by ancientCurrent on July 27, 2010
Still taken from YouTube Video. Click here for acupressure videos.
Acupuncture is a safe way to get labor started when a women is past her due date. I never induce anyone who is not postdate, although I do use acupuncture as a routine pre-labor treatment which is incredibly effective for getting moms into labor “on-time”.
Chances are is you are 40 weeks pregnant then you are stressed out; the phone never stops ringing, strangers comment that you must be having twins, its too hot or too cold, your not sleeping, nothing fits and you just keep wondering when this little critter will arrive? Actually, I love treating women during this miraculous and life altering time.
As a practitioner I employ all of the points that are contraindicated in pregnancy as well as points that address specific issues that may be affecting mom such as anxiety, stress, insomnia, pain, reflux, too much amniotic fluid etc. These points help stimulate the uterus while helping efface the cervix and dropping the baby into optimal fetal position. Additionally, treatments help calm the moms mind and body which, in my opinion is one of the biggest roadblocks for getting labor going.
Laurel specializes in using Chinese medicine to treat female reproductive issues, a subject I currently teaches at graduate level. For an appointment e-mail: Laurel@ancientcurrent.com or call 917-862-7589.
Check out my acupressure videos on YouTube.
by ancientCurrent on May 13, 2010
A randomised controlled trial into the effects of acupuncture on cervical ripening was published by Rabl in 2001.[8]
Summary
The objective was to evaluate whether acupuncture at term can influence cervical ripening and thus reduce the need for postdates induction.
On their due dates 45 women were randomised into either an acupuncture group (25) or a control group (20). The acupuncture group received acupuncture every two days at the acupuncture points Hegu L.I.-4 and Sanyinjiao SP-6.
The women in both groups were examined every other day for cervical length (measured by vaginal trasonography, cervical mucus and cervical stasis according to Bishop’s score).
If women had not delivered after 10 days labour was induced by administering vaginal prostaglandin tablets.
The time from the woman’s due date to delivery was an average of 5 days in the acupuncture group compared to 7.9 days in the control group, and labour was medically induced in 20% of women in the acupuncture group compared to 35% in the control group.
There were no differences between overall duration of labour or of the first and second stages of labour.
Conclusion
Acupuncture at the points Hegu L.I.-4 and Sanyinjiao SP-6 supports cervical ripening and can shorten the time interval between the woman’s expected date of delivery and the actual time of delivery.
References
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Rabl M, Ahner R, Bitschnau M, Zeisler H, Husslein P. Acupuncture for cervical ripening and induction of labour at term – a randomised controlled trail. Wien Klin Wochenschr 2001; 113 (23-24): 942-6.
