The Enigma Wellness Clinic at College Road is successfully helping many people on their journey to parenthood and personal wellness. Located above the landmark premises of The Huntsman Inn Hotel on College Road, it is based in a beautiful, state of the art premises where we met owner and lead practitioner, Maura Farragher, to discuss her recently launched specialist fertility enhancing programmes, which support individuals and couples to prepare and plan a healthy and sustainable pregnancy.
Mother of three, Maura, a registered nurse and midwife, has more than 20 year’s experience of patient care and nurturing clients with a combination of complementary therapies including acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and energy healing. What strikes you immediately is Maura’s sense of calm and obvious passion for what she does in helping individuals and couples achieve happier, healthier, lives to fulfil their life dream of having a baby and starting family life.
"It is a privilege to work with couples planning a pregnancy and seeing them overcome struggles to fulfil their desire to start their own family,’ said Maura. "These programmes can help ease you into being ready to conceive and to create the right conditions in which this will happen. In some cases, I see the heartache of miscarriage and I work with my clients to be able to try again. There has been a major shift over the last 10 years in people’s knowledge and openness to using complementary therapies – they are now becoming more mainstream."
Clients go to Enigma Wellness Clinic with many different issues including fertility problems, miscarriage, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries and these can be discussed sensitively with Maura in the privacy of the clinic. Many present with low hormone levels which manifest themselves with symptoms of fatigue, irregular cycle, weight gain, a sluggish thyroid, unwanted hair growth, lower back weakness, clients suffering from the cold or feeling hot at night time can all indicate issues. Factors that have a big impact on fertility are poor sleep, stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and lifestyle choices.
Getting the balance right
Maura is a firm believer that it is important to get the balance right in the body to assist your fertility naturally so as to increase your success rate, whether you conceive naturally or opt for IVF. She has researched and studied extensively and is passionate about the benefits of using holistic therapies – acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and some energy healing which when combined can boost and regulate the endocrine system, restore hormone balance which in turn may help to lengthen the females reproductive cycle as well as boost hormonal production and balance in men.
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Marking the launch of Enigma Wellness Clinic’s Fertility programmes, which assist couples to fulfil their life dream of beginning a family together and bringing a healthy baby into their lives, Maura shares some mementoes of her own. Pictured are baby shoes belonging to Maura’s youngest child. Photo Julia Monard
Along with lifestyle and dietary advice, Maura listens carefully and works with the client, prescribing a plan to follow with regular therapy appointments over a four to sevenmonth period. This duration is needed to effect change in the endocrine system and to build the lining in the uterus to assist you to become baby-ready.
Maura explained that the body is the foundation for creating the baby that you are planning.
"One might imagine that it is like preparing the soil before planting as it is the quality of the soil that influences the production and health of the plant so by doing this, you are doing everything possible to prepare the first home for your future child that is ‘your own body’,"
Not only will the pregnancy become easier but it can have long-lasting benefits to your new baby’s health and well-being. Both females and males attend for fertility issues some individually and often as couples so the Enigma Wellness Clinic offer couples programmes as well as Dad-to-be treatments.
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Maura Farragher, Lead Therapist and owner at Enigma Wellness Clinic pictured taking time out at The Huntsman where the clinic is based.
European Fertility Awareness
Week 2019 Last week was European Fertility Awareness Week which, since 2016 raises awareness across Europe about infertility and issues faced by couples with infertility. Over the past few weeks, many high profile stories featured in the media highlighting the plight of couples desperately trying to start a family, some with success, and many without.
One common thread supported by considerable scientific research on the issue is that late motherhood is on the rise in western society, the average age of all mothers at maternity for births registered in quarter 1 2019 was 33.0 years (CSO ).
With more and more couples starting their families for the first time later in life, there is no escaping Mother Nature’s fertility clock, making becoming pregnant naturally more difficult with medical intervention in the form of invitro-fertilisation (IVF ) sometimes becoming the only path to conceiving a new baby.
Despite the great advances in IVF over the years, there are, unfortunately, no guarantees that every couple will successfully conceive and carry to full-term the baby they so long for. High profile celebrities featured in the media, telling their own moving stories of the harrowing journey and trauma of multiple miscarriages and repeated unsuccessful IVF attempts.
The good news is that Ireland has the third highest fertility rate in the EU, although the average woman is older than 30 when she has her first child. There is also a high proportion of women who start their family in their forties compared with other nations. For increased chances of success, there is a growing trend of couples turning to traditional holistic complementary therapies and lifestyle changes to give themselves the best possible chance of conceiving naturally and giving birth to the healthy, happy, baby they have long been yearning for.
Enigma Wellness Clinic
At Enigma only high quality ethically produced products are used. Maura is determined that everything about her practice is kind and supportive both to the client and the environment. Maura’s bespoke Chinese herbal remedy tinctures are formulated to each individual client’s needs. She has gone to great lengths to research her suppliers of herbs which come from sustainable sources. restoring inner balance and harmony, improving energy and mood, which aids in balancing hormones and boosts endorphins and hormonal production naturally present in the body.
The use of herbal medicine which has its origins in ancient cultures, is increasing worldwide. It involves the medicinal use of plants to treat health disorders and enhance general health and wellbeing. It is a natural approach to healing, stabilising hormones and metabolism, treating disorders and avoiding the use of chemicals.
Maura is qualified in Chinese Herbal Medicine and holds a Diploma in Traditional Chinese Herbalism 2010 (Acupuncture Foundation ). She served on the Board of the Acupuncture Foundation Professional Association (AFPA ) for several years and is a member of the Irish Herbal Association.
Full details of the fertility programmes see www.enigmawellnessclinic.com – contact Maura on 087 6486043 to book a free 20-minute consultation; or email [email protected]
