A woman has given touching account how she was made pregnant by 500 leeches and cured of cancer that nearly took her life.
A London mum told she had no chance of having children has celebrated her son’s sixth birthday – claiming over 500 leeches helped her to conceive.
Nina Evans, 50, who was diagnosed with pre-cancerous fibroids in her 40s, is now turning to the blood-sucking worms again in a bid to have a third child.
The mum-of-two has revealed leech therapy not only allowed her to achieve her goal of beating pre-cancerous fibroids, it also helped her to breast feed and increase milk production for her baby.
She also claims the unusual treatment has given her more intense and prolonged orgasms – and is now using leeches on her six-year-old son.
Nina said: “Leeches have been used since the time of the Egyptians and we are only now discovering the full extent of what they can do.
“I know that without leeches I would not have been given the chance to have my son Noel at 45 and that is just the start of what they can do. I even use them on my six-year-old to treat bumps and bruises.”
Nina’s quest to have a second child – she is mum to a 28-year-old son from her first marriage – started in 2003 when she wanted a baby with her second husband.
“We tried for five years and nothing happened so I saw my doctor and was devastated after tests diagnosed me with multiple myomas in my uterus,” she said.
“A myoma is a pre-cancerous fibroid that grows in the tissue muscle of the uterus.”
About 20 to 80 per cent of women develop fibroids by the time they reach 50.
Fibroids are most common in women in their 40s and early 50s. Symptoms can include heavy bleeding, a feeling of fullness in your lower stomach, enlarged lower abdomen area, going to the loo a lot, painful sex and lower back pain.
Nina recalled: “My doctor told me my chances of falling pregnant because of the myomas, coupled with my age, were almost non-existent.
“The only chance I had was treating the fibroids with a combination of medicine or surgery. In some cases the fibroids are so bad that you require a hysterectomy.”
Devastated Nina – who is now the Director of the British Association of Hirudotherapy – then put her thoughts of pregnancy to one side and focused on curing the growths in her uterus.
She said: “At that point I gave up on having a child. Instead I started having leech treatments to aid my recovery.
“I chose leeches because I was born in Lithuania and leech therapy is used for a whole range of illnesses.
“They’re considered a general cure for all, and I knew from experience, having had leech treatment before, that it gave you more energy and a more positive outlook.”
Leeches are used in the NHS to aid plastic and reconstructive surgery as they help to improve blood flow to certain areas of the body or skin.
“The beauty of leeches is they attach to the body and release three substances a local anaesthetic to reduce pain, a local vasodilator to improve blood supply and hirudin and calin to prevent clotting,” said Nina.
“Most people see leeches as scaring blood sucking creatures but to me they can change your life entirely.”
Nina’s research to help clear her cervix of fibroids led her to a specialist in 2008 in St Petersburg, Russia, who had developed a technique where leeches were inserted into the cervix.
She said: “I know this will horrify people but the blood flow to the area is more prominent and the leeches can suck out bad toxins in the blood more easily while the saliva they produce could get into the body’s blood supply fast.
“The Russian doctor I saw explained that the saliva then caused the release of hormones in my brain which would aid my recovery.”
Nina started with external leech treatment, which included placing leeches on her back.
Leeches bred for medical use are not fed for up to four months, so when they’re placed on the body they latch on and feed. Once they are full they naturally fall off.
Nina continued: “I noticed almost immediately a sense of feeling better but the thought of leeches placed inside me was a little daunting.
“My first treatment was like having a pap smear. The doctor used the plastic device known as a speculum and inserted it into my vagina so three leeches could be popped in.
“The leeches attached themselves to the inside of my cervix. I didn’t feel it, the speculum was the most uncomfortable thing really.
“Then after half an hour the leeches drop out. They came out tenfold - some fatter than a bottle of nail polish.
“Within seven days I noticed a difference. I was feeling better, had more energy and over the next couple of months my periods became more accurate.”
And it wasn’t just the medical side effects she benefitted from.She said: “I also noticed my orgasms were longer and more intense some of the best I have ever had after each internal leech therapy.
“And for people who are wondering how leeches don’t get left inside someone’s cervix, they are counted in and counted out so none remain and as they naturally drop off when full there is no chance you get left with a leech in your vagina.”
She added: “I had another five treatments in Russia and then got my own leeches to continue treatment myself.
“Over a period of one month I started having more energy, my complexion cleared and I hoped the leeches were also helping to cauterize or cut the blood flow to the fibroid.”
Then the mum, who had given up on pregnancy, got the shock of her life.
She recalled: “In June 2009, after eight months of treatment, I missed a period. I’d given up the thought of ever having children so at first I thought it was early menopause.
“However, like any woman, I thought there was a slim chance I might be pregnant. I rushed to the pharmacy and did a home test and to my shock it was positive.
“Still not willing to believe it was true I saw my doctor. He confirmed the pregnancy but even more astoundingly confirmed that all but one of the fibroids had disappeared all thanks to my blood-sucking friends. I was thrilled.
“As the baby grew in my belly I kept up with the leech treatment desperately worried if I didn’t something terrible might happen. I’d get up in the middle of the night just to look at my growing baby bump and ensure I wasn’t dreaming.”
Nina went into labour on January 28, 2010, with leeches attached to her back to help with pain.
She said: “My ‘slithering baby makers’ had become my pals and closest friends and while I was pushing at the birth they were there doing their work. It helped my delivery go easier.”
She admitted some nurses were shocked she wanted leeches attached during Noel’s birth – and afterwards.
Nina said: “I’d researched leech treatments and discovered leeches had been used during breast feeding to help produce hormones in the brain to encourage the milk to flow.
“So before a feed I’d attach leeches to the top of my breasts. Having had one child before I discovered my milk flowed more easily for Noel thanks to the curative powers of leeches.
“It was so successful I extended my breastfeeding for two years seven months. My sex life was also excellent after the baby’s birth – something which the leeches helped.”
Nina is now one of the top female pioneers in modern leech therapy and helped the British Association of Hirudotherapy gain government recognition as a valid complimentary therapy organisation.
She said: “I am so committed to leech therapy that I am researching as many modern ways to use leeches.
“Noel is my leech baby and now I am planning another leech pregnancy in my 50s.
“I am an educated woman, I travel the world teaching people how to use leech therapy and it may sound crazy but I am convinced the leeches have helped give my reproductive system a re-boot, taking it back to my 20s.”
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