A Galway woman who says acupuncture helped sort her fertility difficulties changed careers so she could help others experience the joy of parenthood.

The high flying executive with a pharmaceutical company turned her back on what was a fulfilling but demanding career to become an acupuncturist.

You could say that the world of pharmacology is on the opposite spectrum to acupuncture, which is an age-old Chinese therapy and regarded as ‘alternative’ by many working in conventional medicine.
But Brenda Aylmer sees no such division and regards what she is doing as “East meets West” because as she says herself, she is completely open to conventional medicinal approaches to fertility problems.

“I started in nursing at the age of 17 and then became a medical rep with a pharmaceutical company so, up until last year, I have always worked in Western medicine.

“But it was when I went to have our second child that I knew it wasn’t happening as fast as it should so someone suggested acupuncture and within six months I had conceived. I was intrigued by it so much that I signed up to do a course on it so I could find out more about it. I became fascinated by the whole philosophy of acupuncture and how it works on the whole body.”

All this time, Brenda, then a mother of one, continued to commute to Dublin from Craughwell where she lives, to work with a large pharmaceutical company and at weekends travelled to County Clare to study acupuncture.

She actually became pregnant before she had finished the course, which spurred her on even more to finish it and go into practice so she could spread the word.

A redundancy offer at work last summer was timely and having graduated from her acupuncture course with distinction, she decided it was time to go into practice.

Brenda opened her own clinic, the Genesis Fertility Acupuncture Clinic in Oranmore just before Christmas, where she deals specifically with fertility issues, anything ranging from irregular periods to menopausal problems. She offers natural fertility care, support during infertility treatment, pregnancy and birth.

“I don’t like the word infertility. I prefer the word, sub-fertile. I think it’s more positive and that there’s more room for the possibility of believing you can conceive.”

Brenda doesn’t rule out the possibility that being a high flying executive doing a lot of driving may have led to stress which may have prevented her from conceiving. But she firmly believes the acupuncture helped her.

“We had contemplated going for fertility treatment but we didn’t have to in the end. I would never advise clients against going for IVF or other treatments but I strongly believe that the acupuncture can be used as a support system.

“The road of going for fertility treatments is a very lonely one but acupuncture can help on so many levels. It’s true that when a couple present with fertility issues, it is always the woman who is tested first because it is the more obvious starting point, but I have treated men. It is healthy for the couple to be involved, not just the woman.”

Because Brenda started as a nurse and then worked with pharmaceuticals, she recognises the important role of Western medicine and is the first to advise a woman over the age of 35 who is not getting pregnant to see her GP.

Having gone through fertility issues herself she appreciates how women start getting panicky when it doesn’t happen.

“When women embark on fertility treatments, they may feel a sense of it being out of their control as they are introduced to various treatments and regimes.

“As well as doing acupuncture, I also advice a change of diet and to take up yoga. I did that myself and that helped too, as did exercise and stress management.”

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.