An increasing number of Saudi women are seeking out age-old therapies to help solve issues of conception and childbirth.

These women are convinced that natural medicines and techniques like cupping, abdominal massages and rubbing can facilitate the conceiving and birthing process. “There is a high turnout of women seeking relief for body pain, infertility issues and repositioning the uterus in preparation for conception,” Aziza Al-Omari, a therapist, said.

The technique of massaging is handed down the generations and practitioners of these ancient methods generally work from home or go to the patients’ homes upon invitation and are paid for their efforts.

Masseuse Um Ahmed said she learnt the massaging techniques from her mother who learnt it from her mother in turn.

“It is very popular among women,” she said, adding that the therapy is painless and very comforting. She told Arab News that her grandmother’s generation did not have recourse to doctors and they had depended on natural remedies. “I receive many calls from women asking me to come to their house and give them the massage suited to their health condition,” Um Ahmed said.

The therapist added that this practice was widely recommended for women as a natural way of preparing their bodies to conceive.

According to Um Ahmed, women can have their womb readied in three sessions with the therapy starting on the fourth day of menstruation.

“Some wombs are bent forward or backwards making it difficult to conceive. We try to return them to their natural position which is in the middle of the pelvis,” she said adding that in some cases, the uterus loses its position following a birth or a miscarriage.

At SR50 per session, Um Ahmed’s schedule is fully booked. At times, she is so busy that she is unable to accept even one more appointment. Most of her patients suffer from the displacement of the uterus and need to have it repositioned.

The process, however, is not smooth. Before the session, Um Ahmed asks her patients a few questions about their menstruation, whether they are painful, if they are regular or if the women have pain in their heels, whether they experience pain during intercourse or see brown stains or black clots at the end of their cycle, to name a few.