AssistedConception.org

Background

My client was 29 years old and had been on the combined pill for approximately 11 years. When she came off the pill to start a family, she discovered that her periods were very erratic and were sometimes up to 12 weeks apart. After 12 months, her GP referred her to hospital for tests. These tests revealed that she was not ovulating. She then began hormone treatment and took Clomiphine for 6 months in order to kick-start ovulation. However, this treatment was unsuccessful, and Suzanne was then transferred to the waiting list for IUI (intra-uterine insemination).

It was then that she first contacted me at the end of October 2002, and had her first reflexology session on the 1st November. She had never had reflexology before and was very open-minded. She had found the process of having hormone treatment quite traumatic and was feeling very emotionally battered and bruised. She was also finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that her treatment had been unsuccessful and that she may be infertile. She needed some timeout for herself and thought that reflexology would provide some well-needed relaxation and pampering. If it helped with her fertility problems, then that would be a bonus.

Treatments.

Initially she had weekly reflexology treatments, and by her 3rd session had her first ‘natural’ period (as she called it). She was very high emotionally and was eager to see if another period would follow 28 days later. If it did, then she said that she would go for tests to see if she was also ovulating.
Subsequent treatments were spaced a fortnight apart. By the 7th treatment, she had still not had another period and was quite low emotionally. She was again trying to view reflexology as a way of relaxing and nothing more. However, I saw something remarkable when I looked at her left foot. Right on her bladder reflex was a bright red spot which had not been there before. It was as if someone had taken a red marker pen and placed a dot on her foot. When I asked her about it she remarked that she hadn’t noticed it before. Spots and marks like these around the bladder and uterus reflex points can be a sign of pregnancy. Ten days later Suzanne phoned to tell me that she was pregnant. She had started suffering from morning sickness and tender breasts so plucked up the courage to do a pregnancy test and it was positive!! My client gave birth to a healthy baby boy in September 2003.

Dr. Karen Oppo
WellWoman Clinic, Glasgow