This section is intended to tell you more about receiving acupuncture in pregnancy. Many women now know that acupuncture can be very helpful for morning sickness, but that is often as far as their knowledge extends. So please read on, and I will try to answer some of the most common questions.
Firstly, acupuncture is a safe, drug-free treatment ideally suited to pregnancy, and it is actually capable of dealing with a multitude of conditions which can arise. Complaints commonly treated include nausea and vomiting, fatigue, insomnia, heartburn, constipation, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, lower back pain, sciatica, symphysis pubis pain, itching, anxiety and depression. There are also other conditions about which women enquire. Breech presentation is one, and provided a case seems suitable, I will show women a treatment they can then continue to administer themselves at home; this should be done from week 34. (See research below:”Treatment of Breech Presentation”.) Prebirth treatments are another: beginning by week 36, these are given on a weekly basis to prepare in body and mind for labour, and specifically to help prepare the cervix and pelvis.
Towards the end of pregnancy I can also teach you and your partner, some simple acupressure techniques for use from 36 weeks onwards: the application of finger or thumb pressure to specific acupuncture points can help your body prepare for labour, enhance contractions, help dilation, and assist delivery of the placenta. These are safe, comfortable techniques, which are also used and taught by midwives at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where as a result, partners have consistently reported feeling more involved and useful in the birth.
Your midwife remains at all times the person ultimately responsible for the care of you and your baby, and I always encourage women to let their midwife know they are receiving acupuncture. There are occasions in pregnancy where I might ask you to refer specific matters to her for further advice, and so we remain alert to such situations arising.
Finally, does acupuncture treatment differ when it is given in pregnancy? In my own practice, there are four broad differences: I reduce the number of needles I use in each session; I devise a generally more gentle treatment; there exist a few acupuncture points which it is considered best practice not to use in pregnancy; especially as pregnancy progresses, I have to pay increasing attention to patient comfort (treatment position, room temperature etc.).
I hope this has answered some of your basic questions, and as usual, you are welcome to call for further information. Meanwhile, below you will find the results of some research conducted into acupuncture in pregnancy.