Overcoming infertility the natural way in Oranmore

Lifestyle – Judy Murphy meets a Galway couple who have launched an online conception programme

Life is all about balance. That’s something we hear all the time, simply because it’s true. The difficulty for most people who lead busy lives is finding any balance at all.

But for couples who are negotiating the minefield of infertility and attempting to conceive a child, finding a balance and tuning into their bodies is crucial, say Ian Claxton and Eleanor Winters of Elmtree Organics in Oranmore, who have launched Ireland’s first online natural conception programme, Ready for Pregnancy in 29 Days.

It’s a natural extension of the work they carry out in the clinic, explains Eleanor, a local woman who qualified as a nutritional therapist after graduating from Trinity College with a degree in genetics.

Dublin-born Ian, meanwhile, graduated in biotechnology from NUI Maynooth and subsequently completed a three-year full-time training course in Five Element Acupuncture. It included a period in Beijing where he completed his clinical work.

A former Irish and European champion swimmer, Ian discovered acupuncture when he suffered from back problems. It cured him, and after studying the research literature, he decided to focus on this area, combining it with his science background.

“I try to walk the spiritual path with practical feet,” he says. “I come from a practical science background, but there is more to people than body and flesh. There is a soul aspect that a lot of mainstream medicine doesn’t work with.”

However, Chinese medicine takes a holistic approach and that’s where it can help with gynaecological and fertility issues.

Infertility is defined by the World Health Organisation as “a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse”.

One in six couples will experience difficulties conceiving a child, and a quarter of all pregnancies will end in miscarriage.

Fertility decreases with age, and that’s a growing problem in today’s society where women delay starting a family – often for career reasons.

The infertility treatment that Ian and Eleanor offer in their Oranmore treatment rooms is evidence-based, they say. Many issues such as diet, stress, lifestyle and overall health can affect fertility, and it makes sense to address these before going down the more invasive route of fertility drugs or In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

Eleanor and Ian are not opposed to IVF – in fact, as an acupuncturist, Ian works alongside consultants specialising in IVF and embryo transplantation to maximise these procedures.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.