IVF/ICSI with supportive acupuncture by Lianne Aquilina is I believe one of the reasons my husband and I have the most beautiful baby boy. Our long awaited miracle baby.
If I was to go through IVF again without a shadow of a doubt I’d go back to Lianne for more acupuncture. I can not recommend her highly enough.
Her professionalism, passion for her job, and desire to help others is beyond compare.
Not being a fan of needles the thought of having to go through IVF and acupuncture was pretty unnerving. However, when I first stepped into Lianne’s clinic I felt immediately at ease and in safe hands.
Her extensive knowledge of subfertility, and its accompanying issues gave me confidence and hope at a very stressful time during my IVF treatment.
Lianne spent time learning about me and how endometriosis personally affected me. She reviewed our fertility test results and the medical protocol I was going to be on for IVF before she began my acupuncture treatment. Her knowledge of IVF clinics and how they are run instilled a great deal of confidence. I felt so much happier knowing I could discuss every aspect of my treatment and any concerns I had.
During the two week wait after embryo transfer, when I spoke to Lianne about feeling so overwhelmed she also offered to give me an ayurvedic face relaxing face massage. It was just what I needed…
To be told by a healthcare professional that potentially I may require donor eggs for IVF, due to my stage 4 endometriosis, was a shock. That was not the case and our first son is finally here.
We cherish every moment with our son. We can not believe we got to see him at only one cell in a petri dish. IVF/ICSI is just incredible. We feel fortunate it worked for us.
I am certain this first round of medical treatment was significantly increased by Lianne Aquilina and the acupuncture sessions I attended before and throughout my IVF cycle.
Lianne helped put me at ease during one of the most stressful times of my life and for that I am very thankful.
If you are considering whether acupuncture is worth it, and how it can help, my advice to you is give it a go, you will not regret it.
My Partner and I started trying for a baby and after a few months I had a positive pregnancy test. From then on my pregnancy was smooth sailing. Everything was completely textbook so I guess I was considered to be low risk. Our baby was due; however, by this date there was still no arrival. We were back and forth to the midwife and then eventually when I was 10 days overdue I went in for an induction. I remember that on the day we had been busy buying a few last minute bits, chatting with friends and generally feeling excited but nervous about our new arrival. Finally, we got to the hospital and my partner was told to leave and would be called when things started moving.
As soon as he left the midwife strapped a monitor to me in order to listen to the baby’s heartbeat however she could only pick up mine. After swapping machines and still not getting any joy she asked me the dreaded question “When did you last feel the baby move”? and something inside me started to panic because I couldn’t remember. We’d been so busy that day and the baby never moved around much when I was active so I just didn’t know.
We then went down for a scan and I was told the heartbreaking news that there was no heartbeat and our baby had died.
I cannot describe to you the panic, pain, and devastation that I felt in that moment especially given that I was alone. As I’m sure you can imagine the following few hours were horrendous as firstly I had to call my partner back without letting him know anything was wrong and then tell him the bad news and then we had to tell friends and family.
After this we had to tackle the birth which was fairly traumatic for various reasons, one being that our son had shoulder dystocia and got stuck; plus he turned out to be 9lb 6 which was quite unexpected so I had a bit of trouble giving birth to him but eventually he arrived and despite it all he was beautiful.
Needless to say, the next few months were dark ones however I am grateful every day that we managed to get through it together as a couple because looking back I can see how easy it would have been for us to shut down and drift apart.
Of course, we now wanted children more than ever; especially since we were told that our son hadn’t died because of anything we had done or any type of medical condition. We were told we could try again as soon as we were ready and so we did. By October I was pregnant again, but by the middle of November, I had started bleeding and subsequently suffered a miscarriage at approx. 6 weeks. We were again told that early miscarriages are very common and we should not worry. By December I was pregnant again however by the New Year I had suffered another miscarriage at 5 weeks.
It was around this time that I went to see a psychic and she advised me to have acupuncture so I found Lianne Aquilina online and started to see her regularly. She was amazing. She listened to everything that had happened so far and explained what could be done from her point of view with acupuncture but not only that, she gave me hope and real practical advice. We also decided to see our doctor and request a referral to the hospital and by March we had an appointment with a consultant in Peterborough who specialised in this area. He wasn’t very sympathetic and was very quick to tell us there was nothing wrong with me; however, he did run the standard tests which all came back ok. I remember asking him if perhaps my progesterone levels were low however he brushed this notion aside and told me no.
All around us we seemed to be surrounded by people having children successfully with no problems at all. We decided to go private and booked an appointment with Dr Gorgy in London. He was great; very helpful, very sympathetic but very expensive. By this stage it wasn’t about the money so we went ahead with his initial tests, which confirmed that my partner definitely didn’t have a problem his side; however, I had results in regards to my immune system meaning my body was rejecting the embryo when it implanted and destroying it within a few weeks.
We had made a few lifestyle changes. I had given up my job in central London and decided to work locally and my partner took his foot off the gas at work also in the hope that we could just spend more quality time together and stay strong as a couple in order to face whatever may lay ahead.
Towards the end of last year, I’d become obsessive in regards to getting pregnant. The bathroom was full of ovulation kits, pregnancy tests, and fertility monitors. It was costing a lot of money, a lot of time and all of my energy but I couldn’t just ‘forget it’ as people often tell you to. By March I still wasn’t pregnant so of course, I started to think I was now infertile. My obsession threatened to take over, but I changed my focus back to our local hospital.
I was able to talk to Lianne about my latest crusade and see if it was advisable or not. I began acupuncture treatment to promote my fertility and help me to conceive. We continued trying and every month I wasn’t pregnant was difficult but finally, it started to become a little less painful and then in July I saw that one word that dominated my world appear on a stick ‘pregnant’. Now you’d think I was jumping for joy after all the pain we’d suffered but the first thing I felt was a relief and the second thing I felt was fear. But we had to focus and I decided we needed to do absolutely everything in our power to keep his baby. I then remembered that the consultant had promised me progesterone so I called his office and demanded the prescription was written straight away so I could start taking them that night and finally I contacted Lianne and she scheduled me in immediately for early pregnancy support with acupuncture. It was on.
I saw Lianne and we talked through the plan and decided I would see her twice a week until around the 9-week mark and since the hospital wouldn’t scan me until I was 6 weeks I was thankful to have Lianne. She gave me advice on how to stay relaxed and reassured me every step of the way.
Every time I went to see her she was positive and always listened to me and how I was feeling. We didn’t know what to think or how things were going to turn out but she was there for us and when we made it to 6 weeks she was so happy for us.
Finally, we made it to 9 weeks and we started to relax some more and tell family and friends. At last, we had good news for them.
Right now I’m 27 weeks and loving every minute of being pregnant again. We’re backward and forwards to the hospital more than the average bear but that just provides us with more reassurance and we have faith that everything will work out this time for us and our little girl.
Every day we miss her brother and always will and the dark times that followed tested our strength in ways we never knew existed but we are still here and able to tell our story so far. We can only continue to have hope that the final outcome will be a happy one.
After losing our son we thought we could never move forward and the need to still create a family was so great that I know we couldn’t have got this far without Lianne. She is everything a person trying for a baby needs at some point during the process; not just physically with the acupuncture treatments but mentally as another human being who is willing to help and not dismiss you as a freak of nature who can’t do the basics.
She is the happy medium between a private clinic and the NHS as she can provide you with treatment yet be realistic in her approach from a medical and holistic point of view. For us, she is the best of both worlds and a genius of her profession. We are forever grateful.
There I was in my late thirties trying for a baby. Never before did I think we would have problems falling pregnant. A couple of years later, after being diagnosed with unexplained infertility, I was undergoing my first IVF treatment. Unfortunately, it failed. We continued trying to conceive naturally, I didn’t want to undergo another cycle of IVF and I was 43 years old by now. One day I read an article about Lianne and her work and we decided to give it a go.
When we first met Lianne we felt at ease with her and I felt that I could trust her. Lianne referred us for a second view and we found that I had extensive scarring to my tubes, not unexplained infertility. Lianne used her fertility knowledge and the information I provided her with about me and my lifestyle and my failed IVF cycle to help us get from the sad place of childlessness to being pregnant with twins after our second attempt to IVF. Lianne has always been very supportive and has gone the extra mile. Her support and advice have been priceless especially before and after egg collection and at transfer. We had our 6 blastocysts frozen due to complications based on the advice she gave to give us the best chance of IVF working and it did. The 2 weeks wait was made much easier to bear when Lianne lent me a relaxation CD by Zita West especially designed for this stage of the treatment. Lianne has always been at the other end of the line when I have had concerns about how things are going. Thank you so much Lianne.
Two years after having my first son I was anxious to get pregnant again. We had been trying for about six months before I went to see Lianne. I was aware that I was unlikely to become pregnant as I was breastfeeding and I hadn’t got my periods back, and I was not ovulating.
Someone suggested having acupuncture as a way of kick-starting my menstrual cycle again. I felt a change after my first acupuncture treatment with Lianne and began ovulating even though I continued to breastfeed. Lianne was then able to tell me when my fertile time would be and treat me to maximise conception happening. Within 3 months and after 6 acupuncture treatments I am very pleased to say that I’m pregnant. I can not thank Lianne enough!
My husband and I suffered miscarriages and tried for 2 and a half years to have our daughter before going down the medical testing route and finally having IUI in Nottingham which worked the first time. We were diagnosed with having unexplained infertility (we are both healthy and are nonsmokers).
We never really stopped trying for another child after our daughter was born. When we still hadn’t conceived by the time she was 3 we decided to book privately for a further round of IUI, which didn’t work. Rather than being given advice, on alternative ways to support conception, IVF was suggested to us by our doctor. I decided to try ways to help improve my chances of IVF working and found Acupuncturist Lianne Aquilina in Stamford. After a fertility review, Lianne felt that I could conceive naturally. So she undertook a couple of acupuncture fertility boosting treatments and also advised us how to improve our chances of conceiving naturally. I fell pregnant naturally that month and our baby is due in March. Lianne also provided acupuncture to support my early pregnancy. It’s very difficult in a short summary to say how much Lianne helped us, she helped us get pregnant but more than that she became a great friend who I could talk to about anything we are eternally grateful.
We had been trying to conceive for more than 2 and a half years after I stopped taking the contraceptive pill. We had tried using ovulation sticks, researched all the usual methods, timings, diets etc. with not the slightest hint of getting pregnant. To add to the frustration, my GP did not share our concern at all despite me having a strong feeling something was not right because I was “only 31”.
Deciding I would be willing to first try any natural aids for conception, I looked into acupuncture on the web and found Lianne Aquilina in Stamford. Upon contacting Lianne, she offered to sit down with me in her own time and go through what we had been doing, how long we had been trying etc. This was the first time I had spoken to anyone about how to best try for a baby in such detail apart from my husband and I already felt like a huge weight had been lifted.
Until this point I had been feeling totally helpless and hopeless, as though it is just so easy for everybody else in the world and that we were just destined to not have a family at all seeing as my own GP was unwilling to help.
After the fertility review, Lianne gave me a list of some preliminary tests I should ask my doctor to arrange in order to get the ball rolling to find out why we hadn’t conceived so far. This gave me the confidence to go in there and tell him what I wanted so he didn’t just send me away again telling me “it’ll happen soon… You’re still young”.
I am so pleased we did.
I had the blood tests, which found I had an FSH level of 12, and the tube dye test discovered my tubes were clear but the tests found that I had a uterine septum.
This means due to the size of the septum in my uterus it would halt any fetus trying to grow and possibly cause recurring miscarriages. I was quickly referred for surgery.
It was at the consultant’s before the operation to remove the septum that we were told that due to the slightly higher FSH level we would be put forward for IVF treatment on the NHS. We had our IVF treatment in Care Fertility Nottingham.
I had my operation to remove the septum, and then went for my 1st official consultation with Lianne Aquilina to start my acupuncture treatment in preparation for IVF. Lianne immediately made me feel at ease talking about the most personal things.
I saw her once a week at the Stamford clinic from and I started my hormone treatment. Each session was a chance for me to relax and talk about how I was feeling throughout the process, emotionally as well as physically.
From the soothing music and atmosphere to help me when I have been feeling anxious with extra pressure points, and invaluable advice regarding the options I have in the IVF process, Lianne has helped me to understand what I am going through, even when I have not been sure myself!
Her professional, friendly and forever positive advice throughout our treatment has been remarkable and I am delighted to say that less than a year after our initial meeting, we are celebrating looking forward to the birth of our miracle baby.
I can honestly say that we would not be in this amazingly exciting situation, that only 6 months ago felt like the impossible, without Lianne’s help.
Whilst struggling to fall pregnant for over three years, and after completing a course of ovulation treatment at Peterborough hospital which did not help I read that acupuncture could assist, I, therefore, searched the web and found Lianne Aquilina.
After having an initial consultation and fertility review whereby Lianne not only advised what she could do to support me, Lianne also shared diet, lifestyle and IVF tips and gave me acupuncture to help improve my fertility and optimise my chances of pregnancy. My acupuncture treatment included preparation for IVF, full flexible support during the IVF treatment and early pregnancy support. Lianne has a huge wealth of knowledge and experience regarding fertility problems and IVF which helped me to understand what was happening, she is an excellent listener and adviser. I was able to confide in her and looked forward to my weekly appointments. I can not recommend Lianne enough to anyone who is struggling with their fertility and needs IVF.
I have the polycystic ovarian syndrome and my husband has poor sperm and a very low count. Being unable to have a baby is devastating but Lianne was so encouraging and really wanted my IVF treatment to work as much as I did.
Lianne would take my pulse and look at my tongue to decide which acupuncture points to use each time for my acupuncture treatment. I had acupuncture points in my head, wrists, legs, and feet, plus some in my abdomen to prepare my eggs and womb for implantation. Lianne treated my husband to help improve the vitality of his sperm. Lianne helped us through 2 rounds of IVF treatment with ICSI, both times I started acupuncture a couple of months before I started IVF treatment. It was lovely to go every week, have a treatment and talk to her about what was going on, to get advice from someone who is knowledgeable and approachable. We have our gorgeous son, and daughter on the way thanks to Lianne and her acupuncture during both of our IVF treatments.
At the time of meeting Lianne, I was in quite a dark place, I had never known grief so strong as when I lost my babies. I was feeling pretty frustrated with my body’s inability to stay pregnant and I was struggling to be around other women who were pregnant. Whilst my GP was sympathetic, I was becoming increasingly frustrated and could feel myself spiraling.
After my third miscarriage, I started to research alternative therapies, which could help improve my fertility. A number of women recommended acupuncture, which led me to Lianne Aquilina. From the first phone call, Lianne took the time to fully understand my history and was sensitive to my situation. Lianne then went onto treat me for 5 months and I found the treatment and advice she gave me invaluable. Lianne ensured I received the right care and investigations through the NHS, by empowering me with knowledge. This ultimately led to a diagnosis I would have otherwise not have received as quickly. Lianne also carefully explained the benefits of acupuncture and how the treatments worked to optimise fertility during my monthly cycle. Following my miscarriages, my cycle had lengthened. However, within a couple of months of acupuncture, I found that my cycle had regulated and ovulation times became more predictable. It is clear Lianne cares about her patients and I felt I finally had someone I could talk openly with, without fear of judgment. 5 months on I am pregnant and have so far got the furthest with this pregnancy than ever before. I am truly grateful to Lianne for her support and believe her fertility review, and acupuncture treatment significantly improved my fertility, helped me to conceive and supported my early pregnancy.
My wife and I found Lianne after two and a half years of failing to conceive and two failed NHS IVF attempts. We had one remaining NHS IVF attempt and wanted to make sure we gave it the best possible chance of success. From people, we had met and many online forums and articles we were aware that many people felt acupuncture was highly beneficial in assisting with infertility and in particular IVF so we booked a consultation. I wasn’t sure what I expected from acupuncture but I was interested to find out more.
At this point in time, our infertility had placed a huge strain on our relationship. We were both feeling down and were struggling to be positive about the future. We also felt very alone. People don’t really talk much about infertility and it can be quite an isolating experience. Help is available from the NHS and IVF clinics but we found it impersonal and matter of fact. I had lost hope that we would ever have a family.
Skip forward in time and as I write this my daughter is 6 months old and asleep next to me. Lianne is a part of her life and a friend to my wife and I. We are strong believers that acupuncture made the difference for us.
Our cycle went much better after acupuncture treatment than they ever did before without it. My wife began to respond much better in egg numbers and quality. I also began to have the treatment and saw a marked increase in sperm quality markers.
We also benefited from the huge amount of knowledge and expertise Lianne had, not just about acupuncture but infertility and IVF in general. Many times she guided us in choices and decisions or pointed us to research. It finally felt like we had an expert who knew who we were and cared about helping us. Another benefit was the sessions acted as much needed emotional support. Infertility and IVF is a roller coaster and in the downtimes, I used to look forward to our next appointment. In the lowest moments, Lianne would pick us up and restore hope that everything was going to work out. I found that treatment made me feel much calmer and more positive.
There are a handful of people in our journey whom I will always consider as personally responsible for its very happy end. Lianne is one of those people and I would thoroughly recommend her to anyone who is facing fertility issues. We will be booking sessions with her again soon as we go for baby number 2!
After two years of trying to conceive naturally and failing, we plucked up the courage to admit to ourselves that something was not right and that we had to seek medical advice. It still took another year for us to actually go to the doctors and explain our concerns. When we were struggling to conceive, we felt like people had pity on us. I’ll never forget as we both sat in the waiting room bickering about who was going to speak first once the doctor had called us in. I mean, what do you say?
As it was, the doctor was fantastic and very supportive, immediately referring us to the head of infertility, Mr Randall, at Peterborough Hospital. Meanwhile, my bloods were within range and as I had previously had a positive laparoscopy, they knew that they had some other conditions associated with subfertility ticked off the list already.
Despite this, I was convinced the problems of subfertility were due to me, not my partner of ten years. Within two months of seeing the doctor, my partner was called for a sperm sample at the hospital. When the results came back they said they had noticed some irregularities, and that they wanted another sperm sample from him in three months to compare.
The second sample showed the same results and our problems were diagnosed as subfertile due to a low sperm count. The size, shape and function of his sperm were all confirmed as normal, it was just the count that was low at just 0.3 million. As the cause was determined, we were referred for assisted reproduction and offered, under Lincolnshire NHS guidance rules, one attempt of medical treatment.
The chances that IVF would work for us were low. As we were approaching the start date of our medical treatment, I had researched everything I possibly could, because if we were only going to get one shot at this, I was determined that I had to give it my absolute best shot. This could change our lives one way or another.
I came across how acupuncture could help, and although financially it was going to be a struggle to afford it, we came to the conclusion that we could not afford not too!
I met with Lianne Aquilina a member of the British Acupuncture Council for my first consultation and was impressed with her knowledge on the process and commitment to helping us. I’ll never forget how relaxed I was after my first acupuncture session, something so key to me as one of my concerns throughout was how would I deal with the stress of IVF?
I arrived at the clinic for my acupuncture treatment with the most horrendous period pains, like nothing I had ever experienced before or since. It was my period after down regulation and it was truly awful. However, following acupuncture treatment, I left the clinic like a new woman! I had acupuncture treatments when I was down regulating, and when I was stimulating to grow my eggs, pre and post our transfer and a few days later.
At CARE Fertility in Nottingham, I had four eggs collected, three of which were mature and all three eggs fertilised with my partner’s sperm. Two embryos made it to three days old. As it was hard to choose which embryo to select at day three, the embryologist decided to go to blastocyst stage. On day five we got the awaited phone call to come into theatre and have our one strong blastocyst transferred, which was to change our world…
I often look back and wonder how on earth I would have got through our IVF treatment without acupuncture and would our outcome have been the same? Suffering from subfertility all those years had made me feel lonely, broken, hurt. A failure. Acupuncture calmed, relaxed and re-energised me.
To our delight, the outcome was that all of our treatments resulted in a positive pregnancy.
We were over the moon, as were the rest of our families who had seen just how much our subfertility had affected us.
At 37 weeks pregnant, I delivered a perfect, beautiful baby boy via planned C-section due to breech presentation and pre-eclampsia. He weighed 6lbs 4oz. We named him Toby Jack, the names I had planned for years, but was convinced we would never be able to use. We were besotted with him.
Toby is absolutely perfect, a dream come true for us. We are finally a family. Life with him around makes us so happy, and we all feel complete. The lingering pain that being subfertile caused us has gone.
I highly recommend Lianne Aquilina to anyone I now meet who is having IVF because I truly believe it helped to make the difference for us between an unsuccessful and successful outcome.
There were also many other benefits of acupuncture. My acupuncturist was patient, knowledgeable, professional, sensitive and caring. It was so useful for me to have someone to chat my problems over with, who knew the procedure and gave me useful advice to follow.
Our eldest son was conceived naturally after about 5 months and when he turned two and a half my husband and I decided we would like to expand the family.
A year later with no success, we decided it was time to seek the advice of our doctor as we were both in our mid-thirties and conscious that time was ticking. We both had various tests done and were admitted to the fertility unit of our local hospital.
It took about a year to get into the system, but once in things moved quickly I started a six-month course of Clomid. Unfortunately, during this time we didn’t conceive, and so our next course of action as advised by the doctor was to look into IVF which we duly did.
Although very grateful for the option to try IVF, I dearly wanted to conceive naturally so started researching fertility acupuncturists.
After contacting a few, Lianne came highly recommended to me, and armed with my list of questions for Lianne I felt reassured, well informed and happy to commit to weekly acupuncture sessions.
The acupuncture itself was absolutely fine, I think sometimes the anticipation of a needle can seem worse than the real thing and I was surprised how relaxing I found it.
Lianne treated me for natural conception and preparing my body and mind for IVF should I need it. As the weeks passed by Lianne kept me well informed about my progress, she was very informative and explained things clearly and was happy to answer all of my questions.
I really appreciated this as emotions and anxiety for my husband and myself were running high.
Although I didn’t feel a vast difference in myself throughout the course of the treatments, other than very relaxed after each session and a bit more energised, Lianne reassured me that my body was responding well to the acupuncture and my pulses were getting stronger. She also suggested that if I was going to conceive naturally it would happen within three months of starting the acupuncture.
Well, approximately three months into the acupuncture course I am truly delighted to say that I became pregnant and I gave birth to a baby boy.
We can hardly believe it after our three and half year journey and are forever grateful to Lianne for her help, expertise and unwavering positivity.
If anyone reading this finds themselves in a similar situation, then I cannot recommend Lianne highly enough.
Our eldest son was conceived naturally after about 5 months and when he turned two and a half my husband and I decided we would like to expand the family.
A year later with no success, we decided it was time to seek the advice of our doctor as we were both in our mid-thirties and conscious that time was ticking. We both had various tests done and were admitted to the fertility unit of our local hospital.
It took about a year to get into the system, but once in things moved quickly I started a six-month course of Clomid. Unfortunately, during this time we didn’t conceive, and so our next course of action as advised by the doctor was to look into IVF which we duly did.
Although very grateful for the option to try IVF, I dearly wanted to conceive naturally so started researching fertility acupuncturists.
After contacting a few, Lianne came highly recommended to me, and armed with my list of questions for Lianne I felt reassured, well informed and happy to commit to weekly acupuncture sessions.
The acupuncture itself was absolutely fine, I think sometimes the anticipation of a needle can seem worse than the real thing and I was surprised how relaxing I found it.
Lianne treated me for natural conception and preparing my body and mind for IVF should I need it. As the weeks passed by Lianne kept me well informed about my progress, she was very informative and explained things clearly and was happy to answer all of my questions.
I really appreciated this as emotions and anxiety for my husband and myself were running high.
Although I didn’t feel a vast difference in myself throughout the course of the treatments, other than very relaxed after each session and a bit more energised, Lianne reassured me that my body was responding well to the acupuncture and my pulses were getting stronger. She also suggested that if I was going to conceive naturally it would happen within three months of starting the acupuncture.
Well, approximately three months into the acupuncture course I am truly delighted to say that I became pregnant and I gave birth to a baby boy.
We can hardly believe it after our three and half year journey and are forever grateful to Lianne for her help, expertise and unwavering positivity.
If anyone reading this finds themselves in a similar situation, then I cannot recommend Lianne highly enough.
Our fertility journey started when I had come off the pill and my menstrual cycle had not settled down. The average between each of my menstrual cycles was 55 days long, which was not ideal when we were trying for a baby. I felt very apprehensive about my fertility and ‘helpful’ comments like “oh you are still young,” just made me feel worse. I had feelings of frustration, disappointment and worry about the unknown.
My partner works away during the week, so we have limited time together. I was aware I was not getting any younger, and I was feeling that my body, my cycles were working against me. I felt I had no control in anything. We were not considered as having fertility problems, and we were told we would not be considered for IVF for another year. I felt lost in a complicated world. I wanted to make the year count.
I had heard about fertility acupuncture and started to google. I didn’t really know much about it, how successful it would be, the cost and who locally could do this. I sent an email to Lianne, she called me back and we spoke in great depth. She understood my concerns about my cycle length and was confident she could regulate my menstrual cycle. Instantly, I felt at ease with Lianne. I was able to speak openly and honestly about our situation. I came off the phone feeling really lifted and excited about our first meeting.
At our first appointment, Lianne went through my full medical history and reviewed the blood tests I had taken at the doctors. The doctor had not explained what tests they had run nor my results, but Lianne put me at ease and my mind at rest as she explained everything. Lianne picked up on some important tests that were not conducted and recommended that I visit my GP again and request a blood test for prolactin. The GP authorised this test, and it was found to be raised. I was referred to the consultant for investigation. Lianne reassured me, she answered all my questions with compassion and patience.
At no point did Lianne tell me to make any drastic life changes, lose weight, do this or that. She gave me some advice regarding food, and I switched to lemon and ginger tea. She helped to make me feel having a baby was all possible, and I felt back in charge of my own body. I felt empowered.
I decided that acupuncture would be worth pursuing and hoped it would help with our journey to getting pregnant.
Lianne demonstrated her knowledge, experience and her compassion at every appointment. Lianne was accessible and flexible; I knew her main goal was to get the best for you. My cycle had not only become regulated from 55 days to a 27-day cycle, my period was now possibly and likely late. At 28 days into my cycle, I had three positive pregnancy tests. Lianne was amazing, I continued treatment to keep everything as viable as possible.
I had experienced some bleeding, which is not always unusual in pregnancy, but still, I took a pregnancy test and the result showed that I was not pregnant.
Two more pregnancy tests showed the same – I was not pregnant. Lianne did some extra research around my prolactin, contacted a leading consultant and supported me immensely. She didn’t know just how much this meant to me at the time…
As my period did not arrive and based on some ongoing observations Lianne suggested that I really should ring the early pregnancy unit for advice and scan, as something did not seem right about this. Dealing with a miscarriage is difficult I know, but the EPU told me to just to retest and if it is negative it is negative, and I am not pregnant. I was not offered a scan by EPU at any stage or further support.
We continued the acupuncture for my wellbeing, and both Lianne and I could see the physical changes. My tummy was very swollen, I was feeling different. I did go back to my GP as recommended by Lianne, and the doctor did refer me for a scan, and I was dated at 6 weeks pregnant. At my 12 weeks scan, I was dated at 13 plus 5 days!
The sonographer said, “so at no point have you had a scan yet?” There were tears from both the sonographer and nurse as she said “well I am pleased to tell you, you are pregnant. It was an emotional roller-coaster, but the weekly acupuncture sessions, help and support Lianne gave me was invaluable. I carried on seeing Lianne until my 12-week scan. I cannot praise Lianne enough, she helped give us the amazing gift of becoming parents. Nothing was too much for her, and we consider ourselves both lucky and honoured to have met Lianne.
Later, during my pregnancy, SKY news announced the recall of pregnancy tests that I had used that were giving false negatives.
Parenthood and our son have changed our world. We knew he would. It is magical from that first unexpected heartbeat, to the first time we held him. It made every challenge we went through worth it.
My husband and I had been trying to conceive for about a year when we formally sought help from the NHS. At this time I was 33 and my husband was 44. After a range of blood tests, ultrasounds and laparascopic surgery, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and had a 7cm endometrioma removed from my left ovary. Around 2-3 months after my surgery, my husband and I decided to seek further assistance from our GP, who referred us to the fertility clinic at the hospital. Unfortunately, this wasn’t particularly helpful as the funding for assisted conception in our area had been cut, so we decided to pursue IVF privately. We began our first cycle of IVF around two and a half years after trying to conceive naturally.
We chose a clinic in London which had great statistics and had been recommended by a friend. After having all the necessary tests we were surprised to discover that my husband’s sperm wasn’t as normal as the GP had originally said and that there was a particular issue with the morphology. Because of this, they suggested ICSI as the most viable option for us and we decided to proceed. The whole process was quite stressful, partly due to the travel to and from London and partly because of the busy nature of the clinic. When the day came, we transferred our only good embryo, which was graded 3BB+. Unfortunately, we came home empty-handed. No pregnancy and no embryos to freeze.
We were, of course, beyond disappointed and spent a few months recovering emotionally from the whole experience. I decided that if we were going to try again, I wanted to give everything the best possible chance and so I changed my clinic in London to Bourn Hall Fertility Clinic, and also searched google for acupuncturists who specialised in IVF. That is how I found out about Lianne.
I explained to her that I wanted to spend at least 6 months preparing my body for the next round of IVF to ensure the best possible outcome. I followed a programme of treatment once a week in this interim period, which I complemented with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. The sessions not only provided me with weekly boost of energy but also provided a safe place for me to talk through how I was feeling and discuss possible options along the way. After a month or so, my husband was convinced by my recommendations and decided to give acupuncture a go as well. He had fortnightly sessions which focused on helping the insomnia he had been suffering, as well as working to improve his sperm morphology. When it came to nearer the time for egg collection, we increased my sessions to twice a week and these were even more dynamic, determined by how I was progressing. This was based on Lianne’s regular diagnosis, but also on the regular data provided by the clinic regarding numbers and sizes of follicles. After egg collection I was delighted to learn that they had collected 18 eggs with 14 that were mature enough to use.
This was a big improvement compared to the 12 collected and 8 mature from my previous cycle. I feel the acupuncture played a vital role in this as it was so carefully tailored to my body and how it was responding. Due to the problems we experienced in the previous cycle, we decided to try a newer method of fertilization called IMSI, which uses a higher-powered microscope to select the best sperm.
We were incredibly nervous around this time as, in our previous cycle, we had started out with a good fertilization rate of 6 embryos but ended up with nothing. Lianne supported us through this time with information and research so that we could make the most informed decisions we could. I also continued my treatment to prepare my body for embryo transfer to ensure the most hospitable environment possible.
When the day for transfer came we were a bundle of nerves. We sat down as the consultant came in to give us the news. She told us on that day we had two high quality embryos graded 4AB. We couldn’t believe it! I felt so much more optimistic on that day knowing already that improvements had been made.
We then learned a few days later that we had six embryos to freeze, ranging from 4AB to 4BC. We were so relieved and so grateful to know that at least we had a few more chances this time. Luckily, we haven’t needed to dip into our frozen reserves as we got a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Lianne continued to treat me with acupuncture through my first trimester until our 12- week scan, alongside which I had intralipid treatment through our clinic. The acupuncture helped to ease the nausea I was experiencing and helped me to maintain a calm mind through this crucial time.
I experienced a healthy, normal, and low risk pregnancy. I am absolutely convinced of the importance of acupuncture in our fertility journey and will definitely return in the future. Our baby girl arrived at home, very recently, and we are thankful that we are all doing well. We thank Lianne so much for the role she played in bringing her into the world.
I was in a newish relationship with a girl I could only dream to be with when I found out that I had low fertility, and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. The feeling of being incomplete as a man at first was overwhelming, and the thought that I may never have a child was indescribable. I almost had to “come to terms “ with the fact that I wasn’t going to be a dad. That I was only 60% a man. I started to think that maybe my relationship will fail due to this. Maybe she will leave me and find a man that can give her the child she wants.
This in truth was never the case, she was stronger at this point in our relationship than I was. Being from a large family both on my fathers and mothers side seemed to make the situation even more unbearable, and being of an age where the majority of my friends were having their second child with ease made it ever more difficult. I managed to speak after sometime of bottling all and any feelings up to my two closest friends but they understandably found it difficult to relate. They would often just say “it’ll happen mate, you’ll be a dad one day”. I knew they cared, but didn’t know how to handle the situation, I think most men don’t. My partner was understanding and very positive about our future together. The usual discussions were had. We could always adopt, we could foster, anything to give a child a life that all children deserve. Sperm donors were mentioned once, never again! This personally made my blood boil somewhat, for me that felt like a path to having a baby that wouldn’t be mine with my partner. After plenty of research my now fiancé had read up a lot on the “potential” benefits of acupuncture in fertility. My background as an engineer kept telling me no, that it’s not scientific, that it is purely a placebo. How wrong I was, and I hate being wrong! After consistent acupuncture treatments my now wife and I have fallen pregnant, and we both feel that our time having acupuncture has very much played a major and integral part of this happening. Feelings from my point have changed massively. From feeling like I was useless as a man, to pure joy and excitement. Still at times I have the thought of how I am going to manage as a father at what I consider being a bit “late to the game”. All I know now is that everything will be fine, I still reflect on the feelings that I had when “all was doomed”. I have since discovered that I was actually far from on my own when it came to feeling like I did. Four men that I know, three of which I grew up around, have also been in similar situations. As a whole we agree that having someone to talk too is the key. Be it a supportive partner, family, or an acupuncturist.
My husband and I had been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 2.5 years. We were both emotionally and physically drained from the process, especially as we were told we were not eligible for IVF on the NHS due to my weight and the fact that we had not been trying long enough. More heartbreakingly we were told funding for IVF was likely to be cut in our region which meant we were unlikely to receive any help. Tests under the NHS labelled us as having ‘unexplained infertility’ which left us feeling hopeless and dejected.
My friend had recommended acupuncture as she had received some after she broke her wrist. After doing some research I came across Lianne’s website and was instantly drawn to her years of experience and academic background, it made us feel we would be in good hands. Our first meeting involved Lianne taking a full history of our difficulties and health. We instantly felt more hopeful as Lianne made us feel like there were things we could try! After some time, we decided to seek private IVF treatment and I had weekly sessions with Lianne in the comfort of my own home. Lianne’s relaxed approach meant it felt more like I was having a friend around. After the acupuncture needles were in we would either have a nice chat (about everything and anything) or listen to some relaxing music. We fell pregnant following a frozen cycle of IVF. Lianne continued the treatment up until 12 weeks which I found extremely reassuring to get me through the first trimester. Lianne’s treatment meant the world to me. Not only did I feel the acupuncture worked on a practical level, I also benefited greatly from her support in managing my anxiety and stress during the first trimester. I looked forward to my weekly sessions and appreciated having space for myself. Lianne was extremely generous with her time and had no problems with me texting her if I had any questions or worries. I would highly recommend her!
My husband and I started our fertility journey back in 2017, with only a few months into trying when I devastatingly found out my closest friend had a still birth at full term. This had knocked all our confidences, and we decided to put a break and a stop on trying for our baby. I concentrated on work until we all felt in a better place.
At the time of trying for our baby, I was working and commuting into London, work was long hours in a fast paced stressful clothing industry. I realised that I needed to move my work closer to home, before we began to try again. I was suffering from depression at this point. It was something that I had never experienced before.
We started trying again a year later. I had researched all of the different fertility tracking methods, and any “techniques” and educated myself. However, after 5 months of not falling pregnant, I started to think that actually, this may not be as simple as we both thought. It wasn’t until a year later when we sought help from the NHS. After doing a number of blood tests, ultrasounds, and other checks we were told by a gynaecologist specialist that we may be struggling to conceive because of my high FSH levels, and very low AMH levels for my age 30. This meant my eggs weren’t in the best condition to be able to conceive, and we were advised we may need IVF to help.
My depression became worse, it started to consume me when dealing with infertility thoughts. I would cry all the time, and it was preventing me from sleeping. I did try a number of different things including counselling and meditation. But it got to a point, that I could not cope, and I was prescribed anti-depressants. This I believe got me in the right mindset to take control of my fertility journey.
First I was given 6 months on clomid, before they said they would consider us for IVF, which doesn’t sound like a long time, but for someone who was worried they might be infertile it seemed like a life time. Either way, clomid or IVF, my declining fertility was a reality, and I knew I couldn’t change that – so I researched what can I do to help improve actual egg health? The most suggested options were acupuncture and nutrition. This is when I came across Lianne and her practice. I made an appointment with her.
We went through all of my test results, and also what I wanted to achieve, which gave me the confidence that this was going to be tailored to my needs and requirements. The acupuncture provided a relaxing and calming atmosphere every week. Alongside fertility, acupuncture also was beneficial for my anxiety and depression.
Whilst I still thought daily about wanting to be pregnant, the focus was also on a healthy lifestyle, and the acupuncture helped to balance out my hormones and everything felt manageable.
Every week we would work out what stage of my ovulatory cycle I was in, and Lianne would figure out which points were beneficial to help me at the current stage. After about 4 months of acupuncture treatment, with low dose clomid, we were delighted to find out that we had conceived naturally.
With the help and advice of Lianne, I have felt much more confident, I have had a private early scan at 8 weeks of my pregnancy at Bourne Hall Fertility Clinic, which was reassuring and turned out to be a lovely experience for my husband and myself.
I carried on with the acupuncture treatment up until my 12 week scan. Acupuncture helped keep my mind calm, and ease my anxiousness in early pregnancy.
I am now 15 weeks pregnant and all is going well. I definitely know I couldn’t have got to this stage without the help from Lianne, in terms of both acupuncture and advice. We owe so much to her, and would always recommend anyone struggling with fertility issues to go and see Lianne!
Following years of failed specialist medical treatment, and then some failed acupuncture after much persistence, determination to not give up, and further investigation
I then found a highly qualified acupuncturist by the name of Lianne Aquilina. She has changed my life. It has been a miraculous, life changing treatment for me. I would recommend her to anyone who suffers debilitating pain.
We truly can not thank Lianne enough for all that she has done
going above and beyond. We credit her hugely in helping our little boy come along. We are no longer living under the cloud and our son is just the best thing that could have ever happened to us.
Aquilia Acupuncture was established in 2005. Acupuncturist Lianne Aquilina is the provider of advanced acupuncture for health and care.
