish, you can simply close your eyes and keep resting.
I work with clients across time zones, so we’ll find a time that fits your day. Distance sessions are the same price as in-person sessions, and the free consult call is a lovely way to see how it feels to talk with me first.
What a Holy Fire® Reiki Fertility Session Feels Like
We start by talking for a few minutes about where you are in your cycle and what feels heaviest today.
You lie on a padded table, fully clothed, with a soft blanket over you.
I rest my hands lightly on, or just above, your head, shoulders, belly and feet. You choose the level of touch, and you can change your mind at any time.
Many women feel warmth, or a heavy, sleepy kind of calm. Some cry, and that's welcome here. Some drift off to sleep.
We close with a quiet check-in and a plan for your next step.
Sessions last about 60 minutes. Women often tell me it's the first time all month they've felt at home in their own bodies.
Reiki During IVF: A Gentle Timeline, Phase by Phase
Every clinic and every protocol is different, so treat this as a starting point. The medical steps below follow the general IVF sequence described by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Your own dates come from your clinic.
Your IVF Cycle and Where Reiki Fits
I adjust every plan to your clinic's dates.
2 to 4 weeks before stims
Getting ready
Baseline bloodwork and ultrasound. Some protocols start with birth control pills or other medications first.
Reiki: 1 or 2 sessions so your body learns what deep calm feels like before things get busy.
About 8 to 14 days
Stims and monitoring
Daily injections help several follicles grow. Frequent early-morning ultrasounds and blood draws track your progress.
Reiki: 1 session mid-stims, with my hands above your belly while your ovaries are tender. Many women sleep better that night.
The night of your trigger
Trigger shot
A precisely timed injection matures the eggs. Retrieval usually follows 34 to 36 hours later.
Support: A short guided meditation from my Fertility Meditation Program helps on a nervous night.
Procedure morning
Egg retrieval
A short procedure under sedation, then rest at home for the day.
Reiki: Distance Reiki sent at your procedure time, plus an optional Zoom session that evening from your couch.
Days 1 to 6 after retrieval
Embryo updates
The lab reports on fertilization, and embryos usually grow for 5 to 6 days. Some are tested or frozen.
Reiki: A distance session on the day of a hard update call. These calls can shake you, and that's normal.
Fresh, or in a later cycle
Embryo transfer
A quick procedure, often with no sedation. Many transfers today are frozen transfers in a later cycle.
Reiki: 1 session one or two days before, and distance Reiki at your transfer time if you'd like it.
Up to 2 weeks
The two-week wait and your blood test
Progesterone support continues. Your clinic schedules a blood pregnancy test, usually within about two weeks of transfer.
Reiki: 1 session around day 5 to 7, hands above the belly if you prefer, plus daily meditations.
The five-session package covers this plan for one full cycle.
Retrieval Day: Distance Reiki While You Rest
Retrieval morning is early and completely out of your hands. Your partner drives. Someone hands you a gown. Then you wake up, groggy, and it's done.
You don't need to bring me along to the clinic for support. Distance Reiki works like this:
When your retrieval is scheduled, send me the time.
At that time, I begin sending Reiki to you. You don't need to do anything, and being under sedation changes nothing.
If you'd like, we meet on Zoom that evening. You stay on the couch with a heating pad and your camera off while I send Reiki for your recovery, and we say a quiet goodnight at the end.
Nothing happens in the procedure room, so there's nothing for your clinic to approve. Women often tell me it's comforting just knowing someone is holding them in mind that morning. If you have severe pain, heavy bleeding or trouble breathing after retrieval, call your clinic right away.
Learn more about distance Reiki sessions over Zoom.
Reiki Before Embryo Transfer, and Through the Two-Week Wait
The day or two before transfer
This is the session many women love most. You come in, or join from home, and we let your whole body settle before the big day. Some women spend this hour quietly talking to their embryo. Some just sleep.
Transfer day itself
Transfers are usually quick, and often there's a full bladder and a lot of waiting involved. If you'd like, I'll send distance Reiki at your transfer time, the same way we do for retrieval.
The two-week wait
Yes, Reiki is safe after transfer. It uses no pressure and no needles, and nothing about it can move an embryo. If you'd still feel better without touch, my hands stay a few inches above your lower belly for the whole session.
Please hold onto this, too: your stress will not decide your result. A 2011 review in the BMJ brought together 14 studies of 3,583 women and found that anxiety or depression before treatment was not linked to whether IVF worked. You can stop trying to relax "the right way." You come to Reiki because these two weeks are hard, and you deserve tenderness through them.
And if the answer is a negative beta, I'm still here. Some of my most meaningful sessions are for women after a cycle ends. RESOLVE's infertility support groups are another kind place to turn.
Reiki for IUI: A Shorter Cycle, Still Full of Feeling
IUI moves faster than IVF, so the Reiki plan is lighter too:
Early in your cycle, while you're on letrozole or Clomid: one session to ease mood swings and set a calm tone.
Near your trigger shot: one session, in person or by Zoom. Insemination often happens a day or two later, so distance saves you an extra drive.
During the wait: one session about a week after insemination.
By the second or third IUI, many couples feel worn thin, and the doctor may have started to mention IVF. Partners feel the pressure too, especially on sample day. A couples session the evening before can help you walk into the clinic together.
Coordinating Reiki With Your Fertility Clinic
I'm a nurse first, so I always work alongside your medical team. Here's how that looks in practice:
Tell your nurse coordinator you're receiving Reiki. Mention it the same way you'd mention acupuncture or a supplement. Most clinics are comfortable with it.
Share your calendar with me. Your clinic's dates set our schedule, never the other way around. If your retrieval moves by a day, we move with it.
Medication questions go to your clinic. I'll never suggest changing a dose, skipping a shot or adding a supplement.
Some symptoms need your doctor, fast. Sudden weight gain, severe bloating or shortness of breath during stims can signal OHSS. Call your clinic before anything else.
Procedure rooms are your clinic's space. That's why retrieval-day and transfer-day support happens by distance.
If your cycle gets cancelled or postponed, which happens more often than people say, we simply reschedule. Your sessions wait for you.
Partners are always welcome too. Trying to conceive belongs to both of you, and partners often carry their worry quietly.
Ways to Work With Me During IVF
In person in Coral Gables or by Zoom. Sessions last about 60 minutes.
Start here
Consult Call
Free
Bring your protocol. We'll map sessions to your retrieval and transfer dates.
Book a Free CallFull cycle
Five-Session Package
$789
You save $46
Covers a whole IVF cycle, from before stims through the two-week wait.
Get the PackageDistance Session
$167
Ideal for retrieval and transfer days, when you'd rather stay home.
Book by ZoomPrefer one session at a time? Single in-person sessions are $167 at my Coral Gables office. Between sessions, my Fertility Meditation Program gives you short guided meditations for injection nights and the wait. Reiki usually isn't covered by insurance, so check with your plan before using an HSA or FSA card.
Prefer one session at a time? Single in-person sessions are $167 at my Coral Gables office. Between sessions, my Fertility Meditation Program gives you short guided meditations for injection nights and the wait. Reiki usually isn't covered by insurance, so check with your plan before using an HSA or FSA card.
Reiki for IVF: Your Questions, Answered
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No one can honestly promise that, and I won't. Egg quality depends on age and biology, and your stimulation protocol is your doctor's work. Reiki supports how you feel while all of that happens.
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No. Reiki puts nothing into your body, so your medications work exactly as your clinic intends.
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Yes. There's no pressure or massage, and during stims I keep my hands a few inches above your belly. You can lie on your side, propped with pillows, whatever feels comfortable.
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Procedure rooms are reserved for your medical team, so I send Reiki by distance at your scheduled time. It's the same Reiki, and you don't have to arrange anything.
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Many women prefer it during IVF. You stay in your own bed with your camera off, and you skip the drive home after a long day. The price is the same.
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Four or five feels right for most women: before stims, mid-stims, retrieval day, before transfer and during the wait.
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We pause and pick up again when your clinic gives you new dates. Your sessions are still yours.
Step Into the Energy of Possibility
Picture your next injection night. Same fridge, same alarm. This time, a nurse who understands is holding you in mind, and you know exactly when your next quiet hour is coming.
My calendar fills around clinic schedules, especially during transfer weeks. Book your call now so your sessions can line up with your dates. Together, we'll create space for new life.
Have a question first? Send me a note. You can also read more of my story or visit my Reiki Science page.