Acupuncture credited for conception
Actress turned to alternative medicine and had two babies after turning 40
When Brenda Crichlow decided to have a child, she wanted to do everything she could to ensure the birth of a healthy baby.
There were some factors to consider. Because of scarring from surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus, the Vancouver- based actress had been told that, if she were to conceive, she would probably need a caesarean section at delivery. There was the age factor, too. “Knowing there is nothing good that is said about having a baby after 35, never mind 40, I thought I’d better arm myself with a few alternative things besides Western medicine,” Crichlow, now 46, said. “So I did.”
The then- 41- year- old actress began a series of acupuncture treatments with Spence Pentland, a reproductive health specialist with training in traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM). Pentland recently opened Yinstill Reproductive Wellness, a clinic on Main Street.
“You have to believe in the tenets of traditional Chinese medicine to want to seek alternative assistance,” Crichlow said. “I believe in trying to do things as naturally as possible, and if there’s some other assistance out there with Western medicine, then bring it on.”
She believes that acupuncture helped with conceiving her first child.
“I did about six months of acupuncture ahead of conceiving her and I found it to be restful,” she said. “My cycles seemed to balance out a little better. It’s no different than if you’re going to plant a garden, you’re going to make that soil the best possible nutrient- rich environment before you stick something in the ground. And along came Isabella, when I was 41 turning 42. She’s now a thriving almost- four- year- old.”
Last year, Crichlow tried to become pregnant again, this time without acupuncture. The pregnancy didn’t come as easily as the first one. After her third miscarriage, she returned to Pentland.
“He said, ‘ Maybe there’s a way I can uphold this pregnancy, nourish the body, balance something that’s not working.’” Crichlow said. “In I went.”
She went once a week, six or eight times, while trying to conceive. “He laid out a protocol so I went on specific days, according to my cycle — the critical times.”
Justin, her second child, was born in spring 2012. “He came along in April when I was 45. I can’t believe I’m telling the world that. It is what it is. And I have a healthy baby boy.”
Dr. Anthony Cheung, the medical director at Grace Fertility Centre in Vancouver, said studies as to whether acupuncture helps with fertility are inconclusive.
A German study found that in vitro fertilization subjects who had acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer had a better chance of getting pregnant than those who didn’t, he said. But the numbers weren’t significantly different.
“Not everyone would benefit from it,” Cheung said. “Maybe one out of eight people might have a better chance. Are you going to be the one?”
Crichlow, however, is glad she tried acupuncture.
“I had a great pregnancy,” she said. “I conceived Isabella, I continued along for a few sessions while I was pregnant with her as well. I didn’t have morning sickness with either of my children. Some people say morning sickness is hereditary, it doesn’t matter if you do acupuncture or not. I can’t speak to that. I can only speak to the fact that I carried very well. It felt wonderful.”