Here at Cheshire Lasers, we have an experienced team of specialists, able to offer a combined approach to help you with fertility and pre-conception care.
Sharon Roughton specialises in Reflexology for Reproductive Health, Conception & Fertility.
Jamie Forster specialises in Infertility Counselling.
Mark Guggiari specialises in Acupuncture of Infertility.
It is estimated that 1 in 7 couples in the UK will experience fertility issues every year, this is approximately 3.5 million people (NHS, 2017). The psychological effects of being unable to get or stay pregnant can be absolutely devastating. Some people get caught in a cycle of expectation and disappointment every month, which can add considerably to the stress they are already experiencing. For some this can lead to anxiety and low mood. Some people also find it difficult to talk family and friends, and can often feel isolated.
How can Reflexology help with Fertility?
Busy lives can impact on your natural fertility and conception. Balance in a woman’s or man’s emotional and physical well-being is extremely important in the attempt to conceive. Reflexology has been used for fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth throughout history. Reflexology assists in re-balancing the mind and body bringing about body balance.
Whilst fertility reflexology can never claim to cure any particular condition, it works by balancing all the of body systems particularly the endocrine system, enhancing your own natural fertility.
By encouraging the body to work in a more harmonious way, it can create a healthier environment for a pregnancy to occur. Fertility Reflexology promotes your body balance and encourages the body to function efficiently.
Sharron is devoted to the treatment of preconceptual care, infertility and pregnancy using Reflexology. Sharron has undertaken specialist training in Reflexology for Fertility, Preconception, and Maternity support and care, and Sharron is happy to treat couples, at any stage in their fertility planning, if they are enhancing their general health before trying for a baby, or experiencing problems with conception or need support and guidance during IVF or pregnancy.
You can read more about Reflexology for Fertility here:
Find out more about Sharron and the services she offers at Cheshire Lasers here
How can Counselling help with Fertility?
Fertility counselling can be a useful way to explore the complexity of this particular life experience and the roller-coaster of emotions associated with it. Counselling can help people work through these feelings either individually or as a couple. If you are struggling with your feeling during this time it is likely your partner will be experiencing difficulties too.
Counselling can help you find the right techniques for you to cope with stress, work through feelings of loss and grief. It can also support you to find ways of dealing with your day to day life during this stressful period.
Jamie, our fertility counsellor can help you understand the things that you have control over and the things that you don’t, and she can also help you set new goals or re-evaluate old ones and explore the different avenues of family building together. Together you can explore the feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, guilt, blame, shame, sadness or depression that you may be experiencing as a result of your fertility issues.
During fertility counselling Jamie uses a variety of methods:
Support counselling – To explore coping strategies and the practical issues involved with fertility treatment at various stages throughout the process.
Therapeutic counselling – To work through the profound issues surrounding personal situations, disappointments, or the potentiality of treatment not working. It can also be a place to explore other alternatives.
Implications counselling – A safe place to explore the long-term implications of treatment for the client and their family. This is specifically around the significance of using donated gametes (eggs, sperm, or embryos).
Jamie is passionate about working with families through their fertility journey and has had training to work with issues such as gender difference, same sex family building, the implications of 3rd party donation, and fertility procedures such as IVF and IUI. This training allows her to deliver this specialist counselling in HFEA (Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority) clinics in the UK.
Find out more about Jamie and her counselling at Cheshire Lasers here.
How can Acupuncture help with Fertility?
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine helps prepare your body for conception, be it assisted conception or natural conception.
Many people choose acupuncture because they would like to avoid assisted conception. Some have choosen it because they have heard it is a beneficial support during assisted conception. Others turn to acupuncture because they have tried everything else and want to explore other options to help them conceive.
Wherever you may be in your fertility journey, acupuncture support may be an excellent way to help to bring you into better balance.
Whatever the reason:
- Just at the outset of trying to conceive
- You have been trying for some time
- Just embarking down the assisted pathway
- You may have had multiple assisted experiences
Mark Guggiari MBAcC, PgDip(Acu), Dip(Tui Na) is a member of the Acupuncture Fertility Network. Since 2015 he has provided the acupuncture service for the Hewitt Fertility Centre, in Knutsford, which is part of Liverpool Women’s Hospital. He has completed post graduate training to ensure that he has a fully versed understanding of western protocols and procedures.
Mark’s patients benefit from his rare experience of working within a major IVF clinic within the NHS. He provides packages of acupuncture treatment to support patients during their cycle of treatment, as well as immediately pre and post embryo transfer at the clinic.
Find out more about Mark and his Acupuncture at Cheshire Lasers here.