MIDWIFE, FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY EXPERT ZITA WEST LAUNCHES HUG: A NEW FERTILITY SERVICE, BORN OUT OF LOCKDOWN, TO HELP WOMEN WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST

Almost 40% of women report high stress levels, anxiety and depression when struggling with fertility and IVF issues, HUG is here to help

Zita West is one of the world’s leading fertility and pregnancy specialists, renowned for her ‘whole-body’ approach and her promotion of the powerful role of the mind-body connection. A midwife of 40 years, mother of two, grandmother of two, Zita’s life is surrounded by women and babies. In the past 20 years, Zita has trained as an acupuncturist, established a world-renowned fertility clinic in London, developed a range of supplements to support fertility and pregnancy, written nine books and recently launched a new range of baby and child vitamins in partnership with Leo Bamford. Now, Zita is introducing her new baby – HUG.

FERTILITY IN A PANDEMIC: The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on fertility and IVF related anxiety and stress. Women can no longer access fertility treatments, tests and investigations or rely on routines blood tests or scans; they just have to be. The mind can have a very powerful influence on the whole process of conception. Negative thoughts, emotions and behaviours can lead to increased anxiety and depression and sabotage goals to conceive. This is what has led Zita West to launch HUG, a new fertility service born out of lockdown to help women combat the heightened stresses and strains that fertility and IVF can bring whilst we live in this pandemic – and once we come out the other side of it as well.

Zita West says, “The pandemic has added a huge layer of change and stress for women trying to conceive. Not being able to take action and seek outside help is often a scary place to be. We are living through a time of tremendous change both socially and digitally, and as a result women have become disconnected from their bodies. They rely on apps, gadgets and gizmos to seek knowledge about fertility. HUG has been created to help show women how to look inside themselves (rather than outside) and to trust in the wisdom of their own bodies in order to reduce stress and anxiety, let go of fear and help increase their fertility, IVF and their overall wellbeing. Never has our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing been so important.”

WHAT IS HUG?
HUG stands for heart, uterus and gut. HUG is a transformational set of coaching tools, techniques and guided visualisations, delivered through an easy to access online course. Through breathwork and guided visualisations HUG shows women how to tap into the powerful biology within their heart, uterus and gut and embrace the natural intelligence of their body to help them overcome fears, challenges and reduce stress, for optimal health and fertility.

THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF HUG
Neuroscience and ancient Chinese wisdoms form the basis of HUG. Zita is a qualified master coach based on the work of Grant Soosalu** which she has adapted for IVF and fertility in HUG. Soosalu’s methodology is based on recent discoveries in neuroscience** that show we have more than one brain. That we have complex, adaptive and functioning neural networks also in our heart and gut regions which we can harness for greater mental clarity and wellbeing. Blending this methodology with Chinese medicine Zita has created a highly effective way of helping women connect with their bodies on a much deeper level. HUG is a powerful extension of the mind-body-spirit principles that Zita has always promoted to enhance fertility and wellbeing, moving beyond awareness of the body’s systems and providing a potent tool that women can use to connect to the powerful biology they all have within them.

HOW DOES HUG WORK?
The HUG course and visualisations provide women with daily tools and techniques to get back in touch with their mind and body. The course helps women to make transformational changes by showing them how to use their thoughts and emotions to manifest what needs to happen in their life. Through controlled breathing techniques and guided visualisations, HUG teaches women how to connect with all of their brains, the head, heart and gut, and also what Zita calls the uterus/pelvic ‘brain’ for optimal health and fertility. These HUG techniques teach women how to switch their body from sympathetic (fight and flight mode – stress stimulation) to parasympathetic mode which releases emotional stress, promotes healing and improves recovery. HUG is showing women how to reconnect with their bodies to overcome challenges, reduce stress, anxiety and restore inner peace and calm to enhance fertility, IVF and overall wellbeing.

Zita West says, “Your body has great wisdom if you listen to it, you just have to know how to start the conversation. Yes, the science and evidence are important, but when it comes to trying to conceive, IVF and pregnancy, it’s all about mindset and mental and emotional blocks. By showing women how to connect with their bodies, they can transform their mindset and everything else falls into place. When the mind learns how to listen to the body’s wisdom, magic happens”


www.hugbyzitawest.com
www.instagram.com/zita.west/

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For further details, imagery, interview requests please contact:
sofie@frankmedia.me



NOTES TO EDITORS:

** Links to research:
1. Study finds the uterus plays a role in memory,: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323999
2. Your gut is directly connected to your brain, by a newly discovered neuron circuit|Science|AAAS - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/your-gut-directly-co...
3. Head, Heart, and Gut in Decision Making: Development of a Multiple Brain Preference - Grant Soosalu, Suzanne Henwood and Arun Deo - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/215824401983743...

Prices:
• The Hug Course is £250.00 and includes four modules – full details to be found in HUG Booklet attached, see pages 19 – 21.
• The Hug Visualisations are priced at £15 each, there are x8 available – full details to be found in HUG Booklet attached, see pages 12 – 16.
• Payment plans are available.
• Available globally at www.hugbyzitawest.com


Summary on how the Neuroscience and Chinese Medicine Practices work in HUG – further details can be found in the HUG Booklet.

• Scientific research** is now showing that we have more than one centre of neural activity, other than the brain we also have the heart and the gut that have neural networks which can send and receive messages via the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
• Zita has used this new research, along with the neuroscience practices of Grant Soosalu (mBraining) which teaches people how to align with and harness the power of their multiple brains to help them increase their intuitive abilities and create wiser decision-making in daily life – and adapted them for IVF and pregnancy.
• These neuroscience practices have been blended with ancient Chinese wisdom to form the basis of HUG.
• HUG teaches women how to connect with each brain via the neural networks of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and Vagus nerve. The ANS is an important component of how our brains work together as it is closely tied to our emotional state, which has an impact on our behaviour, health and well-being.
• Through balanced breathing and guided visualisation, HUG teaches women how to connect to their ANS and switch the nervous system from sympathetic mode (stress stimulation) to parasympathetic mode, promoting peace and calm. This is at the heart of the HUG philosophy.