Why acupuncture and Tuina during pregnancy?

Women in the UK benefit from regular, well-organised antenatal care, with midwives fulfilling a crucial role in screening for potentially dangerous conditions for a pregnant woman and/or her baby.

Where there might be a gap in healthcare, however, is for so-called “minor ailments” of pregnancy. These are not life-threatening conditions that are expected to resolve after the birth, and therefore warrant somewhat less attention from the antenatal team – although they can sometimes have a significant impact on a woman’s life.

It is in this situation that acupuncture may be a very good solution, as it can be an effective treatment for many conditions without side-effects for either the woman or her baby.

 

What are acupuncture/Tuina used for during pregnancy?

• Musculo-skeletal conditions
  Pain in the lower back, sciatica, symphysis pubis pain are all very common during pregnancy, as are neck pain, rib pain and carpal tunnel syndrome. Gentle movement is usually useful - as a general rule, women are recommended to carry on with any exercise they were doing before getting pregnant (avoiding anything where there is a risk of falls). If this doesn’t help, all of the above conditions can be treated effectively with acupuncture and tuina – sometimes a single treatment may relieve the pain considerably, other times regular treatment throughout the pregnancy is needed.


• Nausea (morning sickness), vomiting, heartburn
  Severe morning sickness can be a debilitating experience in early pregnancy. Rest and relaxation often improve the situation, as well as eating regular snacks such as fruit or crackers.  It is important for the woman to stay well-hydrated, and drinking small sips of water throughout the day may be useful for this. Acupuncture can be used to relieve both nausea and heartburn and also to reduce vomiting.


• Hormone-related problems
  Changing hormone levels during pregnancy may have an effect on various body parts: for example the mucous membranes around the nose, leading to sinusitis, the digestive system, leading to constipation, the skin, leading to severe itching (though this may also be caused by other factors, please check with your midwife). Acupuncture may be used without side-effects to alleviate all these symptoms.

Pre-Birth treatments

Acupuncture has been used for centuries in the East to prepare women for labour and promote a smoother development of the birth. These are some of the ways in which it can help:

• Turning a breech baby
  The news that your baby is breech is always unwelcome and can herald several weeks of an anxious waiting game to see whether they will turn. A simple procedure using moxibustion (an adjunct to acupuncture) for 20 min a day for 10 days has been shown to significantly increase the chances of this happening. I usually only see a woman once for this to assess suitability and will demonstrate the procedure. The woman can then take moxa sticks home with her and finish the course of treatment by herself. The best time to start this is at week 34, before the baby has grown too large. (A study using a control group has shown that, if seen in week 34, by week 36, over 75% of the babies in the moxibustion group had turned, vs. 48% of the ones in the control group. The difference was less pronounced when the treatment was started in later weeks). It is always possible for a baby to turn though, even at a later stage.


• Birth preparation treatments
  Birth preparation treatments may be used weekly from week 37 onwards to help promote a safe and natural labour. These may help to relax the pelvis and soften the tendons, as well as strengthening the woman, allowing for the labour to progress more smoothly. Routine acupuncture as birth preparation is an accepted practice in German hospitals where acupuncture is used. Midwifes who are familiar with them speak very highly of them, commenting that women who received pre-birth treatments tend to either go into labour spontaneously around their due date or, if an induction is required, respond well to acupuncture treatments for induction.


• Induction & promotion of labour
  Acupuncture may be used for either inducing labour or for promoting it when it is not progressing as planned. I will only do induction treatments after a woman’s due date (though we can use birth preparation acupuncture beforehand).  Usually we do them every other day until delivery, with the woman or her partner applying pressure to particular acupressure points in between. Even if the labour doesn’t start naturally and a medical induction is needed, the acupuncture induction treatments have been shown to lead to easier births which overall needed less medical intervention. The acupressure points that I can show can also be used during the labour to help with pain relief and stimulate contractions.

Post-natal period

Pregnancy and childbirth are amazing experiences which have an effect on a woman’s body and mind at a very fundamental level. In traditional societies, a woman after childbirth is encouraged to rest and look after herself for anything between 30 and 100 days. This is quite different from the expectations that we may have in our culture, where some “super-mums” expect to be back to their pre-pregnancy state in a matter of a few weeks! Acupuncture and traditional wisdom can be used if there are issues in the post-natal period, on either physical or mental-emotional levels (pain, fatigue, post-natal depression, etc).

 

 

 

Contact Conny on 07796 478 946 or info@connyduxbury.com