Acupuncture as a Natural Way to Alleviate Symptoms
When I was pregnant, I first became aware of the possibility of naturally aiding the body with complaints. When you're pregnant, something very precious is growing in your belly, and you want to do everything you can to bring your child into the world as healthily and robustly as possible. I was fortunate to have a midwife and a general practitioner who were also trained in naturopathy, and I discovered that your body is capable of naturally solving complaints. As an acupuncturist, I now regularly treat women during pregnancy. It's fantastic to see how quickly a pregnant woman's body responds to acupuncture. Acupuncture can be used throughout the entire period of pregnancy.
Acupuncture for First Trimester Complaints
The most well-known complaint during the early stages of pregnancy is nausea. This is often the first sign that you're pregnant. People often joke about it, but the symptoms can become so severe that the expectant mother quickly stops laughing. Nausea usually disappears after the first 12 weeks, but in some cases, it can persist throughout the pregnancy.
It's incredible what your body is capable of. During your pregnancy, a lot of forces are at work to form a new life. All energy goes to the development of the new life in your belly. If you're completely balanced, this happens without you noticing it. We hardly notice much of the imbalance in our bodies because the body is capable of solving it on its own. If you have deficiencies, blockages, or weaknesses, discomfort can occur during pregnancy. Because all the attention and energy in your body goes to the development of the new life in your belly, your body may temporarily be unable to solve problems that arise elsewhere.
It's fantastic to see how quickly a pregnant woman's body responds to acupuncture.
How Acupuncture Helps with Morning Sickness
One of the most common discomforts during pregnancy is so-called morning sickness. From the perspective of Chinese Medicine, one of the causes of this is rebellious Qi. Normally, in the digestive system, food moves downwards and is processed by the body. The nutrients are absorbed and converted into usable Qi, after which the waste products eventually leave the body. If something goes wrong in this process, nausea can occur. Instead of the food moving downwards, it moves back up and/or stagnates.
The activity in the uterus can cause blockages, disrupting the downward movement of the digestive Qi, causing nausea and vomiting. Another cause from the Chinese Medicine perspective could be that the downward Qi is not strong enough (because part of it is used for the formation of new life) so there is not enough strength to let the food descend.
There are many tips on the internet to reduce nausea, such as eating small amounts of food throughout the day, eating before you get out of bed, and the well-meaning advice to wait it out until your 4th month. For mild forms of morning sickness, this may be enough to not be too bothered.
A Few Acupuncture Treatments Can Already Help Alleviate Morning Sickness
Acupuncture can also provide relief. During a treatment, points are needled that help the body to smoothly move the food downwards again. Often, the nausea decreases already during the treatment. Usually, a few treatments are sufficient, but for more severe complaints, more time is needed.
Acupuncture for Complaints in the Second and Third Trimester
As the pregnancy progresses, other complaints can also arise, such as fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems, emotional problems, bladder infections, back and pelvic complaints. These complaints can also be safely treated with acupuncture.
How acupuncture can help turn a breech baby
At the end of pregnancy, we, as acupuncturists, can assist in turning a breech baby. The pregnant woman then comes to the clinic (this can already be in the 33rd week) for treatment and receives instructions for using moxa sticks. Moxa is a Chinese herb (Artemisia vulgaris) that has been compressed into a stick that you can light. It's similar to a very thick incense stick. By holding the moxa stick near an acupuncture point, you heat that point and bring warmth and movement into the body. To encourage your baby to turn, you heat a point on the little toe. This point brings movement and space in the womb and helps the baby turn. An Italian study (Cardini & Weixin, 1998) shows that moxa therapy can be a great help in turning the baby. Normally, 50% of babies spontaneously turn to a head-first position by the 36th week. With moxa therapy, 75% turn spontaneously to a head-first position.
Interesting? Read more information about acupuncture during pregnancy here.
Acupuncture as support in preparation for childbirth
Acupuncture can also be beneficial in preparing for childbirth even if there are no complaints. In Chinese Medicine, it's quite common to treat people before an imbalance arises. The chances of a childbirth without complications and in a natural way become greater. Acupuncture in the last 6-8 weeks of pregnancy can reduce pain and discomfort, calm the body and mind, regulate hormone balance, and assist in the natural ripening of the cervix.
A study by Kubista E, Kucera H (1974). "Uber die Anwendung der Akupunktur zur Geburtsvorbereitung", Geburtshilfe Perinatol: 178, 224-9, shows that the average duration of childbirth of women who underwent acupuncture during the last weeks was shortened from 8 hours to 6 ½ hours.
Naturally inducing labor with acupuncture
The longer childbirth is delayed past the due date, the greater the chance of a medical induction of labor. This can cause anxiety and stress in the pregnant woman and a medical induction also increases the chance of multiple medical interventions. Acupuncture helps the pregnant woman to relax and assists in reducing fear. Acupuncture can also help to naturally start labor. We use points to stimulate the uterus to start moving and to speed up the ripening of the cervix.
Empowering a pregnant woman
Since we can help women with acupuncture to solve their complaints on their own, we can contribute to the pregnant woman's confidence in her own body's functioning. Nothing is as beautiful as empowering a pregnant woman and contributing to increasing happiness during pregnancy and childbirth.
Are you pregnant and want relief for certain complaints or other support during pregnancy? Make an appointment easily online at one of our locations in Breukelen, Hoofddorp, Nieuw-Vennep, Rijswijk / Delft, Voorburg or Wassenaar. We are available for you throughout the pregnancy.
