'Fertility fairy' urges Wigan women to try acupuncture if they are struggling to have a baby

Now would-be parents are being encouraged to try “a bit of magic” if they are facing fertility issues or going through IVF treatment.

Paula Dean is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner based in Hindley Green and has specialised in fertility acupuncture for the past four years.

She was dubbed the “fertility fairy” by one of the women she helped to conceive after treatment at En Pointe Therapy Clinic.

Paula, a retired teacher, said: “Women only tend to look at something like acupuncture when they have tried everything else and it hasn’t worked. They think they might as well give it a try because they have nothing to lose, but it actually does work. It’s a bit of magic.”

Paula says fertility acupuncture has been used for thousands of years, but it is not particularly well-known.

However, she says fertility clinics recommend their patients try acupuncture, which is a treatment that can be used alongside other efforts to conceive.

"We work with meridians, which are pathways of energy in the body. I generally find that they have got imbalances in some of the pathways when they have their miscarriages or are just not getting pregnant,” Paula said.

She puts together a prescription of needles to address imbalances affecting the menstrual cycle, which she says then makes it easier for women to conceive.

Paula said: “It also helps with stress which, when you are going through IVF or trying for a baby, can be a big factor.

"The sessions are also talking therapy. I’m not a qualified counsellor and I tell them that, but it is like a safe space where they can talk and get things off their chest about what is going on.”

It is not just women who can benefit from acupuncture, with Paula also helping men facing fertility issues, though she says they are less likely to turn to her for help.

Paula offers fertility acupuncture sessions to women weekly for up to three months and find they often become pregnant in that time.

She says she has worked with around 50 couples struggling to conceive and estimates 86 per cent of them have become pregnant.

She said: “It’s amazing, it makes me cry. I have had three positive pregnancies in the last week-and-a-half and I have another couple who are going to be testing in the next couple of weeks. It’s a really, really good feeling to know that I have helped somebody.

"They come to me in desperation, mostly because they didn’t know about it to start with. For them to send me a picture and say, ‘your magic has worked’, which is what they often say, is brilliant.

"I work with them until 12 weeks – the end of the first trimester – to support the development of the baby and to keep the mum in the best condition possible, because growing a baby is really hard.”

Paula offers a free treatment at 26 weeks, called the Beautiful Baby Point, and loves to meet the babies once they are born.

She hopes more women will consider trying acupuncture if they are struggling to have a baby.

Paula said: “I want women to know that if they are struggling, there are other things that they can do to help.

"I give them advice on diet to support their issue as well. Chinese medicine doesn’t just work with acupuncture needles and I do also talk to them about supplements they can take and foods to support wherever their imbalances are.

"They get lifestyle advice as well. These are things they can do to help themselves.”

Among the couples who have sought help from Paula were Natalie and Stuart Witherington, from Hindley.

They already had an 11-year-old son but were struggling to conceive after a miscarriage five years ago and Natalie had been told she could not conceive naturally.

Natalie said: “When I first went, I had a consultation and had to tell her what we had been through and all the problems. I said I knew it wasn’t going to work but I would give it a bash. My husband was dead against it and thought I was wasting my money.

"She sorted my menstrual cycle out in about six weeks. I relaxed when I went to her and felt like I wasn’t putting pressure on myself.”

She was “in shock” when she found out she had become pregnant naturally after nine sessions.

"Acupuncture definitely made a difference,” she said. “The fertility clinic said there was no way – my egg count was that bad that it wasn’t an option and it wouldn’t happen.”

Natalie felt anxious during the pregnancy, so continued to get treatment from Paula, and her daughter Raya was born nine months ago.

"I call her the miracle baby,” she said.

Lea and her partner Dale, from Atherton, had been trying to conceive for three-and-a-half years and previously had a miscarriage.

They were due to begin IVF in February and Lea decided to start acupuncture six weeks before it, after reading it could help.

She said: “I was having weekly sessions. I ovulated once within a month after starting with Paula, before my IVF was due to start, and I got pregnant.”

The positive test was a massive surprise for Lea, who is now 17 weeks pregnant.

"It was a whirlwind. I was due to have an IVF appointment on the Thursday and I found out on the Wednesday that I was pregnant. It was amazing,” she said.

"The only thing I changed was going to Paula.”