Acupuncture and Pregnancy

If you have just found out that you are pregnant – Congratulations! Pregnancy is such a beautiful and magical time in a woman's life. However, pregnancy can also be difficult and challenging if there are health issues getting in the way of your 'glow'. 

Acupuncture can offer wonderful support to women in all stages of pregnancy to help you make the most of the experience. Acupuncture offers women the choice of a drug free treatment and can be used successfully for a wide range of conditions, such as:

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• Nausea and vomiting
• Threatened miscarriage
• Fatigue and exhaustion
• Heartburn
• Constipation
• Musculoskeletal conditions
• Insomnia
• Anxiety and depression
• Sinusitis
• Pregnancy-induced hypertension
• Breech and posterior positioned babies
• Prebirth treatment to prepare the body for an efficient labour
• Natural Induction
• Acupressure for pain relief during labour
• Postpartum recovery
  
  

In this article we will investigate some common reasons that women seek acupuncture during pregnancy and provide clinical research to support our claims that acupuncture can be an invaluable support during this special time in your life.

Morning sickness

Morning sickness is a very common symptom in early pregnancy, and ranges in severity from mildly annoying to extremely serious (requiring hospitalisation – this is rare). 

For cases of mild to moderate morning sickness, acupuncture can be a godsend. It has been clinically proven to reduce the incidence of nausea, dry retching and vomiting, and thus improve nutrition and quality of life for women in the first trimester. Click here to see the research

At Affordable Acupuncture, we will teach you acupressure points that you can use yourself, and may also provide you with small adhesive magnets on relevant acupoints to provide continuous support between treatments. Please don't suffer through what you think is an inevitable part of pregnancy. We can definitely help you get through it.

Breech babies

Knowing that your baby is breech can be very stressful. Those in favour of a natural birth may worry that they will receive extreme pressure to have an elective C/section, or that they won't have the right support to attempt a vaginal birth if that is what they desire. There are so many things you can do, however, to encourage baby to turn, so don't lose hope!

Chinese medicine has great success in helping to turn breech babies. Ideally, you should seek treatment by around 34 – 36 weeks, however if you are further along than that there is still a chance we can help. The typical treatment would include one acupuncture session including moxa (moxibustion), and a lesson in how to continue treatment at home daily with a moxibustion stick. Moxa is made out of a herb that is pressed into a cigar shaped stick, and when lit provides a special type of heat that stimulates the acupuncture points.

Research has shown that daily moxibustion on the acupuncture point BL-67 has a 75% success rate in turning the baby (compared to 45% in the control group). Click here to read the research.

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Pre-birth Treatment

We recommend all pregnant women come in from 36 or 37 weeks for a series of four weekly acupuncture treatments to prepare their body for labour. Acupuncture points used at this stage of pregnancy help to ripen the cervix, encourage optimal positioning of the baby, and improve energy levels for labour. 

Research has shown that women who have prebirth acupuncture are:
- 35% less likely to have an induction
- 31% less likely to receive an epidural
- 32% less likely to have an emergency C/section
 (Click here to read the full study).

With statistics like these, it is a great pity that acupuncture is not already a standard component of pre-birth care. If having a natural birth is important to you, please consider pre-birth treatment with us here at Affordable Acupuncture.

We hope this gives you some insight into the range of conditions that acupuncture can assist with during your pregnancy. If you have any questions about a particular condition, please leave a comment below or contact us. And as always, if you know anyone who might benefit from this information, please do share this blog post with them. We would like to help as many women as possible have happy, healthy, glowing pregnancies! 

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