Restoring health to a woman's body to allow for natural conception - Clare's Story

We came across Fiat Fertility Care after four years of unsuccessfully trying for a baby. In that time, I had discovered that I had two autoimmune conditions and a suspected blocked fallopian tube. My autoimmune conditions had left me with a range of difficult to manage symptoms which restricted my quality of life. We had completed first stage fertility tests with the NHS and been advised to start IVF treatment as soon as possible since I was over 35 years of age. We were reluctant because alongside our ethical concerns, we were not convinced about the practical impact of IVF. It seemed less than sensible to begin a stressful and invasive process when I was already completely exhausted and unwell. As I am Catholic, we sought alternative fertility treatments and were shocked to find that nothing else was available on the NHS. We found Fiat Fertility Care via an online search and spoke to Ira who was very kind and keen to help us. She taught us the NAPRO charting method via Skype, recommended some dietary changes which helped ease my symptoms and guided us as we sought a set of diagnostic scans and blood tests. After this she referred us to a fertility doctor. We thought carefully about whether to go ahead with the referral to Dr Guindon (in the Republic of Ireland) since we were nervous about getting our hopes up, but Ira counselled us through this and was very supportive and understanding. We are both so grateful to her. We were fortunate to be able to meet with Dr Guindon online due to the Covid travel restrictions which made the process very smooth. 

 

Dr Guindon was very warm, supportive, and efficient. I had previously been told by my NHS gynecologist that my progesterone levels were absolutely fine, however, part of Dr Guindon's diagnosis identified that my levels were suboptimal. Once I had a recommendation from Dr Guindon my GP was willing to prescribe progesterone for me on the NHS and to carry out some of the recommended blood tests. I started following Dr Guindon's protocol and with the combination of support from my NHS GP too, my health improved. We conceived on our 3rd cycle. Although I felt in good health throughout my pregnancy, the first few months were extremely worrying due to a subchorionic hematoma which can, sometimes, cause the placenta to detach, making the pregnancy unviable (the NHS advice, rather surprisingly, is just to wait and see). However, with Dr Guindon’s regular hormone monitoring we were reassured that the pregnancy was progressing well. At 38 years of age, I delivered a healthy baby at full term via a natural delivery. After so many years of difficulty I still sometimes have to pinch myself to check this isn’t just a dream. 

 

We would strongly recommend the NAPRO method and Fiat Fertility Care. NAPRO teaches women to gain a deeper understanding of their bodies and takes a holistic and thorough approach to discover and treat the cause of infertility – restoring health to a woman’s body to allow for natural conception and pregnancy. It also places support for the couple’s relationship at the heart of the process. This is invaluable for couples struggling with infertility. We wish NAPRO technology was available on the NHS and that there were more NAPRO doctors who would work with Ira to help make this method available to the many couples for whom IVF is not an option. In the meantime, we hope the Catholic church might do more to make this technology available more widely, particularly to offer financial support to the many couples who cannot afford private treatments.