When Geri Horner got pregnant again at age 44 she called her son Monty her ‘little gift’, and now Geri has revealed that he was conceived after she turned to acupuncture.
Geri isn’t the first celebrity to try acupuncture in a bid to fall pregnant. Kim Kardashian, 36, says it helped her and husband Kanye West, 40, conceive their second child Saint. ‘I had so many complications,’ Kim says. ‘It was a long road. I was trying everything – I did acupuncture and got a nutritionist.’
OK! spoke to leading practitioner Kate Winstanley to find out more...
"What is acupuncture?
A form of alternative medicine that originated in China more than 2,500 years ago, acupuncture involves fine needles being inserted into the body to circulate energy through channels that connect our vital organs. ‘Using acupuncture clears congestion in the body and makes everything flow better. It’s like taking your car for an MOT – when you fine-tune everything it works much better.’ says London-based acupuncturist Kate.
What is it used for?
‘I see patients for everything from chronic backache to sleep problems, women’s health issues, digestive troubles, depression and stress,’ says Kate. ‘It tends to be things a GP can’t fix in the long term, because medication often just masks the problem.’ Each problem has an associated ‘point’ in the body where the needles are inserted. ‘For instance, if someone comes to me with insomnia, there’s a point between the eyebrows which sends energy down to the feet. This helps them become more grounded and better equipped to switch off at night. Lots of people who have struggled for years find their sleep improves drastically.’
How does it boost fertility?
Geri Horner and Kim Kardashian both fell pregnant after trying acupuncture – and it’s apparently all down to hormones. ‘Brain scans have shown that acupuncture regulates and activates our hormones,’ says Kate. ‘When we’re stressed, our bodies produce excess cortisol, but acupuncture stabilises it. Once your cycle regulates, your chance of pregnancy increases.’ With a high success rate in helping women conceive, she adds: ‘Nine out of ten times, women email me a few months after treatment to say they’re pregnant. It never fails to amaze me how powerful acupuncture can be – for older women as well as those in their twenties. It helps make everything work as it should.’
