Client Stories

Thank you to all our clients for your stories, we know from the feedback we get that they provide a valuable source of inspiration and support for women everywhere.

Janine & Alix

Unexplained fertility difficulties, and recurrent miscarriage

My husband and I had always planned to have children at some stage, but things like career and immigrating to England took first priority and somehow I thought I had loads of time. The idea of a family became more real as friends around us started to have kids and in October 2001 I went off the pill. For the first six months, I did not feel too concerned that nothing had happened, although I had started to become more irritated by remarks about us being really slow to get started with having a family. Toward the end of 2002 we had the routine tests for fertility, but none of them showed any reason for our failure to conceive. I had a pretty stressful job and was aware that that and my age could be factors, but it was really hard not having a clear diagnosis and made the whole process of trying to have a family even more fraught with tension. In April 2003, I started on a course of Chlomid as a low key way of trying to boost my chances of conceiving but nothing happened and I was becoming more and more frustrated and depressed. In August we decided to start exploring alternative routes and attended a first consultation with the IVF clinic at UCH, but I had just discovered that I had a growth on my thyroid which had to be removed and was advised to delay starting treatment. Shortly before my operation to remove the growth, I discovered that I was pregnant but unfortunately, I miscarried at 6 weeks. I felt absolutely devastated, but comforted that we now knew we could conceive. Some time before that, I had started yoga which I found very helpful and grounding. I felt very ambivalent about resorting to IUI or IVF but at the same time knew that I could not cope with years and years of failing to conceive or miscarrying as I got older.

In February 2004, a friend recommended Oeuf. Emma and Helen were lifesavers. I had become totally obsessed with my failure to fall pregnant successfully and I knew that this was probably having a negative impact on my failure to conceive. Initially I saw Helen who suggested tactfully that I look at my diet and lifestyle and cut out or reduce alcohol, sugars and caffeine. She also suggested that we move away from convenience food which had been my staple diet since I had moved to the UK and that I try to cook wholesome meals. I then started a regular course of treatments with Emma. Every other Saturday I would spend about 30 minutes chatting to Emma about my concerns and anxieties and then I would have an hour of aromatherapy and acupressure. I would look forward to these sessions eagerly. It was so great to offload to someone outside of my immediate circle and Emma listened patiently to me go over and over the same topics week in and week out. She would also ask me how I had been both physically and emotionally during the period since our last session and would adapt her treatment accordingly. In addition, she suggested that we start a course of Nourish which is an alternative vitamin supplement to promote conception. I finally felt like I was in control of the situation and whenever things got too difficult, I would have Emma to talk to. In June I discovered that I was pregnant again. Unfortunately, I miscarried again at 9 weeks. Although this miscarriage was even more devastating than the first one, I had more confidence in our ability to conceive again and was determined to get back on the program. Emma suggested that I chart my cycle by taking my temperature every morning and although I was quite resistant to this, I found it did help me to understand more about my body and its rythmn. In November 2004, I was diagnosed with an impaired fibronyolitic response at St Mary's in Paddington which is a possible cause of miscarriage in the first trimester and was advised to take Heparin (a blood thinning agent) immediately I conceived again. This time, when I fell pregnant in December, I was prepared and in September this year we gave birth to a lovely healthy baby girl.

I am not sure what would have happened without the help of Emma - I suspect that we would not have conceived twice within such a quick period and she certainly saved my sanity. We now have so much for which to be grateful and every time I look at our little daughter, I cannot believe how incredibly lucky we have been.