Trying to conceive naturally · Stockton Heath
You shouldn’t have to wait a year
before anyone takes a look.
The usual route is to keep trying for a year, then have a handful of blood tests, often on a day of your cycle that can’t tell you very much.We’d rather look now.
Acupuncture, bloodwork and functional nutrition in Stockton Heath. For anyone planning to try in the next year, a few months in, or a lot longer in than they ever expected to be.
Not started trying yet? You are the person we most want to see.
Before any of the practical bits
Nobody taught you any of this.
You spent about a decade being taught, in some detail, how not to get pregnant. Then 1 day you stopped trying not to, and discovered that the other half had never been taught.
So you did what everyone does. You downloaded an app. You read some things at 1am. You bought the sticks, and then the better sticks. You worked out what a luteal phase was from a forum.
And every month you have been running an experiment on yourself with almost no information, and grading yourself on the result.
Wherever you are in this, we’ve written this page for you
You might not have started yet. You are thinking about next year, and something sensible in you wants to do this properly rather than find out the hard way. You are the person we most want to see, and we rarely get to see people at this stage, because very little invites you in this early.
You might be 5 or 8 months in. Not panicking. Not exactly relaxed either. Doing the maths every month and telling yourself it is early days, while noticing that early days keep going.
Or you might be well past a year. You have been to your GP. You had some bloods. Everything came back normal, and you were told to keep going and come back if nothing changes. And nothing has changed, and you are still keeping going.
All 3 of those people are told the same thing. Give it time. And time is the one thing worth counting properly.
What you’ve been told
All of it well meant. None of it useful.
“You’re young, there’s plenty of time.” “Come back after a year of trying.” “Everything’s come back normal.” “Just relax and it’ll happen.” “Have you tried an app?” “My friend got pregnant the month she stopped trying.” “It’s only been 8 months.”
Waiting is not a plan. It is what happens instead of a plan.
And the wait has a cost that is rarely spelled out. So let’s put one on it.
The wait
“Come back in a year” isn’t time. It’s 12 chances.
A year sounds like patience. It sounds like the sensible, unhurried thing, and it is delivered in a tone that suggests you are being a bit dramatic for asking.
Count it properly. A year is 12 ovulations. 12 fertile windows, roughly 6 days each. Which means that across an entire year of your life, there are only about 72 days when conception is even possible at all.
You are not being asked to wait. You are being asked to spend 12 of your chances proving that something is wrong, before anybody will look for what.
The wait is not free. It is just not itemised.
If you are 34, 12 chances is an inconvenience. If you are 38, 12 chances is a different conversation entirely, and everybody in the room knows it, and it is rarely said out loud.
This is not about panicking. We are suggesting that “give it time” is not the same as “we have looked and found nothing”, and those 2 sentences are being used interchangeably.
The whole argument of this page is simple. There is no good reason to find out at month 13 what you could have found out at month 1.
2 ways to start
How we can help with trying to conceive.
Pick the one that fits where you are now. They work well together: the bloods show us where to focus, and acupuncture is the support week to week.
Best place to start
Bloodwork review
A proper look at your bloods
Your bloods, cycle and history read together against optimal ranges, so you know what is worth working on before another month goes by.
- Fertility Brew & Review, 60 min£140
- Both on Board, couples, 75 min£185
Fertility acupuncture
Regular support, every step
Weekly sessions built around your cycle, so we can see what your body is doing month to month and support it while you try.
- First appointment, 75 min£75
- Follow ups, 60 min£59
Not sure which is right for you? Book a free 15 minute call and we will point you the right way.
Who you’d see
Who’s actually in the room.
Our acupuncture team
7 registered practitioners
You will see 1 of our 7 practitioners, and then you will see her again. 40 years between us, all of it in this room, none of us willing to call something normal just because it is common.
Gaynor Almond
Fertility specialist · bloodwork & emotional support
Gaynor runs our Fertility Brew & Review, Both on Board and Menopause Review & Renew. She tells you what to get and when to get it, then reads the lot against optimal ranges alongside your cycle and your history. She also offers emotional support, a gentle hybrid of talking therapy and hypnotherapy.
Georgia Briscall
Functional nutritionist
Georgia does the nutrition side, for women and men. She works with the picture underneath as well as the one on top: autoimmune conditions, insulin resistance, diabetes, chronic inflammation. Your own biochemistry, not a template.
In their words
From people who sat where you are.
★★★★★
“Lisa was fantastic. Even after one session I feel like I am taking control of my fertility journey with knowledgeable people to help me. I also had a brew and review with Gaynor which was also excellent.”
Jessica Livesey · Google review
★★★★★
“Regardless of the fact that I am YET to get my positive pregnancy test, my weekly visits to Juniper Clinic are worth every penny and have helped me more than I could have imagined.”
Natalie Hargreaves · Google review
★★★★★
“I have been trying naturally 4 years… after having bloods done that they recommended and then following the advice from Kate & Gaynor I am only 2 months in and already seeing positive changes.”
Angela Boss · Google review
Taken from our Google reviews. 5.0 from 112 reviews.
Good to know
Questions people ask
The opposite. You are the person we most want to see and we rarely get to see people at this stage, because very little invites you in until there is a problem. An egg takes roughly 90 to 120 days to develop and sperm roughly 70 to 90 days, so if you are planning to start next spring, the eggs and sperm involved are being built about 3 months beforehand. That window is the one thing everybody further down this road wishes they still had.
That is your call and there is no wrong answer. But waiting is not the same as being investigated, and being told to come back in a year is not the same as anybody having looked. If you would rather know now what your bloods say and whether your cycle is doing what you think it is doing, there is nothing stopping you. You do not need permission and you do not need a referral.
Because what was almost certainly meant was that the few markers on the standard list were not obviously abnormal. That list is short. It does not usually include a full thyroid picture, thyroid antibodies, fasting insulin, ferritin, vitamin D, or inflammatory markers. Normal also means not diseased. It does not mean optimal. If your results have never been read against optimal ranges, that is not a second opinion, it is a first one.
Nothing, if your cycle is 28 days. Day 21 exists because it is 7 days after ovulation in a 28 day cycle. That is the whole reason for the number. If your cycle is 33 days you ovulate closer to day 19, so the right day to look is closer to day 26. Tested on day 21 you are 5 days early, the result comes back low, and you are either told you might not be ovulating or told everything is fine. Neither is a finding. It is just a number taken on the wrong day.
That is exactly the conversation, and it depends on you. We will tell you which markers are worth your money in your situation, which day of your cycle to go, and what conditions they need to be taken under. We work with private labs including Randox and Medichecks and the panel we usually recommend is around £180 with a patient discount. Start with the free 15 minute call and we will tell you what is worth doing and what is not.
Anything you send us needs to be dated within the last 12 weeks. Your body 6 months ago is not your body now. If what you have is older than that, or you have never had any done, tell us at booking and we will talk about it.
Don’t wait to be allowed.
You do not need a referral, a diagnosis, or a year of failing first. Start wherever feels manageable. If you have no idea what you need, start with the call.
Book acupuncture£75 first appt, 75 min · then £59, 60 min Book functional nutritionwith Georgia · from £75 · 1 hour Fertility Brew & Reviewindividuals · £140 · 60 min Both on Boardcouples · £185 · 75 min
Or call us on 01925 612 208 · 30a London Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4 6HN