Preparing for birth
Natural support for labour
Preparing for birth
Whether this is your first baby or you’re an old hand, acupuncture can really help you prepare for the big day. First timers are often anxious of the unknown and their ability to cope. This may be less of a concern for those who’ve done it before, but for everyone, there’s the prospect of labour pain or a long labour.
To bring your baby into the world, labour pain is inevitable, and an epidural can make the second stage longer. In either case, a series of pre-birth acupuncture treatments can help.
Most births are completely normal, the baby is in the right position and comes on time., But occasionally he or she isn’t in the right position, or perhaps is being a bit slow to appear. Acupuncture has been shown to help turn a breech baby, and encourage the onset of labou
Getting ready for labour
Acupuncture can help you prepare for giving birth in a number of different ways. It helps reduce feelings of anxiety as your due date gets closer, and studies have shown that it can help to ensure the baby arrives on time and that both your experience and that of your baby are less stressful.
Acupuncture has a cummulative effect, so you should have a series of weekly treatments from around week 35 to get the most benefit.. As your due date approaches, treatment can influence ‘cervical ripening’,- which prepares your cervix to dilate during labour to allow your baby to be born..
I also offer a half hour session for you and your partner, to learn how to give acupressure during labour itself.
I often treat women in their own home in late pregnancy, so please feel free to ask if I can come to where you live.
Baby overdue - acupuncture induction
About 10% of all babies and some 15% of first babies are overdue. Once their waters have broken, 95% of women go into labour within 24 hours If your due date has passed and your baby doesn’t seem too keen on making an appearance, acupuncture can help encourage him or her to get a move on!
Your midwife or obstetrician will want to make sure your baby is born completely healthy and to remove any risks to you, so they will be keen not to let the pregnancy go on too long. You may be offered a membrane/cervical sweep at 41 weeks. to try and get things started If labour hasn’t started naturally by 42 weeks, you will be offered an induction.
A series of Preparing for Birth treatments starting at 35 weeks, can help to ensure you don’t get to that point. If things are delayed, however, and you’re offered an induction, daily acupuncture for 3 days prior to going into hospital may be able to jump-start things. It can also help make the chemical induction more effective.
There is no absolute guarantee of success, but having acupuncture to encourage labour to start is certainly easier on you than a medical induction,..
Baby in breech position
Sometimes, your baby might not be quite the right way up for delivery a few weeks before you go into labour.
Some types of so called ‘malpresentation’ are bit more complicated than others and will almost certainly require a cesarian. If your baby is simply upside-down at 36 weeks, so their feet or bottom are pointing downwards rather than their head, this is called a full breech presentation.
Your midwife will probably suggest that she carry out an ‘external cephalic version’. This is a way of physically turning the baby round by applying pressure to your belly. It has a 50% success rate and can be quite uncomfortable.
Breech births have their problems so if the ECV doesn’t work, you will probably be offered a cesarian
Acupuncture can help to turn your baby in a rather mysterious way. By applying moxibustion (heat) to a point on your toe, the baby will wriggle and jiggle itself around. Women often feel the baby moving energetically during treatment.
You should start treatment at about 35 week for maximum effect. Although it isn’t 100% successful, my own experience has always been positive.
I will carry out the first treatment to show you how to do it and give you a moxa stick to do the remaining treatments for yourself, though many women prefer me to do it for them.
I often treat women in late pregnancy in their homes, so do feel free to ask if I can come to where you live.
