When I had my first miscarriage, I decided I needed to bring some equilibrium and balance to my mind and body so decided to try acupuncture. I found it really helped to calm and de-stress me so I decided that I should try it once more after my third miscarriage.

My previous acupuncturist was very good but in the intervening years, I discovered that there was now a practitioner in my area who specifically dealt with fertility and had worked with IVF patients within a London hospital.

Traditional Chinese and Western medicine can sit comfortably together and it is good to see more hospitals recognising the benefits of acupuncture relating to fertility. I find it treats the individual rather than giving a blanket diagnosis and means you feel much more connected to it.

Acupuncture works on the premise that the body needs a balanced flow of energy to work at its best, and needling certain points of the body helps create this balance, particularly where hormones are concerned.

It has really helped me as my periods were getting more and more stomach-churningly painful. A visit to the doctor often involves being palmed off with the normal shrug that says, ‘it’s just periods’, as if that is an answer. After this most recent acupuncture, my periods became almost pain free within a couple of months – up yours doc. 

I’ve also been foot bathing, with essential oils and Epsom salts in a glamorous washing up bowl during and post period, and then just Epsom salts when there is the possibility of pregnancy. It encourages blood flow around the body and relaxation.

Ginger and frankincense are amongst the best oils to use, although interestingly our cat hates these smells most, so if you want to stop the local moggies shitting in your garden, try giving them an aromatherapy massage with those.

There are many useful books on mixing Eastern and Western medicine and amongst those I found most useful were:

The Baby-Making Bible by Emma Cannon 

and 

The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis.

There is a beautiful quote from the latter that has always stayed with me:

“I don’t know why we have been chosen to undertake such a painful journey, why we must go through such struggles to bring our children into the world. But I do know that when we look into our babies’ faces, they will never have to wonder if they were really wanted. Ours are the children who, no matter how they came to us, will look at their parents and know, from the deepest place in their heart, how much we cherish them, and how we laboured to give them life. And in that there is no greater security and no greater gift.”

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