Pregnancy

Acupuncture is very useful during pregnancy and the post partum phase. Chinese Medicine can be used in the treatment of:

Morning sickness
Constipation
Fluid retention
Back pain
Placenta previa
Fatigue
Overdue babies – induction
Breech presentation babies
Problems with lactation
Fatigue
General wellbeing

Labour Induction with Acupuncture and natural pain relief with acupressure.

Acupuncture has for many years been used to induce an overdue baby into the world. It is safe and free of the side effects of hospital induction.

During the treatment we select points that have time and time again been proven to be safe, induce labour and also assist with pain relief. The points are located on the hands and feet, shoulders and lower back. They help to open the cervix, encourage the decent of the baby and stimulate the muscles of the uterus. Once overdue, one or two sessions at the most are needed to induce labour or to hasten delivery if you are in pre labour. You will not go into labour on the treatment table. The acupuncture can take anything from a few hours to a day to take effect.

During at least one of the treatments we recommend that your partner or a friend comes along and we can show them how to stimulate these same points using their hands to assist with pain management.

These points will help hasten contractions, assist with pain relief and in the prevention of potential tearing and haemorrhoids from labour.

Help with Breech presentation baby using Moxibustion

This is a very simple technique and in a randomised controlled trial was shown to be effective 70% of the time.

Moxibustion is the use of the mugwort herb (Pronounced -Ai ye- in Chinese). This herb is tightly packed to resemble a cigar, the cigar is then lit and placed over an acupuncture foot near the little toe. The cigar begins to produce heat that stimulates an acupuncture point to facilitate the turning of the baby. Many midwives and obstetricians now recommend this treatment as it is a safe way to turn the baby and is good to simply try before having a C- Section.

The aim of the moxibustion treatment is to encourage the baby to become more active and enter into the pelvis. Usually only one to three treatments are needed to encourage movement, the entire session takes around 45 minutes. There are no side effects from moxibustion and it is well worth trying as an alternative to a C- Section (as the recovery time compared to vaginal birth is very long). We can also show you and your partner how to perform this simple treatment at home if you are finding it difficult to get make appointments.

Post partum depression

From a Chinese medicine perspective post partum depression occurs due to a depletion of nutrients, energy and blood. The Chinese Medicine diagnosis is usually described as a blood and energy deficiency and a number of factors cause this.

Some women even prior to pregnancy have a tendency to being depleted; this can be caused from digestive upset. If you are not digesting your food properly you simply will not get all the nutrients you need to give you physical and emotional wellbeing. While this may be only mildly annoying prior to labour, causing occasional tiredness and sugar cravings, it will manifest tenfold after labour as you simply cannot cope with the extra demands. This then leads to a host of other problems such as lethargy, insomnia, insufficient or painful lactation and mood swings. The mood swings can easily turn into a serious problem causing post partum depression. The above description is the Chinese Medicine take on post partum depression. From a western medicine perspective hormones have a big role to play.

The Chinese medicine treatment protocol aims to build up energy reserves through the use of acupuncture and or herbal medicine. If symptoms are severe we recommend seeing your GP and a psychologist also and most importantly having family and friends around you for support.

The treatment assists with not only lifting the mood but regulating and attempting to treat the reason the condition developed in the first place. Not only do women feel changes in their emotional wellbeing, but also notice their energy is lifted, breast milk increased and experience a faster recovery rate post labour.

Usually it can take a few treatments to lift the mood with acupuncture and you may need to have weekly or fortnightly sessions until the mood lifts and stabilises. If you are taking medication you continue to do so as our treatment does not interfere with anti depressants.

The beauty of Chinese medicine is that it does not have any side effects. The side effect is that you get better, and a lot of complaints that you thought were normal prior to pregnancy are actually resolved.

Another recommendation is not to berate yourself if you are feeling unwell. The post partum period is obviously very taxing and sometimes the body needs to conserve its energy, so if you're not feeling as energetic as usual it's no surprise, it can be a message to gather back your strength.