If you're trying to have a baby in Britain, the word from fertility experts is that treatments like acupuncture and herbs are a waste of time.

But as Sue Saville reports in our Health Beat, acupuncturists and many mothers are taking issue with the new warning.

This little girl is here partly to acupuncture believes her mother.

After two miscarriages and many months of trying for a baby Anna used acupuncture which she says helped her conceive Isabell.

"It did for me and I don't think you can be so safe to say it has no effect whatsoever, Anna says, “even if all it does is relax you and make you think you're doing something active to help yourself get pregnant, then that's probably going to be enough to get things going."

The ancient Chinese technique of acupuncture involves inserting needles through the skin to balance the flow of energy through the body.

A new report says it doesn't help women with fertility problems.

They've been misled, but practitioners like Maureen Cromee say they use it alongside with IVF with good results.

"But only yesterday I was talking to my colleague and we're very pleased because we can do just before IVF and just after and it's during the assisted transfer we treat them before and after and we improve the blood flow to the uterus and she's pregnant now," Cromee says.

Today's report also says that there's no evidence that Chinese herbal remedies help fertility.

"I think it's important for patients to know that if they are paying for treatment, and largely patients have to pay for that treatment, that they're not having it on the presumption that it will improve their success rates."

Part of the problem is proving what works.

Was it the acupuncture or other factors that brought the longed for baby.